My first week in Moscow

Finally I am in Moscow!!! I am discovering the city and country for myself! In the past I have never been to Russia, but funny fact is that I was born in the country where once Russia and Kazakhstan were members. That is why I always feel that former soviet countries are my fatherland.

It was not surprisingly that I found a lot of similarities between Moscow and Almaty, my home town, but differences are also present. The biggest difference is caused by the size of the city. The only convenient and cheap way of transportation in the city is the subway system. If you need to get anywhere you will have to use Moscow Metro (subway). Traveling by car is not an option for a lot of middle income people. Surprisingly the Moscow subway system is very convenient and user friendly. Everywhere are signs and information boards about how to travel. However, it is easy to find directions only if you speak Russian (most of the signs are in Russian only). Trains are going extremely fast and noisy. On the other hand, it is not tidy and subway trains look old but it perfectly works. I like Moscow Subway for its convenience and distinct appearance.

Also I was impressed by the State Tretyakov gallery where I ended up spending more than 5 hours. It has a big collection of Russian fine art and a lot of art works have interesting stories and in general represent history of the land. In the 5 hour period I was able to enjoy great works of Vereshchagin, Aivazovsky, Rublev and at the same time to deepen my knowledge of Russian political, social and cultural transformation throughout the history. Also I was able to visit the famous Red Square, but wasn’t much impressed. I went there on Sunday afternoon and the place was full of tourists walking everywhere and taking pictures. It was so fake and unnatural that I decided not to act as everyone else and after taking a few pictures I put my camera aside.

These are my first impressions and thoughts about Moscow!