Visiting Moscow

[B737NG]

Hello everyone,

I am going to be in Moscow for about 3 weeks helping with the startup of AA's ORD-DME service June 2nd. Does anyone have any pointers about Moscow in general. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[GSEMAN]

I hope to go there some day with my son. I don't have any input but maybe you can give is some when you return. Bon Voyage!!

 

[B737NG]

Thanks I will let you know how it was. It seems that there aren't very many people that have visited Moscow recently. I am just curious as to what to do and what to avoid.

 

[CynicalResAgent]

I have never been to Moscow but I have always found the Lonely Planet guide books to be spot on with their recommedations when ever I have gone to a place that is not a usual top 10 tourist type destination (former eastern european countries). I'd love to hear how it is.... I can't recall anything specific that I have heard from some travel agent clients but it has mostly been positive.

 

[does this plane go to paris]

Hello everyone,

I am going to be in Moscow for about 3 weeks helping with the startup of AA's ORD-DME service June 2nd. Does anyone have any pointers about Moscow in general. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

I was in Moscow last summer and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Growing up in the Cold War, I had imagained one thing and experienced a totally different city. The people are very friendly and for the most part, if you are in the tourist area's or hotel will have no problem with finding someone to translate or speak english. Have some names of great restaurant's and things you should see.

Moscow is a HUGE city and you will need a guide. If you want, you can pm and will pass along more.

 

[autofixer]

I have not been there since '78, but the Metro was very user friendly...probably the easiest I have used.

 

[B737NG]

I just wanted to say that I returned from Moscow and I wanted to post my observations. I am really indifferent about returning. For the most part, it isn't a very easy city to get around in. Very few people spoke any English at all. All the signs are in Russian and its a language that you cannot even come close to deciphering. The people are not friendly at all, almost condescending, and that includes the persons that staffed the hotels and restaraunts. (I stayed at the Milan Hotel) We did have some problems with the credit card bills(ie charging for the other persons bill on my credit card, which happened more than once) We also were stopped by the traffic police and had to pay a bribe (500 rubles, so as not to get a ticket, and that was when one of the local persons that we were training was giving us a ride from the airport to the metro) The metro on the otherhand is relatively easy to navigate as long as you know where you are going and watch the signs in the station as to which stop to get off on, because all the announcements are in Russian and very hard to understand and if you have a metro map thats in English it doesn't match up to the Russian words(street maps are the same way). I will say that that the strangest thing to me was that everyone appeared to live in apartment buildings. There were literally blocks and blocks of apartment buildings that seemed to have been built in the 50s and 60s. I would put the costliness of Moscow right up there with London. If you stop at gas stations for water and sodas you will definitely be doing yourself a favor.
The Kremlin, Red Square, and St. Basils Cathedral were impressive. Other than those and a few other places, the architecture is really rather plain. I will say that it was a really neat experience to see the things that were off limits not too long ago. Having the opportunity to experience what I did was worth the trip, but it was overshadowed by the overall experience that I had. I will say that we felt safe the whole time we were there and not threatened in any manner. Its like any other big city, you just have to avoid the places where you wouldn't feel comfortable in. Not meaning to offend anyone, but just my take on the trip.