Restaurants and Places to Visit (by Dmitry Polikanov)

Boris Godunov restaurant
Teatral'naya Square, 5
Metro: Teatral'naya, Plozzhad' Revolucii
Tel: (495) 298-5609, 298-5496, 298-0473

Want to see Russia the way you imagined it - with vodka, bears, Gypsies, 19th-century dressed people and folk songs? The right choice for you will be Boris Godunov restaurant situated to the left of the Lenin Museum and near the exit to Ploshchad Revolutsii metro station. The platform of this dark-blue-line metro station is a masterpiece by itself - the sculptures of coal miners, peasants, teachers and "progressive youth" along with the marble columns and all sorts of decorations demonstrate the grandeur of the Moscow Underground of the 1930s. When you get out into the street, you have to go right. There is a piece of red-brick wall (a part of the Moscow city fortress) and inside the wall, hidden in the dark corner are the wooden doors painted a la "real old Russian style". That is Boris Godunov where you will be hosted by girls in traditional Russian costumes and guys playing accordion and folk musical instruments. The menu is absolutely Russian as well, but for the desserts. The most curious part in the evening is a group of female singers moving from one hall to another singing and dancing very well. They seem to enjoy their job of entertaining chewing foreigners, but deep in their eyes you can read - "I graduated the conservatory, but I cannot get a decent salary in the orchestra. So I am on contract, my kids go to bed every night without me and I cannot even check their homework, my husband is angry as he has to sleep alone and to cook the dinner by himself, and I have to stand here and sing Russian pop folk to this crowd of drunk tourists, who do not understand a single word!" But after all, may be this is simply a fantasy of a pessimistic mind? Try some good Russian cuisine and feel the hospitality of a cozy inside-the-wall cellar - after all, Russians love their guests.

Gin-No-Taki restaurant
Tverskaya str., 6
Tel: (495) 692-5350/5161

Starving for a good Japanese restaurant? Walk up along Tverskaya from Okhotny ryad and on the right hand side you will see a queue of people, who share your tastes. They are all standing in the street to get inside Genotaki restaurant, which offers sushi, sashimi, teriyaki, and so on. Depending on the time of the day, you will most probably have to wait for 15-30 minutes to get a table, but you will be rewarded with the "Welcome" or "Farewell" shouts in Japanese made by the waiters and waitresses wearing national clothes of Nippon. Do not be shocked - that is the way they meet every guest who enters the restaurant, so after 10 minutes you will get used it and won't jump on your chair with every scream resembling "Banzai"! The food is really good and even if you are not a fan of fresh raw fish, while your partner is, you can still enjoy some nice soups and meat dishes. Besides, the menu contains nutritional information (amount of calories), so before ordering you can easily switch on the calculator at your mobile phone and check how much weight you may get by ordering noodles or pork with egg and rice. A choice of alcohol beverages is also good, so do not hesitate to burn your calories with a sip of warm sake!

Gorki restaurant
1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya str., 3
Tel: (495) 775-2456

Right in front of the new exit from Mayakovskaya metro station there is a fancy restaurant - Gorki. As it faces Tverskaya, most of the windows are closed from the eyes of pedestrians and drivers with some short fir trees, which still allow you to look at the busy life of the city while sitting inside. Gorki used to be a cult café during the Soviet time and there were queues of young people standing all year around and begging or bribing the porter to let them in. After the recent reconstruction, the restaurant reminds you of the Stalin grandeur with marble columns holding the ceiling and huge lamps resembling purple-tentacle octopuses. But subtle politeness of the waiters, coziness of the armchairs at the open second floor, tasty bread and perfect work of the Italian chef (who also offers a set of Russian traditional dishes) make you relax. Even though it is quite expensive, Gorki is always full - you have to book a table in beforehand, especially if there is some poetry evening or another modern high-style performance, e.g. a party held by a real Russian celebrity to his friends. At the same time, the food and the ambiance are not the only benefits - music in Gorki is always superb! Whether it is soft piano classics or jazz singing, you can be sure that you would ask your partner to stay for "another little while" even after paying the bill - it is very difficult to break the bond connecting your soul and the art of Gorki's musicians.

PLACES TO VISIT

The Kuzminki Park

The park is located new Ryazansky prospect metro station and there are a few shuttle buses going directly to the gates. It is a real pearl in the marginalized part of the city mostly covered with ugly gray panels of apartment buildings hosting Caucasians in black leather jackets and local proletariat. Hence, it is even more surprising when the shuttle bus enters a trimmed grin alley with all sorts of nicely cut bushes resembling elephants or Louvers-type geometry and flowers all around. For a few years now the local administration holds the flower festival there and gardeners from all over Moscow come up to demonstrate their art of covering the Earth with the carpets of flowers each with its distinct design. The final stop of the shuttle bus is right near the entrance to the park, which used to be a residence of the famous Russian noble family before the October revolution. The family church looks gorgeous and there always flocks of brides and grooms hassling around during the weekend with their Soviet champagne bottles and plastic cups symbolizing monumentalism and lightness of the family bonds. To the right and to the left from the entrance there are huge ponds - a nice place to take a boat trip, to do some fishing, to feed the ducks or simply make a small picnic on the shore. Otherwise simply walk along to the left of the entrance and you will suddenly find yourself in the woods, but be ready to meet the nature! I remember well how surprised we were to find a little kid of a fulcrum with a broken leg - one can hardly notice a hawk bird in not that environmentally friendly megapolis of Moscow.

Old Kosino (Staroe Kosino)

If you are courageous enough to overcome the fuss of Vykhino metro station and the entire purple line of the Moscow underground, you can be rewarded with the visit to one of the small beauties of the city's southeast. Simply take a shuttle bus trip of 15-20 minutes and you will find yourself at the central square of Staroe Kosino. Walk a little keeping to the left and discover an ensemble of wooden churches restored or built by local enthusiasts. You do not have to go to the cold White Sea with its Solovki Islands and can enjoy some replicas of the Russian famous wooden architecture. The only problem is the dress code. A strict guard and a kind beggar at the entrance will warn you about the tough character of the local priest, who does not allow women in trousers or shorts and with the hair uncovered. Therefore, there is a free rent of a piece of cloth reminding of some Russian-style sari and it is sometimes funny to see males (who are also not allowed in shorts) wearing long skirts, like Italian waiters. Beside the cultural program, you can also make your day with a picnic, fishing or swimming, as right behind the Church there are two famous lakes - the Black Lake and the White Lake, where you can also rent a boat for a boat trip.

Stupino Airstrip

If you are stressed with life and need some energy to keep going, if you are looking for something fresh to clean up your mind, do not hesitate to try parachute jumping. Two hours on a shuttle train from Paveletsky railway station to Stupino and here you are near the ex-military airstrip. The first good thing about it is the weather. The military during the Soviet era were wise enough to select the right places for reserve airstrips - they were analyzing the climate data for years before taking a decision, as most time of the year it has to be sunny and not extremely windy. After walking for 10-15 minutes along the field you reach a barbed-wire fence, which is not an obstacle as it has many holes in it. Immediately you plunge in the crowd of parachute jumpers and feel alienated first. However, after paying about 100 bucks and signing a paper that you are healthy and take all the responsibility, they give you a special suit, helmet, glasses, etc. and start instructions. There are two options and the best thing to do is to wait for a plane, so that you may jump from the height 4,100 meters. Helicopters are also OK, but the height is only 800 meters, parachutes are of the Airborne Troops making and the free flight is extremely short or even non-existent. The plane without seats (everybody simply seats on the floor) will take you up above the clouds and you will feel the stone belly of your instructor, to whom you will be attached for the first jump in your life. The most frightening moment is the opening of the door, when cold air and noise of the wind make you nearly nervous and you have to follow the professionals, who are already out of the plane. These three steps to the sky, like a clumsy baby, with the instructor on your back are enough to remember all happy moments in your life and to enjoy the fullness of panic in your heart. However, when you are hanging out and the instructor shakes on the threshold of the plane to make a good jump, simply look forward and imagine how nice it would be to walk on the white fluffy clouds, even if you have to go to heaven for this. And then you drop down with your arms spread - it is difficult to breath, your body is trembling, instructor rolls around making pirouettes with you and one minute of free fall seems an eternity. Try to avoid passing through the clouds - small water crystals are pretty sharp. The only though that is left in your mind is - why would I do this? Why would not I live as other normal people? When will it finish? A few seconds and the parachute opens - speed falls down to zero and you can hear the quietness of the sky. Relax now and use the knees of your instructor as an armchair - after all he has to compensate for the fear that he gave you with his air contortionist tricks. You can see small houses, a river, petty cars and air, and air, and air ahead. Going down with the parachute is a long process, but it is a good chance to meditate - all next week you will mocking at things that you would consider "tough problems" before, gaze at the certificate marking your first jump and watching the video with your distorted but happy face during the free fall from the height of a normal passenger flight.

The House of the Trubetsky Family (Usadba Trubetskikh)

In the center of the city, offside Komsomolsky Prospect (a favorite road for Politburo and Soviet Council of Ministers) there is a little nice looking park, which you can reach turning left upon your exit from Frunzenskaya metro station. It is situated right behind the ugly concrete building of the Youth Palace (one of the examples of Brezhnev's poor planning - the construction took over a decade) and is blocked on the left with the concrete and steel building of Nikoil investment company (a symbol of richness based on oil money with the small pyramid on the top - a tribute to Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov's taste). The park is not very big, but it has a pond with swans and ducks, a couple of tennis courts and a little stadium, a playground for children and a playground for dogs where sometimes they organize dog contests and demonstrate skills of service. What is nice that at the far right corner, there is a horse farm and a place for horseback riding and a little "zoo" demonstrating the animals living in Moscow - squirrels, different types of birds, as well as domestic birds of all types (turkeys, pigeons, chicken, geese, and so on). You can also listen to nightingales and participate in the municipal action "Let's count nightingales in Moscow". The park is even dearer to my heart, as a couple of decades ago it was called the Mandelshtam Garden after a famous Russian poet and all our school, which is nearby, was sent to help the gardeners with digging, cleaning, cutting during the lessons of "publicly useful labor". Hence, there is a certain personal contribution of mine to the beauty of this place.

Museum of Moscow History

When you get out of the subway for pedestrians at the Manezh Square and face the building of the Lenin Museum (with the sounds of classical music from one of the best bands of "street symphonic orchestra" still reaching your ears), look to your left-hand side and you will notice a small building. Normally it is not included in the excursions and is passed by, but it is worth going to this underground museum of Moscow history. The collection is made of the artifacts found during the construction of the Manezh underground trade and entertainment center - archeologists discovered some real treasures when they were allowed to dig in the heart of Moscow downtown. Spend about 30-40 minutes to see old coins and domestic stuff, a part of the wooden wall and Moscow centuries-old pavement, weapons and clothes. Feel yourself down to the center of the Earth and back in time in the reconstructed streets of medieval Moscow - maybe it will help you to find a secret passage to the Library of Ivan the Terrible, which is allegedly hidden a few yards away under the Red Square?

Zoological Museum

It is a classical example of the natural history museum with the big skeleton of a real dinosaur in the lobby. The building is on Nikitskaya street close to the old building of the Moscow University, which is now occupied by the Faculty of Journalism and the Institute for Asian and African Studies. The nearest metro station is Okhotny ryad - exit near National Hotel and walk a little having the Kremlin on your left hand side. The first turn on your right will be Nikitskaya and the museum is very close to the beginning of this street, also on the right-hand side. The smell of naphthalene is probably not the best of smells, but the variety of still nature is astonishing. And what is more, your visit will make happy the old honest ladies working in the museum since the Soviet times and really devoted to their job despite miserable salaries. A couple of dollars spent on a ticket and a booklet will make you feel the savior of the Russian scientific heritage and you will probably feel embarrassed and proud at the same time under the wave of sincere gratitude that you will receive for your small contribution. For a change and to feel the difference, exit the museum and simply cross the road. You will get to Romanov Dvor (Romanov's Yard) - a fancy building with the movie theater, expensive restaurants, banks, wellness studios and a fitness center. All-polished, smart looking, but emotionally empty place!

Botanical Garden

There are two botanical gardens in Moscow. The big one is near Vladykino metro station and reminds more of a forest than botanical garden, as a German friend of mine once said. It really has practically no signs on the trees or grass and a few indicators, and you can sometimes notice people digging out the flowers for their dachas. But there is another botanical garden - of the Moscow State University - and not all Muskovites are aware of this paradise of serenity in the core of the dusty downtown. Exit Prospekt Mira (brown, circle line) metro station, turn to the left and walk along for a couple of minutes - on your left-hand side you will see a small camouflaged passage, which is the entrance to the garden. In fact, it was allegedly in ruins after the collapse of the USSR, but then an investor who wanted to build a series of restaurants around the garden faced an ultimatum from the Moscow Government - to restore the beauty. He did not object and commissioned a group of British landscape designers, who eventually made a classical garden. Shadowed alleys are good for going out with babies, dark pond helps to calm down in the mid of the business day and a lunch at the terrace of Fasol (ex-Ogorod) club or Ptisa i Ryba (Bird and Fish) restaurant will add to this moment of truth. But be careful - if you come for dinner, you may find yourself at the retro music party - if you are not a fan of Soviet hits and dancing people in their forties, you better choose a quiet Italian restaurant (Vapiano) outside of the garden or try some Georgian cuisine in the court of "Kavkazskaya plennitsa" restaurant.