From Russia with Love.

Ugh ugh ugh!


Guess who is back for this last post in Finland?...(so sad it is almost the end...)
This time we traveled To Russia, Moscow and SPB (saint-petersburg) for 8 days!
This trip was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! no doubt about and i'm still alive!
First i was scared , because this country is not so welcoming for foreigners. And i was right a bit, they don't speak and this is very hard to be understood by the Russian people in the streets, and even if you want to order something (the funny part was when we tried to order meals in McDonalds, IT WAS EPIC, I COULD NOT MAKE MYSELF CLEAR LOL IT TOOK AT LEAST 10 Min !). I said this country is not so welcoming to the foreigners because in this country the neo-nazi groups may manifest without any problems and this is crazy! Fortunately, i missed this kind of crazy manifestations !



About Moscow, people are stylish and the cost of life is nothing compared to Europe. In the streets, you can see one Porsche just next to one old car. There is a big gap between the rich and the poor. The architecture is quite old but it is a historical city with a lot of orthodox churches at every corner. I can not say Russian people knows how to drive, because they used to drive worst than finnish people, as the Russian guide said "don't hesitate when You cross the street!". It is funny, Moscow still stucks in the 90's, the building are old and not modern at all. Moscow is a very huge city! with a lot of Traffic jams it is crazy, u can stop during 30 min and the phenomena occurs every day! even the Sunday ! Compared to Helsinki, Moscow is not safe at all, for example at the main railroad station, a unofficial group of persons control the parking lot, and u have to give them money if u want to keep ur car clean and not destroyed. The police does not do something about that! The police is like transparent! So transparent that we had to respect the Ten Commandments (e.g number 2: dont walk alone. number 7: still keep your passport on you (special Moscow, don't need in Saint Petersburg)...).
At some Moscow's markets, we always had to bargain, because they knew that we were tourists, so the prices started HIGH, so just one word "Bargain". In Russia you may notice, that the local people do not speak english at all (not all of them). if you were ignored when asking help, it doesn't mean that the Russian are rude and impolite (most of them are just too embarrassed to speak english). Remember, that soviet Union was a closed country, and although foreign languages were taught in schools, no one really had to chance to use or practice it(like everywhere).
And the best for last, the best point of Moscow (according to me), this is the subway. Because i took several subways in my life, i went to paris, to new york (one of the most nasty and dirty), to philly, to washington, to dallas, to london, to zurich, to bruxelles and so on but i never saw a subway like this.

The moscow's metro, all stations can be called "Little Museum", for their posh design and lavish use or marble, mosaics, sculptures and chandeliers. Built during Stalin's rule, these metro stations were supposed to display the best of Soviet architecture and represent the wealth of Soviet citizens. Today the moscow metro consists of 11 really efficient subway lines with over 160 stations (all different and all clean), JUST A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, it is like a museum at each subway station. I dont forget the Lenin mausoleum, the red square and the kremblin so famous as well.


Then about Saint Petersburg called the Venice of the north. Often referred to as "the Venice of the north", SPB is an extraordinary and ravishingly beautiful city. Founded by the Russian star Peter The Great in 1703, it was meant to become Russia's window to Europe. An important trade access point to the Baltic Sea and the most modern capital in Europe. The best architects and masters of many trades from Russia and Europe were invited to plan the new capital. Saint petersburg was the capital city of the Russian empire from 1712 until 1918. I went to the famous museum, The State Hermitage Museum, this is a gorgeous manifestation of Russian baroque ranks as one of the world's finest art museums. It houses more 2.7 million exhibits (some are hidden) representing all mayor art styles and artists, such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Goya and so on...

This trip was of one the most existing trip of my life, i can't realize it. this country so different compared to what i used to see around, this country so unfashionable, this country so stuck in the 90's. (MacDonald just arrived 20 years ago, i know it is not a reference but i just wanted to notice it and it is not allowed to drink the water from the bathroom, water in russia is not drinkable, everyone has to buy bottles of water).And with euro currency we were so so so rich there! lol


Thank All of You, Who have read this Blog!