Sip a cappuccino in view of the Kremlin. Munch on lunch while the crowds line up at Lenin’s Mausoleum. Enjoy an afternoon aperitif while admiring St Basil’s domes. This café on the 1st floor of GUM is the only place to sit right on Red Square and marvel at its magnificence.
The early metro lines were laid very deep underground to be used as bomb shelters during the war. In November 1941, when German troops were looming and the Soviet Union was fighting for survival, Stalin addressed his forces in the central station.
From Eyewitness Travel Moscow.
The Moscow Metro was one of the USSR’s most extravagant architectural projects. Stalin ordered the metro’s artists and architects to design a structure that embodied svet (radiance or brilliance) and svetloe budushchee (a radiant future).[11] With their reflective marble walls, high ceilings and grandiose chandeliers, many Moscow Metro stations have been likened to an “artificial underground sun”.[12] This underground communist paradise[12] reminded its riders that Stalin and his party had delivered something substantial to the people in return for their sacrifices. Most importantly, proletarian labor produced this svetloe budushchee.
The metro design’s emphasis on verticality was a reinforcement of Stalin’s deification[citation needed]. He directed his architects to design structures which would encourage citizens to look up, admiring the station’s art (as if they were looking up to admire the sun and—by extension—him as a god.[13] Another aspect of the apotheosis propaganda was the metro’s electrification; the Moscow Metro’s chandeliers are one of the most beautiful and technologically advanced aspects of the project.
The Moscow Metro is a state-owned enterprise.[2] Its total length is 308.7 km (191.8 mi) and consists of 12 lines and 186 stations. The average daily passenger traffic is 6.6 million. Ridership is highest on weekdays (when the Metro carries over 7 million passengers per day) and lower on weekends. Each line is identified according to an alphanumeric index (usually consisting of a number), a name and a colour. Voice announcements refer to the lines by name. A male voice announces the next station when traveling towards the centre of the city, and a female voice when going away from it. On the circle line the clockwise direction has a male announcer for the stations, while the counter-clockwise direction has a female announcer. The lines are also assigned specific colours for maps and signs. Naming by colour is frequent in colloquial usage, except for the very similar shades of green assigned to the Kakhovskaya Line (route 11), the Zamoskvoretskaya Line (route 2), the Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya Line (route 10) and the Butovskaya Line (route L1).
The system operates in an enhanced spoke-hub distribution paradigm, with the majority of rail lines running radially from the centre of Moscow to the outlying areas. The Koltsevaya Line (route 5) forms a 20-kilometre (12 mi)long ring which enables passenger travel between these spokes. Signs showing the stations that can be reached in a given direction are in each station.[3] A complete map is also on each station both inside and outside, and in the trains, but not on the platforms. Most of the stations and lines are underground, but some lines have at-grade and elevated sections. TheFilyovskaya Line is notable for being the only line with most of its route at grade.
From:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Metro
More than 40 years ago Gilbert Becaud, famous French chansonier, gave performances in Moscow. Returned to France, he wrote a song “Natalie” and dedicated it to Natalie, his Russian interpreter. There are such words in this song: “We are walking around Moscow, visiting the Red Square and you are saying learned words about Lenin, the revolution, but I am thinking: “I wish we sat in the “Café Pushkin”, with snow falling outside the windows, we would be drinking hot chocolate and talking of another things… ”.
The song became incredibly popular in France, and it is no wonder that in Moscow the Frenchmen searched for the “Café Pushkin” and failed to find it because it was solely the poetic fantasy of Becaud. It was the song that compelled Andrey Dellos to create “Café Pushkin”.
And finally on June 4th, 1999, on Tverskoy boulevard Moscow, “Café Pushkin” was opened in a Baroque mansion, which opening was attended by Gilbert Becaud and there he sang his world-famous song “Natalie”.
http://www.cafe-pushkin.ru/en/
The café, which is really a five-star restaurant, is open 24 hours a day and is a local signature. It was a most intriguing place for us. The waiters stood guard around me with my camera. “No pictures! We do not compromise the identity of our patrons.” We lingered over a long lunch next to a table of dark suited, expressionless, silent men in waiting with double parked Mercedes along the curb outside, all in a dark suit with an ear phone at the ready, Right out of a James Bond movie.
With special permission, I was allowed to take a picture of our dessert to share.
Founded in 1856 by the wealthy merchant, Pavel Tretyakov, the Tretyakov has the largest collection of Russian art in the world. Thankfully our travel companion Zoya has a rich cultural background. She was the perfect tour guide. The art was spectacular beyond words on its own, she brought it to life. I can’t thank you enough Zoya! Your time and sharing during the entire trip was a priceless gift!
Ilya Repin, ‘Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan’ 1581
Portrait of Anton Chekov
Vasily Pukirev, Misalliance, 1862
Karl Bryullov, ‘Rider’, 1832
We had a lovely dinner at the most charming ethnic Georgian Cafe right off the Tverskaya. 
Flannel Blankets on the back of the chairs…..
The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of the largest museums in the world, with three million works of art and one of the oldest art galleries and museums of human history and culture in the world. The vast Hermitage collections are displayed in six buildings, the main one being the Winter Palace which used to be the official residence of the Russian Tsars
Catherine the Great started the famed collection in 1764 by purchasing more than 225 paintings from Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky, after bankruptcy in the year before. Gotzkowsky provided 225 paintings to the Russian crown, to be able satisfy to his obligations. Flemish and Dutch masters such as Dirck van Baburen, Hendrick van Balen, Rembrandt, Rubens, Jacob Jordaens, Antoon van Dyck, Hendrick Goltzius, Frans Hals, Jan Steen and Gerrit van Honthorst formed the basis and the beginning of the collection in the Hermitage. Russian ambassadors in foreign capitals were commissioned to acquire the best collections offered for sale: Brühl’s collection in Saxony, Crozat’s in France, and the Walpole gallery inEngland. Catherine called her art gallery my hermitage, as very few people were allowed within to see its riches. In one of her letters she lamented that “only the mice and I can admire all this.” She also gave the name of the Hermitage to her private theatre, built nearby between 1783 and 1787.
Michelangelo
The collection of the State Hermitage includes more than three million works of art and artefacts of the world culture.
Antonio Canova
It is said that if one spends 1 minute in front of each museum exibit, it would take 10 years to see them all.
Rembrandt – Danae
Rembrandt – Flora
Rembrandt – Return of the Prodigal Son
Botero – Still Life w Watermelon
Marquet – Notre Dame
Renior – Woman on a Stair
Cezanne – Blue Landscape
Van Gogh – Madame Trabuc
Renior – Ladies of Arles
Matisse – Lady on a Terrace
Matisse – Music
Matisse – Dance
Matisse – Young Woman in Blue Blouse
Matisse – Woman in Green
Matisse – Family Portrait
Matisse – Conversation
Matisse – Portrait of the Artist’s Wife
Kees van Dongen – Lady in a Black Hat
Picasso – Violin and Guitar
| Church of the Birth of St. John the Baptist (Chesme Church) Built alongside the Chesme Palace as an Imperial posting house on the way to Tsarskoe Selo, this wedding-cake gothic building is one of the most unusual and attractive in St. Petersburg.. |
City Hall Building, St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg was named for its founder, Tsar Peter I, better known as Peter the Great. He was the grandson of Mikhail Romanov, founder of the Romanov dynasty that ruled Russia from 1613 until the Russian revolution in 1917. Peter’s rise to power was not as easy as most monarchs. He was the son of Tsar Alexis (1645-1676) and his second wife. In order to become Tsar, Peter had to deal with his older half sister Sophie who was ruling Russia. After building up loyalty among the army, Peter overthrew Sophie and sent her to a convent in Moscow in 1689. In May 1703 Peter laid the cornerstone of the fortress he named St. Petersburg, in honor of the guardian of the gates of heaven. (And, coincidentally, his name!) Peter built a shipyard across the Neva River from the fortress, giving Russia a European trading seaport and important access to the West. In 1712, Peter moved the capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg and required all of the aristocracy to (1) move there, (2) build lavish homes for themselves, and most importantly, (3) contribute to paying for the construction of the government buildings there. Peter had studied fortification and shipbuilding in Western Europe and greatly influenced the design of the city with his ideas.
City Hall from the inside looking out.
Russian interpreter.
Portrait of Lenin in City Hall.
Lenin’s office is kept as it was when he last left it…this is the desk of his admin, right out side his door.
Lenin had a cot in room around the corner of his office that use to catch some rest.
Lenin’s desk as he left it.
This reception at the American Embassy on September 11th began with a moment of remembrance of that fateful day. What am amazing feeling it was to be in Russia and paying tribute to 9/11 – 11 time zones from home where the news was no doubt all about remembrance.
Singer House, also widely known as House of Books is a historical landmark building located at intersection of Nevsky Prospekt with Griboyedov Canal, just opposite of the Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is officially recognized as an object of Russian historical-cultural heritage.
The building was designed by architect Pavel Suzor for the Russian branch of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Initially, the management of the Singer Company had ambitions to construct a skyscraper, similar to the Singer Building – company headquarters being built at that time in New York. However, the building code of Saint Peterburg center did not allow structures taller than 23.5 meters (the height of the Winter Palace – tzar’s residence). The architect found an elegant solution – the seven story building featured a tower on the top crowned with a glass globe.[1] This tower makes an impression of high rise, but due to its lightness, it doesn’t shadow neither the Kazan Cathedral nor the Church of the Savior on Blood. The sculptor was the Estonian Amandus Adamson.
After the October revolution, the building was given to the Petrograd State Publishing House in 1919. It quickly became the city largest book store and earned the nickname of “House of Books”. The bookstore remained functioning during the Siege of Leningrad until November 1942. It reopened again in 1948. The building was closed for reconstruction during 2004-2006.
Kafe Zinger (Singer Cafe) // Nevsky Prospekt 28 (2nd floor of Dom Knigi) // Daily 9 a.m. to 11 .p.m., credit cards accepted // Menu in English and Russian // Lunch for two without alcohol 1,885 rubles ($60)
By Rachel Wetherfield
The St. Petersburg Times
Published: June 11, 2009 (Issue # 1482)
Nestled on the second floor of the iconic building opposite Kazan Cathedral that formerly housed the Singer company and is now home to the popular bookshop Dom Knigi, this hidden gem is a refreshing change from the monotonous franchises found elsewhere on Nevsky.
Recently renovated, with an impressive cake counter on the right as you walk in, the interior is characterized by dark wooden circular tables, gleaming white china, an authentic-looking parquet to match the rest of the shop and walls and chair covers in a deep green color scheme, so that guests can almost imagine themselves transported back to St. Petersburg’s glorious imperial past.
The serving staff, dressed in green and black to match the decor, were falling over themselves to serve us. Their willingness to speak English, with the courteous touch of inquiring which language we would prefer, suggests that the cafe is no stranger to the tourist trade.
The window seats, with their impressive view of the fountain in front of Kazan Cathedral, are certain to be the most coveted, but the cafe does not lack space, and stretches beyond the first hall into a second, much larger room with extensive seating and a bar serving alcoholic drinks.
The clientele is an eclectic mix: two English students at a neighboring table were soon replaced by a quartet of immaculately dressed Russian women who appeared to be St. Petersburg’s answer to “Sex and the City,” while across the aisle, a young Russian family looked to be enjoying a quiet lunch.
The menu is attractively presented on a single sheet of card, with a slightly pretentious nod to its surroundings in the form of literary quotes in both Russian and English decorating its edges. It offers a range of sandwiches (350 rubles, $11), both European and Russian soups (150 to 175 rubles, $5 to $5.50), fresh salads (175 to 450 rubles, $5.50-$14.50) and a few hot dishes, including omelets and blini.
The Caesar Salad with jumbo prawns (450 rubles, $14.50) was beautifully presented in a deep white china dish, garnished with strips of parmesan cheese and the ubiquitously Russian touch of a sprig of dill, but the toughness of the prawns and the rather-too-generous sauce somewhat marred the overall experience. A much better bet was the solyanka soup (175 rubles, $5.50), which was both well-presented and flavorsome, followed by a toasted tuna sandwich (350 rubles, $11), the attractive presentation of which was only tainted by the somewhat incongruous addition of fluorescent cocktail sticks.
Having walked past the shiny glass counter containing tempting pastries and gateaux on the way in, diners may find it impossible to leave without sampling them. The wait staff are happy to offer personal recommendations about the impressive selection of cakes, which unfortunately are not listed on the menu.
The hot chocolate with chili (150 rubles; $5) was divine — served in the Russian style and more like a cup of melted chocolate than many Western equivalents, and topped off by the chili’s warming kick. The cappuccino cake was a decadent accompaniment to this, though it was a little pricey (250 rubles, $8) and slightly dry. The alcoholic drinks menu is separate, and far more extensive than the range of specialty teas.