My Romance with Russia…

From never having been on my ‘ bucket list’ – to coming back awe struck and craving for more… That s Russia in a nutshell (atleast that s how I saw it…) ?

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Completely surprising, gratifying on soooo many levels; and most of all defying various misconceptions. Just perrrrrffffect for a  7-8 day holiday . (Split between St Petersburg and Moscow).  I definitely intend going back to Moscow though, at some point; and then covering some of the smaller towns and the countryside.

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Remnants of centuries past, the post World War II era; and a ‘fast track fast forward ‘ to the 21st century.

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Now when I think back, I don’t even know how and why I had built up some of those pre-conceived notions, in my mind…Happily they were all shattered ? .

Firstly, Russia is fabbbuuuullllous value for money. We were having’ gourmet’ quality meals, practically at QSR prices.  The hotels and Airbnb are almost half of what you would pay for – for that standard, in Western Europe. And taxis are’nt expensive (especially the Uber equivalent Yandex and some other private aggregators).

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The people were rrrrealllly friendly – and helpful (and fun) .  In state run establishments (the metro stations, museums etc); as well as restaurants and shops..  Although –  keep in mind –  English is barely spoken and hardly any signs are in English either ? .    Fortunately  Google Translate and the good old fashioned sign language – took care of all our queries). 

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The infra structure rocks..Superb!  Whether it’s the public transport facilities, amenities or even the cleanliness in public areas – and the cities overall.  In this aspect, communism has delivered, and how.  I have yet to see a country where the metro stations are positively ‘palatial’.

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The biggest surprise  of all, was that the ‘spirit’ of both cities was definitely NOT  ‘spartan, frugal or cold’. On the contrary, you’d easily think you were in New York or Hong Kong.

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The streets are crowded, there s no dearth of fabulous bars and restaurants open fairly late into the night (maybe even all night).; and there’ s upscale ‘high street’ shopping wherever you  go.

Contrary to popular belief (or atleast whatever we ‘ve read in modern history; and from media accounts, up until a few years ago); its ‘capitalism’ bang in your face.

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Actually come to think of it….THE BIGGEST SURPRISE OF ALL WAS IN FACT, THE FOOD. Especially the amaazzzing vegetarian options.

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We  had gone with zero food expectations. BOY WERE WE LIVING UNDER A ROCK!!! You could plan a foodies trip to Russia .  It is sooooo  good and so diverse –that  I need to put it under a separate post..? . Genuinely, innnssssanelllly good ? ; and the ‘vibe’ was suppperrbbbbb.   I definitely need to mention the nightlife – we have ‘partied’ until 4am, at some amaazzzing spots; and found enough places to eat at post that; even at that odd hour.

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The one thing that s bang on – with everything you read and hear………The weather is bittterrrllllyyy cold. We got snowfall in October!

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Its a craaazzzzyyy amount of walking (be totally prepared for it, if like me, you like exploring on foot). EVVVERRRRYTHING is larger than life (especially in Moscow) – their scale of doing things is something else entirely..There are places where you don’t ‘cross’ the road..Its too wide. You have to only use the underpass
? .  2 blocks away means 2 kilometres away!

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Some roads have 8 lanes – no it was’nt a highway – it was just an arterial road.. ?

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Oh – I must say, the Sapsan train between Moscow and  St Petersburg is super  fast, convenient and comfortable. The just under  4 hour journey  flew by actually….(But on reaching Moscow by train, don’t let the station and its neighbourhood dismay you..Its an anomaly to everything else that Moscow is ? .

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