The Sartorialist is in Moscow doing his thing and posting pictures like this one.
It made me miss Moscow to see pictures from there
I have been lucky enough to have traveled to and spend time in Moscow several times and I have to tell you it is one of my favorite places in the earth visited thus far.
There is this fabulous dichotomy of rawness and luxury there unlike any other place in the world. And they play Fashion television in every lounge and bar to the same degree that they play TSN here in the west. That fact alone gets bonus points from me.
Shots from my hotel room
People always ask me if I felt safe there. And I have to tell you that I did. In fact I have felt more scared driving through parts of San Fransisco and Miami then I did while I was in Russia (and I say that with great love because I adore both those cities but if you live in SF and have been dumb enough to go down near the Turk street area at night, you know of what I speak).
When My Guy and I traveled there last, we went to out to dinner (at a Brazilian beef restaurant-just try to find Russian cuisine in Moscow- ha!), and after dinner, our friend/host went out to get us a cab.
He came back and we went out to the street where the most dilapidated, sorry-ass, run down car you have ever seen - ever - awaited us. But we put on our game faces - after all one of the the first thing you learn when traveling to other countries is to leave your western judgment at home and maintain a go with the flow type attitude - and into the car we get. An argument in Russian ensues between our friend and the driver over price and we are off. Weaving through crazy Moscow traffic and back allies, apparently following no traffic rules whatsoever. The floor is almost rusted through, the engine seems to be in the back seat behind us and the entire car reeks of gasoline to the point where we expect it to blow at any moment. At one point we are careening down a one way street the wrong way. My guy and I are in the backseat for the duration, hanging on for dear life and laughing our asses off cause otherwise we would cry.
Finally we arrive at the hotel and literally fall out of the car.
I swear I wanted to kiss the sidewalk.
I kissed my guy instead
See the car behind us? That is the "cab"
We ask our friend what the hell kind of cab that was and he patiently explains to us that in Russia the cab services are very expensive and to make extra money citizens often pick up "fares". Our crazy cab driver was nothing but some random guy looking to make a few rubles. Any common sense Russian knows this and these 'cabs" are a lot cheaper. A few days later we went out site-seeing on our own and found out just how expensive the real cabs can be - bloody highway robbery the prices turned out to be.
I do not however, endorse taking this local form of transportation on your own without a Russian guide with you. Its a good way to quickly not feel safe - trust me on this!
It does however I am told make you an instant honorary Russian.
Perhaps one day I will tell you how I became a honorary New Yorker by getting into a Yellow cab accident- now that's a story!
There is this fabulous dichotomy of rawness and luxury there unlike any other place in the world. And they play Fashion television in every lounge and bar to the same degree that they play TSN here in the west. That fact alone gets bonus points from me.
Shots from my hotel room
People always ask me if I felt safe there. And I have to tell you that I did. In fact I have felt more scared driving through parts of San Fransisco and Miami then I did while I was in Russia (and I say that with great love because I adore both those cities but if you live in SF and have been dumb enough to go down near the Turk street area at night, you know of what I speak).
When My Guy and I traveled there last, we went to out to dinner (at a Brazilian beef restaurant-just try to find Russian cuisine in Moscow- ha!), and after dinner, our friend/host went out to get us a cab.
He came back and we went out to the street where the most dilapidated, sorry-ass, run down car you have ever seen - ever - awaited us. But we put on our game faces - after all one of the the first thing you learn when traveling to other countries is to leave your western judgment at home and maintain a go with the flow type attitude - and into the car we get. An argument in Russian ensues between our friend and the driver over price and we are off. Weaving through crazy Moscow traffic and back allies, apparently following no traffic rules whatsoever. The floor is almost rusted through, the engine seems to be in the back seat behind us and the entire car reeks of gasoline to the point where we expect it to blow at any moment. At one point we are careening down a one way street the wrong way. My guy and I are in the backseat for the duration, hanging on for dear life and laughing our asses off cause otherwise we would cry.
Finally we arrive at the hotel and literally fall out of the car.
I swear I wanted to kiss the sidewalk.
I kissed my guy instead
See the car behind us? That is the "cab"We ask our friend what the hell kind of cab that was and he patiently explains to us that in Russia the cab services are very expensive and to make extra money citizens often pick up "fares". Our crazy cab driver was nothing but some random guy looking to make a few rubles. Any common sense Russian knows this and these 'cabs" are a lot cheaper. A few days later we went out site-seeing on our own and found out just how expensive the real cabs can be - bloody highway robbery the prices turned out to be.
I do not however, endorse taking this local form of transportation on your own without a Russian guide with you. Its a good way to quickly not feel safe - trust me on this!
It does however I am told make you an instant honorary Russian.
Perhaps one day I will tell you how I became a honorary New Yorker by getting into a Yellow cab accident- now that's a story!
My Guy and I drinking in the Red Square.
That's one of the gates to the kremlin behind us.
I love Moscow
That's one of the gates to the kremlin behind us.
I love Moscow
1 comment:
you're gorgeous
and you both make a lovely lovely pair!
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