Moscow Expat Life Issue 2 by Moscow expat Life

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Sh sc ou ac re ts A ro am , h us s o ki s t s w lle C he e rs, ol f re a d or h n Pl es ea d un t! r d ge “T Ea he An st re dr ern is W ew E e u Q rop ste ua e rn yl a Eu e nd ro Ru pe ss , ia .”

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SPRING 2013

Don Craig’s ‘Big’20’

INDEX Community:

6. The Swedish Women’s Educational Association 8. The Moscow Mellow Divas 10. The Third Annual Cold Plunge for the Homeless 11. British Business Club meeting 24.1.13 14. The Indian Community 18. From the White Sea to the Black Sea by Sail

Sport:

20. Rugby Sevens World Cup 2013 24. Golf in Thailand, Thai Golf News

Charity Leaders:

28. Niall Carton Makes to the South Pole and Back Alive! 30. Charity Listings 32. Kidsave

Out & About

Back to The Past 37. 1989 38. Frederickovich part II

Health

40. Moscow Health Matters

Embassies

42. Irish Ambassador Philip McDonagh

Education

45. Secondary Education in Moscow 50. Digging an Educated Hole to China

The Line

52. Being Robbed in Moscow

SPRING 2013

17. Papa Don’s Big 20 33. Casa Agava Anniversary 34. Social Movers

Moscow Personalities 54. Andrew Quayle 56. Anton Greiler

Arts

59. Scandinavian Animation 60. Moscow Opera

Other Stuff

62. Snow Clearing 64. What Expats Miss About Moscow 70. Scottish Country Dancing in Moscow

Hole in the Wall

68. The Tea Shop 72-93. Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Café and Restaurants 94. Essential Information

Letter EXPEDITION TROPHY 2013 OFF-ROAD RALLY

xpedition has been organizing the Trophy since 2005, and the 6th edition is to start on February 23rd, 2013. It’s an epic event, in which several teams (Russian and International) will cover almost 17,000 km, driving from Murmansk to Vladivostok. Unlike events like Paris-Dakar or the Camel Trophy, ‘winning the race’ is not the sole philosophy behind the race. In fact, it visits so many unique landmarks and cultural places, that it is a showcase of Russia as a beautiful, diverse and adventurous country. One of the main slogan of the race is- ‘There is enough road for everyone’ meaning, that literally everyone is welcome to join the race, no matter the citizenship, sex, religion or political view. In order to participate, you need to visit our English web-page (http://www. expedition.com/en/) follow the link to our projects and simply click on “register for the race”. Our team will do the rest.

The route is:

Murmansk – Povolzhie – Baikonur – Baikal – BAM – Vladivostok

All the resources from Moscow expat Life available for you online 24 hours a day

limited number of VIP & Guest passes for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia (see advertisement on page 67) is available for the first 100 to write in: editor@moscowexpatlife.ru

• • • •

All stories in e-format in addition to archives FREE Classified advertising Searchable Restaurant/Bar guide All current events

www.MoscowExpatLife.ru

Ole

Ole Ole!

At last the Spring is on its way! Vast mountains of snow have now been cleared from Moscow streets, and the squadrons of bulldozers and trucks used to do this job have been put away until the winter. The amazing story of where the snow goes to, a theme suggested by the publisher of this magazine, is covered on pages 6263 of this issue. As the sun comes out, and the babushkas signal the

end of the cold weather, all Russians discard at least one layer of warm clothing. In tune with the rising temperature, Moscow gradually reveals more and more of its truly glorious self. For many, the spring is the best time to be here. Although most of us speak and read English, the foreign community in Moscow is multinational and multi-cultural. In this issue of Moscow expat Life we take you on a tour of the vast Indian community, and Gustafson Bril and Cecilia Wettstam introduce the Swedish Women’s Educational Association. Irish Ambassador Phillip McDonagh is a well-known Moscow personality who is unfortunately due to be posted elsewhere later this year, however Moscow expat Life took the opportunity in interviewing him whilst he is still here,

and he shares his conviction that culture can influence politics. Sport is also important, and the upcoming Rugby Sevens (pps 20-21) provide an opportunity to support Russian sport and network. For those wishing to exercise their legs without going on a long treks, Moscow offers a huge variety of dance classes, one of which is the Scottish Country Dance Society (pps. 70-71). Here you can twist and turn to the strains of The Bees of Maggieknockater, or The Belle of Bon Accord. For those wishing for more upbeat entertainment, Moscow’s Social Movers, who many already know (pps. 34-35) tell us a little of what is in store for us in terms of night fun. Whatever you are into, I hope that you enjoy this issue of Moscow expat Life.

Have You Noticed?

Colophon Publisher:

Kim Waddoup, kim@aigroup.ru

Editor:

John Harrison, editor@moscowexpatlife.ru

Designer:

Julia Nozdracheva, designer@moscowexpatlife.ru

Researchers:

Anastasia Soldatova Aleksandra Markova Alena Kizimova Natalia Alexandrovna

Administration: Alina Kurpas Liliya Islamova

Contributors:

Olga Samsonova, Max Ernst, David Morely, Kim Waddoup, Peter Hainsworth, Chiara Pascarella, Don Craig, Olga Go Lov, Don Scott, Lucy Kenyon, Frederickovich, Andrew Bartley, Marie Katrina, Andrew Bartlett, Coralie Sneddon, Anthony David, Lucy Marryat, Maxine Mathers, Dali Asatiani, Chris Helmbrecht, Elena Berdichevski, Mike Bridge, Sharon Wilson, Tom Wiseman-Clarke, Elizabeth Malloy.

Editorial Address: 3rd Frunzenskaya 5, Bldg 1, Office 1 119270 Moscow, Russia Tel +7 495 777 2577 www.MoscowExpatLife.ru info@moscowexpatlife.ru

All rights reserved Printed by Blitzprint. Moscow representative office: 127051,Moscow, Petrovsky Boulevard, Dom 10 This publication is registered by the Press Ministry No. TY50-01602 Moscow expat Life occasionally uses material we believe has been placed in the public domain. Sometimes it is not possible to identify and contact the copyright owner. If you claim ownership of something we have published, we will be pleased to make a proper acknowledgement.

Community

The Swedish

Women’s Peter Hainsworth Educational Association

an amazing, spacious flat overlookin Patriashy Prudy, with a feeling of space that is truly Scandinavian, I met Anna Gustafson Bril, the President of SWEA Moscow (Swedish Women’s Educational Association) and Cecilia Wettstam, Vice President of SWEA Moscow. Cecilia Wettstam will most likely be elected the new President end of February. Over banana cake and pumpkin soup, made according to recipes that can be found on the SWEA blog www.swea-

The average age in our chapter here in Moscow is around 40, i.e., not that old. Traditionally, Swedish women have mostly ventured abroad together with their families. Nowadays, we see that there are many more young Swedish women relocating and travelling for work by themselves. In Sweden, approximately 90% of mums work; there are almost no stay-at-home mothers. When you come to Russia, however, it is not so easy to continue your career immediately. Nevertheless, there are a substantial number of Scandinavian women who work professionally here, mainly within Scandinavian companies. We also have a surprisingly large number of

Anna Gustafson Bril,

President SWEA Moscow +7 916 102 7531 Email: ordfsweamoskva@gmail.com www.swea.org/moskva www.sweamoskva.blogspot.com moskva.blogspot.com, Anna and Cecilia told me about Swedes in Moscow and about what SWEA Moscow does.

How many Swedes live in Moscow? The embassy has a list of fewer than 1000 people, but I think that there are more Swedes here, maybe as many as 1500. There are about 400 Swedish companies operating in Russia, which is quite a lot, more than the Danes or Norwegians have – but the Finns have 1000 companies in Russia, so there we have some catching up to do!

Who are your members? The majority of SWEA’s 90 members in Russia are accompanying spouses, even though the trend is that more and more women come here by themselves for career reasons working for Swedish companies.

Russians ladies as members who have maybe lived in Sweden, or have studied Swedish here, and they are of course also welcome as members. Our doors are also open to other Scandinavians.

All Scandinavians have the same culture? What one realises when living abroad, is that the Nordic countries have so many things in common. For example, the Santa Lucia tradition, which celebrates an ancient Italian saint who helped the poor. Boys and girls dress up in white clothing, carrying candles and sing songs. Before moving to Moscow, I did not know that this is also celebrated in Norway and Denmark, maybe even in Finland. The mentality and thinking, the way of life is quite similar for all Scandinavian/Nordic people, according to my experience. Even the language, apart from Finnish which we cannot understand, is a rather low barrier which one

Community can get over. Swedes, Danes and Norwegians can understand each other, especially if everyone speaks slowly. The climate is also not vastly different.

Is SWEA an international organisation? The whole organisation has 7,500 members in 34 countries all over the world. So, the fact that our 90-member strong chapter in Moscow fits into a large international organisation, has many advantages. For instance, I and Cecilia Wettstam, our Vice President visited Vienna just a few months ago for a SWEA regional meeting, where we met with the other presidents in our part of the world, which was useful. Cecilia also works internationally with SWEA as part of the IT committee, where a big job of upgrading our web hosting is underway.

Do you help to bring Swedish cultural figures out to Moscow? We are a non-profit organisation so we don’t have a huge budget and therefore can’t bring large numbers of people to Moscow. The cultural department at the Swedish embassy and other organisations such as the Swedish Institute are geared up for that. Our

then there are the yearly Welcome Meetings that we organise in September in the Scandinavia restaurant. Other annual events in which the whole Swedish community takes part are Sweden Day, which we organise with the Swedish embassy celebration our National Day in June. There are so many activities that it’s sometimes hard to keep up. Cecilia will most likely take over from me in February, as I need a break from our busy SWEA schedule. There is a pre-conceived illusion about women’s clubs ‘that all they do all day is drink coffee and bake cakes.’ Many of us love baking, no doubt, but there is so much more. We organise lectures to understand the Russian culture better and we do a great amount of visits to Russian centres of culture for example. I feel that in a place like Russia, which in many ways is quite different from where we come from, it’s very important for our members to network in order to exchange ideas and experiences about life here.

You’ve been here for 7 seven years. Has your impression changed over the years? I always felt pretty good here in Russia. I like the Russians, I think

Cecilia Wettstam,

Vice President SWEA Moscow +7 985 233 9687 viceordfsweamoskva@gmail.com www.swea.org/moskva www.sweamoskva.blogspot.com

main purpose is to act as a network for our members, support Swedish culture and Swedish language; this is very important for us. For the last three years, however, we have started a tradition to bring somebody over to our February General Meeting. Last year we invited Ola Lauritzson, a diet specialist quite famous in Sweden who lectured about healthy ways of eating directly after our General Meeting. We also finance our ‘Sweden scholarship’ enabling a Russian woman to visit Sweden each year.

Do you have a favourite Swedish restaurant or place where you meet? We don’t have one particular place where we meet all the time, rather we try to discover new places of interest in Moscow. We also have meetings in our homes in the evenings and mornings,

they are warm, passionate, and intelligent people. We eventually came to live and work here on a permanent basis. But you’re exceptional. Do most Swedish people have the same attitude toward Russians as you do? Maybe there are Swedes who have a less positive impression of Russia because of negative media coverage in Sweden. However, often once they come over here, many discover that this is an amazing place; it is for example culturally very rich. Of course I think that there are challenges that you face when you live here, a lot of things don’t work as efficiently and easily as they do in the West, but that is not the whole story.

What do Swedes think of Russian men? Well, I can’t really say very objectively, because I am married to a Russian! But in general, Russian men like to make women feel like real women.

Community

The

Sharo n

Wilso n

Moscow

Mellow Divas

On Wednesday mornings, if you happen to walk past a certain apartment near Patriarshiye Prudy, you may hear female voices singing in three or four part harmony, as the Moscow Mellow Divas rehearse for their next concert. The choir was started by Sharon Wilson, a British soprano, in April 2005, initially for members of the British Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club, but was later expanded to include all other nationalities. There are currently about eight nationalities represented. The main purpose of the choir is to have fun making music and singing a wide variety of musical styles, but also to raise money from the performances, for several Russian charities. The two or three charities which receive donations each season are chosen from those in which some of the choir members are actively involved.

The programme for each of the twice-yearly concerts is put together by Sharon and covers a wide variety of musical styles including folk, musical theatre, popular classical, jazz and spiritual. The programmes always contain contributions from the full choir plus smaller ensemble groups and solos from within the choir. The range of experience and musical talent within the choir is also quite extensive, ranging from non-music readers who have not sung since their school days, to much more experienced singers and musicians. Sharon insists that it is not necessary for choir members to have accomplished solo voices. All that is needed is a love of singing, the ability to sing in tune (which she checks with a quick pitch test for new members) and availability for day-time rehearsals.

It has been proved that singing releases endorphins in the body (the same endorphins which are produced through exercise) and this lifts a singerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mood and spirits and help to create a feeling of well-being. This effect and the friendly sociability of the rehearsals are great reasons for expats and Russians alike to join the choir. Numbers do have to be limited to a maximum of 27 as the rehearsals take place in two or three of the choir membersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; apartments, but currently there are about 20 singers, so there are spaces for new choir members for this spring/ summer season. The concerts are performed in the first half of June and December. If any ladies wish to join the choir they can contact Sharon directly on swsmw52@gmail.com

Community

Shouts, hollers, and

S M A SCRE were heard across the forest!

Photography by Coralie Sneddon, www.coraliesneddon.com www.coraliesneddon.wordpress.com

The Third Annual Cold lunge for the Homeless For a short moment on Saturday, 100 expats got an extreme taste of Moscow’s winter when they went swimming in Lake Bezdonnoe in Serbranniy Bor. It was the third annual Cold Plunge for the Homeless, run by Auski the social group for Australians and New Zealanders in Moscow. One by one they entered the swim hole at the Polar Bear Club. Some of them swam the 10m or so length of the swimming hole, but most had barely got in before they turned right around again – so chilly was the water. Shouts, hollers, screams were heard across the forest! Blankets and slippers were provided by the event’s corporate supporters to ensure the plungers were able to get warm right away. Volunteers gave hot tea and other warming beverages.

Community A number of plungers opted to dress up in fun costumes and so the ‘Queen’ of England went for a dainty swim, followed by her Russian Royal Guards. “We are so pleased that Her Majesty was able to take time out of her busy schedule to join our event,” organiser Karen Percy told Moscow Expat Life with her tongue firmly in her cheek. The event began in 2011 under then Auski coordinator, Jessie Cumming, who wanted to do some good for the community. The first Cold Plunge for the Homeless was timed to coincide with Australia Day and Waitangi Day (the national day of New Zealand) when Aussies and Kiwis at home are enjoying summertime pursuits – the beach, barbecues, hiking. There were about 40 swimmers then, who raised about USD$8,000. Now it is a popular event on the expat calendar and is going from strength to strength. This year the organisers expect to collect more than USD$15,000 for homeless projects. Just a few weeks before tens of thousands of Russian Orthodox believers took part in an ephiphany swim to replicate the baptism of Jesus. And during

You can check out the fun on the Cold Plunge Auski Facebook page www.facebook.com/coldplunge.auski Donations can be made via our Go Fund Me online site – Auski Cold Plunge 2013 www.gofundme.com/1ez9l4 the winter many Russians take a regular ice dip believing that it has health benefits. “We love that we can bring together this most Russian of traditions, with a sense of charity,” Ms Percy said. “It’s a great event for a great cause!” Funds raised in 2011 and 2012 have been passed on to the Homeless Aid Services Caritas run by Marina Perminova. Once a week homeless people on the streets receive a warming cup of tea, and a modest plastic bag that contains a simple sandwich, a can of fish or meat, and an orange or mandarin. The fruit, says Ms Perminova, is to give them ‘some joy’ so that they might remember what their old, happy life was like. The program also aims to rebuild lives – and so the funds also assist in helping people to get replacement documents, passports etc. Sometimes a bus ticket home is provided, so that that person can go back to their home town. Many of the street people here are not from Moscow. They say to understand the plight of others you need to walk a mile in their shoes. For a group of expats just a few metres or a few seconds in chilly waters was enough to get a brief glimpse into the harsh life faced by tens of thousands of men, women and children who live on Moscow’s streets.

Organising an event?

Advertise for free at

ife.ru

www.Moscowexpatl

Community

British Business Club Meeting

Community

The British Business Club started the year off with a bang with its first meeting of the year at the Etaj Restaurant at Novoslobodsakay. Etaj restaurant group provided samples of their excellent international cuisine, and soft drinks were provided in generous quantities from Pepsi. The British business community appreciated the welcoming attitude of the British Business Club (and the alcohol) after the long winter break.

Community

New Delhi,

John Harrison

oscow

In 2012 there was

13.5 m square metres of class A office space in Moscow, in 1993 there were only

100,000 square metres

Community There are about 5,000 Indians living in Russia, according to the Indian embassy, which makes the Indian community one of the largest English-speaking communities in Russia. Diwali and Holi celebrations in Moscow can easily fill a hall with three thousand people. Being an Indian here means that one is part of a close-knit community with tight cultural and religious norms. But the Indian community does not shout from the roof tops: ‘here we are, look at us!’ In this issue, MeL goes Indian. Indians are positive about Russia. As Aby Jacob, an IT professional who works at Infosys in Moscow mentioned: “Moscow presents infinite opportunities and challenges at the same time. When compared to the Indian socio-economic situation, the differences are enormous. Moscow epitomizes a free and open society, a booming economy, heritage, vogue and panache; all these factors

Aby Jacob IT professional who works at Infosys in Moscow attract me. On the flipside, the weather, language and the traffic spoils the fun, and of course when it comes to corruption, Moscow makes me feel at home.” A strong strategic partnership with India during the Soviet Union laid the foundation of the close diplomatic, trade and cultural ties which the two countries enjoy today. More significant is the fact that Russia offers Indians the chance to succeed. So what do Indians do here? Sammy Kotwani, the president of the Indian Business Alliance and owner of Imperial Tailoring said: “The most popular business for Indians here is in importing and trading pharmaceuticals. There is also quite a lot of Indian activity in metals; we have two factories here. Then there are the people involved in textiles, who now import mostly from China rather than India. 40%-50% of the textiles provided to Russian manufacturers is supplied by Indian companies. Many of us are involved in tea and coffee importing which account for 32% of India’s total imports into Russia. Indian business people are able to adapt to the Russian market in terms of product size and pricing, but that does not mean that it is an easy market.” The question of whether or not Indians keep their religion wherever they go is not relevant. As Sammy Kotwani commented: “Some people [Indians] are very religious; some people are not quite as religious as they are, but everyone believes because he or she is an Indian.” The whole spectrum of Indian religious practices is present in Russia. “Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism are all here, and we also have Chris-

tians, even Russian Orthodox Christians. So we are pretty liberal. We all celebrate Eid al-Adha; it is a national holiday back home, we celebrate the birthday of Guru Nanak, and we all celebrate Diwali. We really do believe that God is one.” Indians in Russia demonstrate the advantages of being members of a tolerant, multi-religious society which India is at the present time is an example. Acceptance of another religion is only part of the story. Young Indians living here take it further and are integrating into society more thoroughly than many realise. Aby Jacob, who is typical of his generation: “I am part of a catholic community here in Russia, so on Sundays I meet people from multiple ethnic groups at my Church. I frequently visit the Opus-Dei Centre here in Moscow; we have a truly spiritual community.” At the same time, Aby drinks. “Though I have heard criticisms about Russian drinking habits, I feel this is certainly fine, and I have nothing to condemn. Liquor sales make up to 40% of the government’s revenue in the Indian state where I come from, and our revelries are even louder and more dangerous. Hard to believe? I would prefer to attribute Russian drinking habits more to the cold weather than to anything else.” Aby and young Indian professionals like him go clubbing, and engage in activities that might be looked down upon by Indians of a previous generation. “On weekends I go out with my colleagues and friends to museums, parks or visit places in the city or nearby Moscow. When the adrenaline is high, I go for ‘go

Sammy Kotwani

President of the Indian Business Alliance and owner of Imperial Tailoring carting,’ snowboarding or play some cricket or basketball. We have created an NGO here named ‘Basmanny Forum’ along with my friend Darius who heads the team. Once a week I play basketball with Russians and Lithuanians. Sometimes when I feel like hiding from the huff and puff of Moscow, I travel to my friend’s dacha and have a soothing weekend over Russian music, shashlik and some pivo . I also go to pubs and clubs at the weekends sometimes.” But that does not mean that Aby cuts out participation in Indian community activities. The Indian community in Moscow is changing in line with Indian society back home. A very few Indians, such as 45 year old Raj Maxwell, a partner in

Community the wildly successful IndiMor Catering company says that he does not have anything to do with the Indian community, and mixes only with expats from other countries and Russians. “I am not putting down Indian culture, but there are many things I do not like, like the bargaining and the lack of punctuality. Of course, the conservatism is good for most people, but you have to do what you feel is right for you. Only when I got married could I become accepted by the married Indian community, and I did not feel that to be right. I was alone morally and felt a hard shoulder for many years. As it happens, I got married last year, to a Russian lady and now we have a child, but now I do not mix with Indians. I am going all the way here, I love it, I intend to get Russian citizenship and buy property here.” However the majority of Indians now living in Moscow agree that the Indian business and cultural community is doing pretty well. Arti Soni, who has lived here for 23 years expressed that the

Raj Maxwell Partner in the IndiMor Catering company community has never been so strong, and one reason for that is the pro-community attitude shown by India’s present Ambassador. “Ambassador Ajai Malhotra is a Russian speaker and is actively engaged in the community, and this makes a big difference. If Indians in Russia have a problem, we can make direct contact with him. This is the first time that we have had such close links with the embassy,” Arti Soni said. On the friendship front, most westerners have expressed how ‘real’ Russian friendships are. Some Indians like Arti Soni agree: “I have made many lasting friendships here. Most of my friends are the same people whom I made friends with when I was a student here. Russian people are acutely sensitive, so are Indian people. If there are problems, they will always help, that is why I never feel I am alone here.” Aby is not so sure: “friendship means a different thing here. Outwardly it might look the same, but Indian friendship has more to it than Russian bonhomie. It is not just a ship floating on the surface but an iceberg whose intensity is tested and tried, and whose depths are more than what you can just see.” If there is one thing that unites Indians, it has to be food. “During the week, after long working hours, the evenings seem to be

pretty much mundane and the only question in mind is: ‘what about dinner?’ I sometimes go to an Indian restaurant, like Darbar, Devi café or Aromas, or I head to my kitchen. Russian food has been quite a challenge, to be honest,” commented Aby Jacob. A visit to Sammy Kotwani’s Imperial Tailoring means being treated to delicious samosas. Tastes change, as Arti Soni commented: “ I cook quite a lot of Indian food at home, but it is rather spicy for me now. So I cook a kind of mixture of Russian and Indian because my husband is from Azerbaijan, so our main dishes are made in the Parsi tradition, and these are quite similar to Indian dishes.” What do Indians think of marrying locally? The answer is positive; however views differ. Sammy Kotwani, whose own father refused to allow him to marry a Russian “for family and other reasons”, said: “This was very popular amongst people who came here during the Soviet Union. Many of these people are now in their 60’s and beyond. For Russian women, there is only one real gentleman, and that man is an Indian. Indians are loyal, they don’t run away, they don’t marry twice. Indian men respect Russian women, who are truly the best in the world. We foreigners really understand that.” Sammy Kotwani mentioned that the Indian business community faces many problems, in particular a lack of reliable information. “Lists of suppliers are difficult to come by,

Arti Soni

even if such lists exist, they may not be updated, and things change frequently. Not everybody here even has a proper business address. Work permit regulations are getting more and more complicated for all foreigners in Russia. It used to take one month to get a visa and work permit, now it takes three. Another problem is letters of credit. Russians have a different understanding of what they are. Tax is another problem in that the law changes quickly, and the same thing goes with customs. Russia is only 25 years old. The laws are there, but there are still a lot of strings attached to them. One small thing that troubles us greatly is work permits. If you have a work permit, you are allowed to bring your wife and children. What about your mother and father? The family is a massive part of Indian culture. In general, things are improving, but one has to keep on top of the ever changing situation.”

Out & About

The

Big

Papa Don Craig’s 20th anniversary in Russia We found Don whistling around Papa’s on the occasion of his Big Day

“What does today this mean for you?” “Today? It’s Wednesday!”

“What’s living in Russia like?”

“It’s not like anything. I’m still trying to figure out why I came here in the first place. I’m here, I’ve made the best out of it, and made a life here.”

“Any regrets?” “No.”

“Is there anything you want to say to the world on this great day?” “Come visit me.

Community

From the White Sea to the Black Sea by Sail

In the spring and summer of 2013 sailing yacht Tanui will sail through Russian internal waters. Tanui will be crewed by John Vallentine (Captain) and Maxine Mathers. This has been done before by only three other foreignflagged yachts. As from 2012, Russia and the rest of Europe have opened their internal waterways to each other. Licenses are no long needed as before. John Vallentine mentioned as to why he is doing this trip: “I am interested in Viking history and researching it”, he is also “looking at the possibility of a cruising guide for intrepid yachties who follow. Also, because I am here, and because you die.” Maxine Mathers said: “I never quite could stomach Russian tourism outside of Moscow but on a sailing boat it seems to lower the threshold.” As to potential problems, Maxine commented: “Obviously there are general bureaucratic problems. The license for foreign vessels to cruise the Russian inland waterways has been abolished recently. That knowledge probably won’t have filtered down yet to local levels. So I am sure we will get a few questions during the trip. And then play it by ear, I suppose? As we always do.” This trip is part of the 2013, Netherlands-Russia year programme. See: http://www.nlrf2013.nl Tanui will depart in Tromsø (Norway) in the middle of May. She will sail around the North Cape to enter Russian territorial waters. Entry formalities into the Russian Federation will be in Murmansk. After that the yacht will carry on around the Kola Peninsula as soon as the pack ice clears. She will stock up on provisions at Archangelsk before crossing to the Solovetsky Islands. Tanui will enter Russian internal waters at Belomorsk to sail from the White Sea all the way down to the Black Sea. Departure will be from Azov. The distance of this trip amounts to about 2,700 miles.

Community

Proposed Route 1. Murmansk 2. Archangelsk 3. Solovetsky Islands 4. Belomorsk 5. White Sea Canal 6. Petrozavodsk 7. Lake Onega 8. Vytegra 9. Beloe Ozero 10. Cherepovets 11. Yaroslavl 12. Kostroma 13. Nizhniy Novgorod 14. Kazan 15. Tolyatti 16. Saratov 17. Volzhkiy 18. Volgograd 19. Volga-Don Canal 20. Rostov 21. Azov 22. Sea of Azov 23. Black Sea

On board of a foreign vessel there must be one person who speaks Russian AND has ICC/CEVNI. (These are the sailing qualifications). Maxine commented that â&#x20AC;&#x153;it would be nice if we had some more people who just could provide that. And preferably some English too. And if other boats could join us for (parts of ) the trip, that would be fun. We are inviting other yachts to join us for the whole or part of this trip.â&#x20AC;? Planned arrival Murmansk: 1 June 2013 Planned departure Azov: 10 September 2013

Sport

Rugby Sevens

28-30

World Cup 2013

he Rugby Sevens World Cup will be held this year in Moscow’s 40,000 seat Luzhniki stadium on 28th to 30th June. For the uninitiated Rugby sevens is a version of the Rugby Union game played with seven players instead of the fifteen of the standard game. It is extremely fast and athletic and entertaining to watch. The tournament lasts over three days with twenty four men’s and sixteen women’s national teams competing for the trophy. Australia, England, France, New Zealand and the cup holders Wales, all major Rugby nations, qualified. Russia, as host nation, and Georgia will also take part along with other teams from Europe, North and South America and the Asian Pacific. Preparations are already well underway and there will be lots of excitement both on and off the field. The World Cup Sevens tournament always attracts an influx of fans from

abroad and the event in Moscow will be no exception. The Russian Rugby Union also expects a sizeable turnout from the local fans as the game here is fast growing in popularity. There is always a good party atmosphere at the ground with music, food and drink both during, after and in-between games. Tickets are already on sale at very reasonable prices. The British Business Club in Russia is a hospitality partner at the event and has its own enclosed VIP area in the stadium overlooking the halfway line. “We expect a good turnout from visitors from overseas as well as from the local expat community. We are already seeing a lot of interest from companies looking at corporate packages for their guests and at the opportunities for sponsorship”, Don Scott, President of the British Business Club, told Moscow expat Life. The games will be televised live to a massive audience worldwide.

David M

orley

June

Sport British citizen Howard Thomas has been appointed Vice President of the Rugby Union of Russia and Deputy MD of the Rugby Sevens World Cup 2013. Howard has been involved with Russian Rugby for 7 years. Moscow expat Life talks to him about Russian rugby in general, and the forthcoming Rugby Sevens World Cup.

Howard Thomas

come round very often. We are very fortunate to be hosting it this year, and I think it will be great fun for everybody to get engaged in this.

What is the importance of Rugby Sevens in Russia? We have two sports, Rugby Fifteens and Rugby Sevens. The Rugby Union of Russia passionately follows both forms. Rugby Fifteens is the primary form of the sport which is played all over the world. Teams compete for participation in the Rugby World Cup, the last one was in New Zealand, and the next one will be held in 2015 in England. Rugby Sevens is a shorter form of the sport, and probably much easier to understand and take up. Rugby Sevens has now been accepted as an Olympic sport. The Sevens is probably the form of the sport that most players find the easiest to use as an introduction to rugby, before deciding whether they want to play Fifteens or Sevens or potentially even both.

What is the importance of Rugby Sevens World Cup event coming up this year in Russia?

Are the people who take part in Rugby Sevens in Russia amateurs or professionals?

The Rugby Sevens World Cup 2013 to be held in Russia in June of this year is of tremendous importance to the cause of rugby in this country. We have recently had three major events which have encouraged rugby in Russia. Firstly, when rugby went Olympic, which heightened its importance in Russia, secondly when Russia qualified for the Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand, and thirdly when we won the world hosting rights for the Rugby World Cup Sevens to be held later this year from the 28-30th of June. The World Cup is a magnificent global event that has come to Moscow. It’s going to be a great party, a great event, it’s something that the expat and Russian market will want to engage in, because it is memorable and these kind of events with rugby which is a fast growing sport, don’t

We have an interesting structure in Russia, which I consider to be very good. Effectively, the foundation of the sport is what I call after-school rugby clubs. Basically the Russian school sports system operates at the end of an academic day, where boys go to generic sports schools, or sports schools which specialize in football or ice-hockey. We have 110 such schools in Russia that specialize in rugby. So we have a very good, strong youth base of boys who are coming into the sport, and these boys are taught both Rugby Fifteens and Sevens. Boys who have ambitions to become professional rugby players graduate from these schools, and join professional teams in our ‘Super League.’ Equally, we now have amateur competitions or amateur clubs that play on a regional, inter-

Sport Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013, Moscow Mens Teams Team Arabian Gulf Argentina Australia Canada Chile Cook Islands Chinese Taipei England Fiji France Georgia Ireland Italy Hong Kong Japan Kenya South Korea Latvia Morocco Namibia Netherlands New Zealand Philippines Portugal Romania Russia South Africa Samoa Scotland Spain Tonga Tunisia Uruguay United States Wales Zimbabwe

regional and then on a national basis. So there are many ways that people can play rugby, but what is true is that we have a professional league where men and women play both fifteen and seven-a-side rugby.

What is the role that the British Business Club (BBC) and foreigners can play in the Rugby Union, and why? The British Business Club is one of the nationality business clubs that exist around Moscow. There are many such clubs but I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fair to say that the BBC has been a long term supporter working with us, trying to engage support into Russian rugby. The Rugby World Cup Sevens which we are hosting at the end of June is the primary Sevens event in the global game

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013, Moscow Ladies Teams Team Australia Brazil Canada China England Fiji France Ireland Italy Japan Netherlands New Zealand Russia South Africa Spain Thailand Tunisia United States Uganda

2009 2013 Years 1 1st 10th 1 1 6th 1 9th 1 5th 0 1 7th 0 11th 1 1 13th 1 13th 1 2nd 1 11th 1 3rd 1 7th 13th 1 0 1 3rd 13th 1

BBC contacts: http://britishclub.ru +7 915 176 4683 BBC rugby website: http://rwc7s.ru

1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 Years 21st 1 5 9th 13th 3rd 5th 2nd 5 2nd 5th 2nd 3rd 10th 5 15th 21st 5th 18th 13th 10th 1 11th 13th 2 21st 21st 21st 3 5 1st 5th 5th 3rd 5th 5 3rd 1st 3rd 1st 5th 5 15th 5th 21st 5th 13th 3 17th 11th 21st 3rd 19th 19th 13th 18th 5 17th 17th 21st 3 5 17th 10th 21st 21st 19th 5 13th 17th 13th 13th 21st 3 19th 19th 3rd 11th 5th 13th 21st 4 21st 1 19th 1 21st 21st 2 1 21st 5 7th 3rd 1st 2nd 5th 0 4 21st 18th 10th 11th 17th 13th 2 2 9th 11th 5 5th 2nd 5th 5th 5th 5 5th 3rd 5th 9th 3rd 4 14th 11th 5th 9th 3 10th 13th 11th 4 7th 9th 19th 11th 2 13th 13th 21st 19th 2 5 17th 18th 13th 13th 13th 5 11th 13th 11th 1st 3 21st 21st 17th

before the Olympics. So it has by definition an international appeal. The BBC do a fantastic job in organizing for its members a lot of social events, and are helping us organizing corporate hospitality for the Rugby World Cup on the 28-30th of June for companies who wish to be part for one of the biggest and best sporting events in the world.

What message would you like to give Moscow expat Life readers? Do not hesitate on contacting the Ruby Union of Russia, or the BBC for help with how to engage with this particular event.

Howard Thomas email: H.thomas@rugby.ru Howard.thomas@carnaby10.co.uk

The World Cup Sevens web site is: www.worldcupsevens.com

Sport

Golf

in Thailand By Mike Bridge Editor of Thai Golf the No1 English golf magazine in Thailand

The

Red Mountain

majority of visitors start their trips to the Kingdom of Thailand by arriving first in Bangkok, which boasts over 40 golf courses. However Thailand itself has become a leading international golf destination, with over 270 city, seaside, mountain and country courses on offer. Destination diversity, cost and the vast choice of golf courses located throughout the country are key factors attracting the large numbers of visitors coming to play golf in Thailand. Expats working in the main cities are also spoilt for choice, and also love to play at the seaside and country courses. From the beach resorts in the south such as Phuket, to the mountainous surroundings in the north, or the Royal city of Hua Hin to the bustling cities of Bangkok and Pattaya, there are golf courses to suit every preference. If you like nightlife then head for Phuket and Pattaya, or if you prefer a quieter and more peaceful time, check out the courses in Hua Hin, Chiang Mai or even Kao Yai. With modern facilities, internationally designed golf courses, and an excellent infrastructure, the availability of golf has developed significantly in Thailand. This has been evidenced by the World Golf Travel Agents Association recently awarding Thailand the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Best up and coming destinationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for golf vacations.

Sport Thailand has hosted a number world class golf tournaments, attracting such players as Tiger Woods, Yani Tseng, Ernie Els, Charl Schwartzel, Michelle Wei, Bubba Watson, Na Yeon Choi, Lee Westwood, John Daly and Colin Montgomerie. All the leading designers have added their own style as well, and you can enjoy playing on courses designed by Nicklaus, Player, Faldo, Dye, Trent Jones plus numerous up and coming course architects. Following a brief slow down after the economic crisis in 1997, the development of new championship standard golf courses in Thailand continues at a phenomenal rate. About 90% of the courses are open to the public and welcome overseas players. Green fees average around EUROS 60- 100 depending on weekday or weekend rates. All courses will provide a Thai caddie (mostly females from the local community) which is compulsory, but also very helpful when reading the greens. You pay the club around EUROS 8 as a caddie fee and then at the end of the round it is customary to give them a tip of around EUROS

In Pattaya 90 minutes’ drive South East of Bangkok there are 23 courses offering all styles of challenges. You can try your luck at the Siam Plantation or the Siam Country Club both who host the Thailand LPGA every February or check out the 27 Nicklaus designed holes at Laem Chabang. The Royal Seaside town of Hua Hin is a two and a half hour drive south west of Bangkok and here they have the oldest course in Thailand, The Royal Hua Hin Golf Cub designed in the early 20th century by Scots who were building the railways. More recently Banyan and Black Mountain Golf Clubs have opened offering perhaps some of the best holes in Thailand. If you prefer a slightly cooler round of golf the temperatures are slightly lower in the more mountainous regions of Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai Highlands and Alpine Chiang Mai are two spectacular courses well worth adding to the list. Finally an up and coming golf destination is Khao Yai and its National Park, a roughly 3 hour drive

Riverale Riverdale_2

13. As it can get quite warm, it is advisable to also book a golf cart that can be an additional EURO 15. In Bangkok the land is fairly flat, so many of the courses include lakes, tropical plants and shrubs to add to the golfing experience, and most will take around a 60 minute taxi ride to reach. Some such as Thai Country Club are member-only courses so you will need to find a member or a top travel agent to arrange tee time. Definitely worth adding to your list of interesting courses around the city would be Lam Luk Ka which has 36 holes meandering through some beautiful countryside. Also check out the new Riverdale Golf Club which is one of the few Bangkok courses with elevated tees Most of you will have heard of the courses on Phuket Island which has eight top courses, including the famous Blue Canyon where Tiger played or the new kid on the block, Red Mountain which has been built around a disused Tin Mine. Both are expensive but well worth the money! Sticking to island golf, perhaps one of the most photographed courses here is Santiburi, an 18 hole championship course on the island of Koh Samui. Santiburi is very hilly with a few blind fairways and tricky greens to challenge any golfer, but a lot of fun too.

north east of Bangkok. Here you have genuine country courses, sometimes with single tracks wandering around some amazing countryside. Kiri Maya, another Jack Nicklaus 18 holes or the newer Mountain Creek Golf Resort one of the last 27 holes designed by the late Seve Ballesteros would be worth adding to your bucket list of must play golf courses. Both by the way have superb villas on site for rent. Wherever you go, you will certainly enjoy a wonderful golfing experience in the’ land of smiles’.

Solar Golf

Phone: +66 (0) 836 184449 Fax: +66 (0) 3825 2834 E Mail: admin@solargolf.com www.solargolf.com

Sport

Thai Golf News As a regular traveller to Bangkok, I always try to play new courses. Here are short reports from my last trip

Kiri Maya Khao Yai

Kim Waddoup

par 6 holes (one of only two golf courses in Thailand) make each golfer’s experience a memorable one. The Pattana Golf Club & Resort golf course and facilities were superb and their new restaurant overlooking the course offered excellent Thai and European food. This course offers the perfect challenge for experienced and leisure golfers, families, friends, and even larger groups.

Riverdale Golf and Country Club The Pattana Golf Club & Resort

hampionship golf course about 90 minutes drive from Bangkok, near Pattaya. We played course A and B both of which offered interesting shots. Undulating fairways, panoramic views of rolling hills, friendly wind conditions and scenic signature holes including two

ow my favourite course in the Bangkok area! One of the latest courses to open, Riverdale’s 18 holes have already become one of the best challenges for local and international golfers in the city. Built from a flat field the course has height variations of up to 36 metres, making it one of the few to offer elevated tees. Designed by Jon Morrow who also built Red Mountain in Phuket, he has created multiple tee locations that offer a challenge for all levels, with 7,006yds from the Blue down to a manageable 5,421yds from red. Playing strategies are defined by numerous hazards from sprawling white sand faced traps and deep sod walled pits to sand wastes dotted with dune grasses. Definitely a risk and reward course, and well worth the visit. Hole 6 is a magnificent par 5 down into a valley with a massive long desert of a bunker running along a large portion of the fairway, then a raised green surrounded by bunkers. Then enjoy the choice of two greens on the 8th hole, and go for the island green or the longer raised green with an evil pot bunker waiting to grab your ball. Their minimalistic club-house has superb facilities and a restaurant overlooking the 18th. All in all well worth a visit and just 50 minutes from the centre of Bangkok

Lam Luk Ka Golf & Country Club

short drive from Bangkok, Lam Luk Ka with its 36 championship holes, sets the stage for a golf experience not easily forgotten. Both 18 hole courses meander through Bangkok’s wetlands, where over 10,000 trees and water ways provide homes to over 100 species of birds and wildlife. You really get the feeling of a great country experience near to the city. The Championship East Course places a premium on driving the ball long and straight. Host of the 2002 Thailand PGA Championship, the East Course will

Sport punish errant golf shots, but make for an enjoyable round if played from the somewhat friendlier white tees. The back nine is considered one of the best in Thailand, ending with a dramatic risk-reward Par 5. The West Course is relatively short, but water comes into play on 15 holes making course management a key factor in scoring. Every hole provides several options, so longer hitters can still hit driver although itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not necessary on most holes. The West Course is a favourite of tourists and recreational golfers, and is home to a plethora of native birds and wildlife. After your round, relax and take a swim overlooking the 10th, or enjoy a range of Thai or international culinary delights in the clubhouse restaurant overlooking the 18th.

Best Ocean Golf Club

aking just 40 minutes from downtown Bangkok, this Schmidt and Curley designed 18 hole course is billed as the most challenging golf course in Bangkok. The course is near the ocean, so sea breezes lend themselves to nice playing conditions, especially in the hot and humid months. The designers, who also created Muang Kaew GC, have designed a links-style course which is in fact quite hard, and certainly not one for beginners or any golfer having a bad day. From the back tees, the 7,059 yard course is quite a challenge. Many of the holes have water on both sides of the fairway and the sea breeze only helps errant shots find trouble.

Pattana

The Best Ocean course has tight fairways and elevated greens that demand well struck drives and accurate approach shots. This is a course that planning and strategy from the tee and nerve on the shot to the green go a long way to a good score. There is water on every hole, with most holes even having water left and right. This course demands straight and accurate drives, golfers should be warned to bring lots of extra balls! Without doubt the best hole on the course is the par-3 17th, which would not be out of place on the PGA tour. Ranging from 195 yards from the white tees to 230 yards from the black tees, the hole is over water to a wide but shallow green protected by large bunkers in front. The clubhouse, and practice facilities are adequate, the real draw here is the golf course itself. It took us just 50 minutes by taxi (Baht.350).

Thailandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Leading English Golf Magazine www.ThaiGolf-news.com Sales Contact(English): Mike Bridge Editor@thaigolf-news.com +66831986700 Sales Contact(Thai & English): Amy Khongboonma amy@thaigolf-news.com +668 94190188 www.ThaiGolf-news.com

Charity Leaders

To The South Pole for Charity rrison

a John H

a bad fall, we thought I had cracked a rib. I skied on for another 7 days, and made it to the pole. Five days after I got back to Moscow, I went to see the doctor and he told me that I had three broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung. Stupid Irishman kept going! “So then I thought; ‘I’ve done the North Pole, I’d like to do the South Pole.’ I’d like to have a painfree trip. So we started to plan a trip to the South Pole. Eventually, a group of 14 people formed, made up of Brits, Canadians, myself, Alexey and Alexander who works for Barclays as a trader. “The plan was to ski the last degree of latitude, which is a distance of roughly one hundred kms, a trip which should take about 8 days. We were to fly from Chile to the Union Glacier base camp. We planned to live in tents, and pull the sleds ourselves, after all, using dogs is sort of cheating. Then back to the base camp of Vinson Massif, the highest mountain in Antarctica at 4,892 metres, which we reckoned we could climb, which was quite ambitious as I for one have never climbed anything higher than Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland.

met Niall Carton at Silver’s in December and again on Feb 2nd at Katie’s. Between these two meetings, Niall had been on a little trip to the South Pole. If you are wondering whether this was the kind of story that materialises in the spaces between a few too many, you are wrong. For those of us who know Niall, who runs the financial markets desk at ING bank, this is nothing out of the ordinary. Last year he went to the North Pole and almost died in the process. Niall tells all: “I came here five and a half years ago, being from Northern Ireland I’ve always wanted to go to the North Pole, it just seemed like the right place to go. Alexey Borichev, one of my Russian colleagues came with me on a trip there in April of 2011, and we managed to raise $80,000 for the Tula orphanage, mostly from the financial brokers here. “I trained for four months, got fit, everything was good, but during the first day on the ice I fell, it was

Charity Leaders ried out. In the end, we skied for about about eleven and a half hours, and we were beat. We pitched camp at the South Pole, but we were on Chilean time, and the people at the South Pole Station were on New Zealand time, and there is a 17 hour difference. But at 9pm that evening we got the clearance to enter the Station, which was quite amazing. They have 250 full-time staff there during the summer and 50 in the winter. They have two gyms, massive kitchens, a huge scientific area, and so on. The station is built on stilts so that if the snow piles up, they can raise it. “All 14 members of the group made it safe and sound apart from me, typically. I woke up on my last day unable to see out of my right eye, I had very blurred vision. When we got back to the base camp, it was diagnosed as snow blindness. It took about five days to clear and it meant I couldn’t climb Vinson Massif.

hen I met up with Niall again in February at Katie’s, I hardly recognised him, he had lost so much weight. But the same smile was there, and after certain liquid refreshments he told me about the Antarctic trip: “The trip happened, it was fantastic. We have managed to raise around EUROS 20,000 so far for a charity called The Greater Chernobyl Cause. The charity focuses on re-introducing hospices for terminally ill people in Russia, Ukriane and Belarus. It is a great cause which enables people to die with dignity. “To be honest, it was really tough. All the training I did beforehand wasn’t enough. The altitude was 3,000 metres roughly, but this is equivalent to about 4,500 meters in Europe because of the freezing temperatures. The change from zero to 4,500 meres led to constant headaches and no sleep for the first few days. We only made 4-5 miles on the first few days, and then had to really push ourselves to make up lost ground on the remaining days. Even though the ice was flat and relatively easy to ski on, the altitude made us absolutely breathless by the end of the day. The exertion seemed to be greater than at the North Pole. I was doing the 8 miles that we needed to average a day in 1 hours 45 minutes when training in the forest near Rosinka, and I wasn’t tired at all. But in Antarctica that same 8 miles took me over 7 hours, and I was absolutely exhausted. For 7 out of 8 days the terrain was very flat, just white desert as far as the eyes could see. The sunshine is so bright that it can inhibit your vision, despite the special goggles. One day we hit some ice hills created by the wind called Sastrugi. We skied over them but couldn’t really work out up from down, which was rather disconcerting because suddenly our skis could be in mid-air. “We saw the South Pole Station 3 days before we got there, because the air is so clear that you can see a long way. This raised our hopes and expectations. The next three days were hell because the Station didn’t seem to get much closer. The last day was really tough. We had our normal 8 miles to ski, but then we realised that we would have to ski around areas where scientific experiments were being car-

“The most memorable experience was getting to the South Pole and the station, flying the flag and celebrating. What surprised me the most were the storms. We had two storms at the base camp. The winds were 80-90 miles an hour. The strangest thing was that the winds were blowing at ground level, but when you looked up, you had these fantastic cloud formations, which weren’t moving at all. The wind hits the mountains, goes straight up in the air and creates intricate cloud patterns called Lenticulars. You would open the door of the tent in the base camp, the door would slam open, and you would be off your feet. The conditions were pretty extreme. The weather forest would say be careful because there is going to a strong wind the next day. Then it would be an absolutely beautiful sunny day, and 5 minutes later you are in the middle of an 80 mile-an-hour wind, and 10 hours later, the winds suddenly stop, just like somebody flicked a switch, it was unbelievable. If you wish to donate to the charity that Niall, Alexey and Alexander have been raising money for please go to the charity website at: http://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/ 7679_niall-carton--alexey-borichev-and-alexzozulya-s-fundraising-page-from-the-northpole-to-the-south-pole.html you can donate online.

Charity Leaders

Below is an incomplete list of Charities operating in Moscow which foreigners are known to be involved with. Downside Up About 2,500 children with Down syndrome are born in Russia annually. In 85% of such births, parents give their children up to maternity homes, often following doctors’ advice. The abandoned children are sent to state institutions with no chance of ever leaving them. But there is an alternative! The children can live in their families and join early intervention and education programmes. They develop and learn under a guidance of special education professionals, and they can go on learning at pre-schools and schools. Children with Down syndrome, no matter how different, have a vast learning potential. Downside Up invites you to help make life better for people with Down syndrome. Elena Lubovina Downside Up 14A Parkovaya Str., Moscow, 105043 Russia Tel. +7 499 367 1000, +7 499 165 5536 lubovina@downsideup.org

Kitezh Kitezh is a network of therapeutic communities that give children from orphanages loving foster families. The aim is to create a developing environment for the education and care of orphans and children in crisis. The first Kitezh village is in Kaluga Region, 300 km south west of Moscow, and the second village, Kitezh-Orion, is located 60 km in the same direction. Contact: Kitezh Centre representative Katya Gurkina Tel: +7 916 975 1603 kitezhcentre@yandex.ru www.kitezh.org/en/index.php

Diema’s Dream Diema’s Dream was established in 1998 to provide financial, medical, and educational support for both physically and mentally disabled children in Russia. The larger goal is to support changes in society and legislation in order to create social and medical support programs, which would allow parents to raise their children at home rather than living in institutions. Who We Support • Charity House, a Russian non-governmental organization (NGO) in Moscow. Charity House is the first and only one of its kind in Russia. The Moscow City government considers their work with disabled orphans to be a model for orphanage reform. Unfortunately, lack of funding has made it impossible for the government to apply the Charity House standards of child care to other orphanages • Association of Down’s Syndrome (ADS) program in Moscow. Academician Bochvar Street, 10A Moscow Russia 123098 International: 011-7-495-942-4003 Email: sa5557@yandex.ru Email: sergey@ddfund.ru

The restaurant boom started in Moscow in 1994-1995 when there were about 2,080 ‘public catering enterprises.’ Now there are almost 7,500 restaurants, cafes, and about 1200 bars

Charity Leaders If you wish to list a charity in future issues, please write

to: editor@moscowexpatlife.ru Moscow Animals Email: info@moscowanimals.org. Moscow Animals – devoted to the welfare of homeless animals. To adopt a dog or cat or if you would like to help local animal shelters by making a donation or volunteering your time, please visit the Moscow Animal Website or email.

Mission Fostering responsible philanthropy in Russia by supporting local charity programs aimed at solving the most critical problems. The Fund is a permanent source of financing for efficient charitable organizations. Charities receiving funding have to demonstrate financial transparency to the highest possible degree. In turn, we guarantee to the donors full adherence by the foundation to Russian legislature and provide full financial and activity reports. 14 Nizhnyaya Str., Bldg. 1, office 5, Moscow, 125040 Tel./Fax: + 7 (495) 780-97-18 E-mail: info@unitedway.ru

Have You Noticed? Have you noted that the ambiguous Volga has virtually disappeared from the streets of Moscow. There was a time that we were so happy to enjoy the comfort of this lumbering monster rather than a rattling Zhiguly! On the other side of the coin, when was the last time that you saw a Maybach. Once the preferred ride for many rich in Moscow these new behemoths have also virtually disappeared once production was stopped in Germany. Where are they now?

United Way The Fund supports charities offering programs aimed to meet the social needs of the following sections of society: • children at risk • disabled (children and adults) • refugees and homeless • elderly people

Musical Experimental Theatre ‘Open Art’ Open Art was created in September 2001 for people with learning disabilities. Open Art is based on a unique combination of different art forms and directions: • Music • Dramatic art • Choreography • Art Design • Poetry • Dramatic improvisation • Ethnic art The Musical Experimental Theatre Open Art is open for participants from Moscow and Moscow region. Open Art has developed methods which are being used in rehabilitation centres and institutions for people with learning disabilities. Open Art also organizes courses and seminars for specialists in Moscow. Email: info@metopenart.com http://metopenart.com

There were 56 casinos, 400,000 slot machines and 5,000 gaming tables in Moscow in 2003. The turnover of this sector amounted to $5-6 billion officially $20 and billion unofficially

Out & About

Kidsave

Kidsave® is a 501(c)(3) international non-profit organization working in Russia since 1999. Our programs create strong and lasting connections between children and adults, with the goal of giving orphans and young people graduating from institutions opportunities to develop the skills necessary for a successful future.

Our Programmes:

‘Teen Mother’ programme helps vulnerable young mothers and pregnant girls learn how to care for their babies, experience the joy of motherhood, and stop the dreadful cycle of ‘inherited orphan hood’. Girls are provided with counselling and assistance in finding housing and jobs, accessing social benefits prior to delivery and during the critical early years of motherhood. ‘Strong Shoulders’ is a social adaptation and mentoring program that works with orphans and young adults. Participants are prepared for independent life after leaving the orphanages with the support of an adult mentor. The participants are given opportunities to prepare themselves to lead healthy, productive, and successful lives with the help of such mentors who are supportive, caring adults who help them find a way out of their often complicated situations, and offer support for their personal and professional development. ‘Corporate Mentoring’ is a program designed to give older children in orphanages exposure to the workplace. A small group of children visit company offices to learn more about the professional work environment and interact with employees. Businesses can also provide internships and job opportunities for orphanage graduates.

Car to sell?

Advertise for free at www.Moscowexpatlife.ru

You Can Help: In becoming a Kidsave Corporate Sponsor/ Donor, you can give hope to orphan children and graduates and help create more favourable conditions for their future.

You can: - financially support the development of Kidsave programmes in Russia - sponsor Kidsave fundraising and advocacy events - open the doors of your organization through corporate mentoring - become an Individual Mentor, Volunteer or Advocate You also can make a private donation to your favourite Kidsave programmes to ensure their lasting success! You can make on-line donations at: http://www.kidsave.org/get-involved/donate/ (designation: Russian Programs). With your help, we can find caring mentors for forgotten and abandoned children. We can give them a ‘strong shoulder’ or a safety net to ensure that they have a resolute start of an independent life! For additional information, please contact Alexander Mzhelsky at: a.mzhelsky@kidsave.org or +7 (985) 970 9019

Out & About

CASA AGAVA 1st YEAR BIRTHDAY PARTY Photos by ova Olga Samson

Out & About Chris Helmbrecht What is the general format of your events and what do visitors gain most from attending? Our main events at the time being are: ’Neo Thursdays’ at either Mendeleev or Time Out Bar (we switch every week). Meet like-minded Expats and Russians, who speak English, over beers or cocktails. The events start with light jazz music, so people can talk and after 22:30 a DJ plays nu-disco, future house and disco-edits. Typically the events start at 20:00 and go on until past midnight. A SMALL WORLD Member Meetings (every 2 weeks) .Members of the elite international community A SMALL WORLD meet with each other, but also invite others to join. Typically there is a free welcome drink. We also do workshops as a part of the event. The next workshop will be held by Aleander Kan, a world-champion barkeeper and mixer. He will give an introduction into classic his-

toric Russian cocktails, and how to make them. After that we have a party with a dance DJ. The next ASW Event will be at ‘Projektor’ on Thu 31st. Followed by our So-Ho Rooms event on March 14th.

Any new ideas happening in the next 3 months? What’s new are our masterclasses and degustations. We work with Moscow’s best-known experts in each field (e.g., cocktail mixing, music, wine) to offer small, closed master-classs prior to our regular events. In addition to this, we have a new super cool concept in the planning, but I can’t tell you anything about it, until it has started!

What is the average age bracket of your attendees? 25 to 40 years old. 60% Women. 50% Foreigners. Managers, Upper Middle Class. English speakers.

How do people get to know about your events? Do you have a website or Facebook page where they can register and find the details? All of our events are based on a personal invitation, since we organize them in some of the best venues on Moscow. I announce most events on A SMALL WORLD and we also have a closed/secret group on Facebook. People who are interested can find and write me on Facebook, introduce themselves and after I may add them. www.facebook. com/chrishelmbrecht

Olga Go Lov What is the general format of your events and what do visitors gain most from attending? My events (French Style Soirees) take place at different bars/ restaurants generally located in the center of Moscow. The style of selected bars can vary from something simple and democratic to something glamorous and trendy. But the spirit and the atmosphere is usually very cool and relaxed and congenial for socializing! Generally we propose an Open Bar menu, which includes unlimited food and drinks. People appreciate these events a lot because they are a great way to meet cool and open-minded people. I can’t tell in advance any precise dates but when I am in

Moscow you can be sure to have something cool every month and at the moment I am planning to try some new amazing locations. If you are interested to attend please email me on olytta@gmail. com to be on my guest list! My attendees are for 40% French or from French-speaking countries (francophones) then many Russian who speak French or work at French/francophone companies, and of course I have many other international people from all over the word! (it s not a conversation club but networking events to meet people and have fun)

What is the average age bracket of your attendees? The age of attendees varies from about 23 -50 years.

How do people get to know about your events? Do you have a website or Facebook page where they can register and find the details? We have a page on Facebook, the name of the group is ‘Les Francophones a Moscou’ ( for those who speak French), otherwise I have another group which is a secret group where you have to be invited by a member, please add me as friend on FB and I’ll add you to this group ( find me on FB: Olga Go Lov).

Out & About Elena Berdichevski What is the general format of your events and what do visitors gain most from attending? Different formats: from club hopping in a party bus to themed parties at private mansions (Eyes Wide Shut) and museums (Master and Margarita party at Bulgakov’s house), to family Sunday brunches (pizza master-classes at Pomodoro). My mission is to connect and entertain. People get to know each other, make friends. Last year I had five weddings of people who met at my Friday Sunset Cocktail at Krysha Mira. People make business contacts – I know lots of people who got jobs or found employees from networking and connecting at my events. Generally speaking, my guests fight loneliness, have fun, and get memorable unique experiences and stories to think of on a rainy day.

Any new ideas happening in the next 3 months? Slowly but surely I am going into the luxury market of private events. I produced a few last year and totally loved it! And as a mother of an eleven-month old child, I am exploring the world of expat women and their children. This is a totally untouched market. I want to help them feel at home as much as possible here in Moscow. I want to bring a little sun into their every day lives. And I know how. Moscow is my city. It’s easy for me to open my doors here. Foreign mentality is my mentality – I know how foreign women feel in Moscow, what they need and how to cater for them.

What is the average age bracket of your attendees? Age bracket: 28-45, numbers: 15-400

How do people get to know about your events? Do you have a website or Facebook page where they can register and find the details? Word of mouth. Facebook Group: www.facebook.comgroups/ 82497127646/?fref=ts Facebook Page: www.facebook. com/fridaysunsetcocktail SmallWorld. Media: Russia Today is my favorite in this.

Chiara Pascarella What is the general format of your events and what do visitors gain most from attending? I don’t have a general format of events, because they are all different, I have organized almost 10 openings this year and usually at the opening you have a famous showman and a famous singer or/and international DJ. I am popular for being the image of several VIP venues, what my guests expect is to be part of a selected group, and to be surrounded by glamorous and trendy people, and this is what they get.

Any new ideas happening in the next 3 months? In the next three months I will have at least four new club openings. Can’t really say anything about

it but I will also open a biological high end pub in Patriarshiye Prudy.

What is the average age bracket of your attendees? My guests are 30% expat and 70% Russians, many more women attend than men and, because of the face-control strategy that we apply, with a model-like look about them. Most of the men are top managers or owners of companies.

How do people get to know about your events? Do you have a website or Facebook page where they can register and find the details? My guests receive invitations from my promo group:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/ dasiyes/?fref=ts Vkontakte http://vk.com/ dasiyes_nightlife our company site Calendar www.dasiyes.com/en/dasiyes-nightlife/dasiyes-parties.html or mailing list www.dasiyes.com/en/contact-us/ mailing-list.html The best clients and, of course, my close friends receive my personal calls.

Out & About Don Craig What is the general format of your events and what do visitors gain most from attending?

99.9% of my events are casual, informal, fun, and friendly. Not so much networking for a purpose, but an evening out of socializing with people that you can find a common interest with. People tend to walk away from my events with a smile on their face, a few new friends to add to their inner circle, and asking when is the next event :-).

Any new ideas happening in the next 3 months? A very unique blend of fast food with a margarita bar is opening this. Within the confines of everyone’s favorite Tex/Mex fast food, Muchacho’s will have a Margarita Bar called Escobar. It will feature a daily happy hour to enjoy while washing down your favorite menu item. A new New York class bar/restaurant located conveniently near the Lubyanka and next to Propaganda. Stay tuned into Moscow 105.2 FM and Moscow Interacts for news on upcoming concerts and events.

What is the average age bracket of your attendees? Age group is 21-62; a very democratic group of ages and occupations. I believe this is due to the nature of the events themselves, which are fun and relaxed. How do people get to know about your events? Do you have a website or Facebook page where they can register and find the details? You can check into my website at ‘www.moscowinteracts.com’, join our Facebook group ‘Moscow Interacts’, check out the ‘Moscow FM 105.2 Fan Club’ on vk.com, or follow me on twitter @DonCraig777

Back to The Past on

1989

By John Harris

1989 saw the beginning of the end. The election of a parliament made the dismantling of the Soviet apparatus possible. The mighty ship with the red star was scuppered by Gorbachev, Yeltsin and other reformers, who did more to wreck the cause of Soviet Communism in the space of a few years than decades of anti-Soviet propaganda and the Cold War put together. By the winter of 1989-90, milk, tea, coffee, soap and meat had vanished from many state shops, particularly in Moscow. Sugar was scarce. “You promised us improvements; then why do we have to queue for basic things to eat?” was written in the sky in vast thought bubbles whenever Russians went to the shops in search of something edible, let alone tasty. Millions of Russians puzzled it out in their own way, coming to the conclusion that they wanted more radical change. Gorbachev did too but always with a delay, “clinging to the dying embers of the Communist faith,”as Timothy Colton put it. Both Gorbachev and Yeltsin used the shortages to press for the further decentralisation of industry. But the transfer to private retail and semi-private production caused problems which neither was able to handle well because power had also been decentralised. When Gorbachev saw that the co-ops he’d encouraged weren’t bringing about the desired results, he started talking about the need to create a “socialist market economy”, an oxymoron. Oil prices had plunged from a high of around US$49 a barrel in spring 1980 to less than US$9 in 1988, falling by 50 per cent in 1986 alone). Oil and gas constituted only 18 per cent of exports in 1972 but a whopping 54 per cent by 1984. Only in armaments was the country keep-

ing up. Paradoxically, industrial production had actually risen by 11 per cent between 1983 and 1985 thanks to Yuri Andropov’s disciplinarian methods. But from an economic point of view, there was no turning back. In February 1989, the last remaining Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan. April turned out to be a cruel month in Soviet Georgia. Sensing that the situation in the Baltics was spinning out of control, hardliners in the Interior Ministry turned nasty and ordered troops to open fire on a mostly female crowd in Tbilisi. That day, 19 were killed and several hundred injured. Twenty-one people were struck by soldiers wielding sharpened shovels. Many linked the violence directly to Gorbachev and the issue was brought up at the first session of the newly-elected parliament, the Congress of People’s Deputies, which ran from 25 May to 9 June. Almost daily, high-ranking state officials, including even Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov, were harangued as they spoke. Gorbachev watched silently and coldly. Dissident physicist Andrei Sakharov, recently allowed home from internal exile, called for the scrapping of Article 6 of the Constitution, the one that enshrined the ‘leading and guiding role’ of the Communist party. But his proposal was rudely rejected by Gorbachev. Sakharov died shortly after, in December. By April 1989, resolutions passed at the 19th Communist Party Congress in June 1988 came into force. The number of Central Committee economic departments went down from 20 to nine. The remaining ministries had to report to the new Congress of People’s Deputies. From now on, the economy was to become more and more self-regulatory.

On the 25th of April, 74 full Central Committee members and 24 candidate members were bullied by Gorbachev into resigning. Stalin, of course, would have had them all shot. These included household names such as Andrei Gromyko, the Foreign Minister who had been known in the West as Mr. Nyet, and, at the United Nations where he was constantly vetoing Security Council resolutions, the Abominable No Man. Premier Nikolai Tikhonov also passed into history. In July 1989, coal-miners in a pit in western Siberia went on strike, following a string of miners’ strikes in the Don basin. Their strike spread like wildfire to other mines in the Siberian Kuzbass and Vorkuta in the north. The miners demanded improved living and working conditions, better supplies, greater control over their work place and, interestingly, curbs on the co-operative movement. Fearing unrest, Gorbachev met most of their demands. However, overall conditions remained appalling. Brezhnev or Khrushchev would have used force against anybody daring to strike. On the 9th of October,

the Supreme Soviet finally recognised the right to strike, thus breaking with the Soviet sophistry that no such right was necessary or possible because workers in a workers’ state could not go on strike against themselves.

On the 14th of December, Andrei Sakharov died at the

age of 68. This was an occasion for a nation-wide display of genuine grief, mingled with fear lest the precarious liberties so recently won might equally speedily be withdrawn.

Back to The Past

July 9th

1989

Those were the days my friendâ&#x20AC;Ś h Frederickovic

irst day at my Moscow office, the new boy at school. The building, not far from Paveletsky Vokzal was once grand, probably the residence of a wealthy merchant with below-stairs accommodation for the staff. Now it is bright yellow, decaying and showing the benefits of 70 years of socialism. I climb the steps and

enter for the first time and am ushered into a massive room that must comprise half of the main floor. This I soon realize is the office of the General Director, a professor of engineering no less and, as he immediately informs me, a wrestler of note in his youth. He is certainly large, fit and powerful and I soon detect that the staff fear him. I am told that my office will be next door to his, but the proximity is less to do with status and more to do with observation. As a mark of respect I will be permitted to meet him any day of the week provided I notify his

secretary in advance. Other staff are only permitted to request meetings on Wednesdays between 14:0016:00 as posted on his door, unless otherwise sent for. I soon learn that â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;sent forâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is his preferred mode of communication. I politely remind him of the agreement between the partners of our JV: a UK engineering company, a Moscow engineering institute and a state bank. This stipulates that although I am his deputy I will have equal signature rights in all matters and co-signatory rights for any hard currency transactions. I receive the first of the long silent

stares that are to become a familiar feature of our conversations. Behind the grey eyes I am wondering whether he is preparing an explanation of the intricacies of doing business in the USSR or deciding which wrestling hold he should apply. After some time he confirms the arrangement adding that we will soon find ways to work around this inconvenience. I retire to my own office, a cheap plywood desk below the inevitable glare of comrade Lenin, and proceed to write the seventy sample signatures demanded by our banks, lawyers and notaries. The office toilet block is just as disgusting as every other lavatory I have encounter so far in Moscow. A robust old lady sits outside occasionally making forays into the cubicles with a bucket and mop in order to rearrange the dirt on the floors and empty the baskets of toilet paper. I learn that toilet paper is not provided but that it can be bought from the Babushka for a few kopeks a sheet, each having the appearance and texture of wallpaper. I later ask

Back to The Past a group of my new Russian colleagues how can a company be so distrustful of its employees that it does not provide toilet paper in case it is stolen, yet still employee them? The ensuing silence and my realization that they are actually trying to produce a reason causes me to gasp in frustration. Fixing the loos will be high on the to-do list. public protests stirred on by ‘Solidarnosc’ and now the unthinkable is happening with growing protests in the communist stronghold of the GDR. In the office there is concern among my senior colleagues, each of whom professes, even boasts of being a member of the Communist Party. Because of my position in the company and the uncertainty of how to treat such issues in an international JV I am invited to attend the weekly in-house party meetings as an observer. It seems they feel Leaving the toilet and subconsciously informing myself I can stop holding my breath I see Sveta for the first time. She is rushing down the corridor towards me, flushed and flustered blowing and wiping her blonde hair from her face. At over 1.8 meters with a considerable bust she is quite simply one of the most stunning women I have ever seen and is clearly in no mood for conversation as she knocks and waits outside the professor’s office clutching papers for signing. I am clearly staring as Sasha, my Head of Trading and erstwhile minder smiles at me and mutters something under his breath. In the coming weeks I make considerable progress both in the job, getting to know the fifty or so Moscow staff. After patient complaining I have moved suite to one of the institute’s hotels for students and staff. A lounge, bedroom and bathroom duly supplied with a hand carried micro/convector oven, electric frying pan and toaster from the UK equips me to

both cater for myself and even entertain. Dishwashing must take place on bended knee in the bath, but is the only real inconvenience apart from the resident mouse that appeared one day. Entertainment is provided in the form of a dated Russian made TV showing equally dated and dour programs that I cannot understand anyway, and my beloved shortwave radio which provides me with the BBC and daily news of events abroad. The Polish regime has crumbled in the face of

that this show of openness – glasnost in action – will somehow hold back the inevitable but the insecurity is there for all to see. After the latest meeting, Sasha propose we visit the ‘snake pit’, the night club in the basement of the Intourist hotel. This is particularly welcoming because we learn they have just started selling imported German beer there. More importantly he tells me that Sveta will be coming.

Moscow Health

Moscow

Health Matters

In this second article, Lucy Kenyon SCPHN, M.Med. Sci., RGN explores the general issues relevant to the flu season and the how to manage the risks of picking up and transmitting infections while travelling. Background Flu (influenza) has been hitting the headlines since 1918, when it spread from America to Europe during WW1. Annual epidemics of influenza typically occur during the winter months, but infections can peak as late as April or May. As this year’s flu pandemic continues to feature in the international press, there are some salient precautionary messages for frequent travellers, whether one uses air, rail or other public transport services. These messages represent good practice for infection control and apply equally to the other key source of communicable infection – schools. Children use touch to communicate with each other much more than adults, and this leads to a quicker transfer of the virus between children, who also remain infectious for longer.

What is flu? It is a virus that causes general and upper respiratory symptoms – typically with a high temperature (>37.8°C). It is carried by droplets through sneezing and coughing virus particles into the air, onto hands, handkerchiefs and clothes. The typical incubation period for influenza is 1-4 days. Adults are infectious from the day before symptoms begin until 5 (majority) -10 days (children) after the onset of the illness.

Influenza trends in 2013 The late 2012-early 2013 influenza season began relatively early compared to previous years, with flu rates highest in the United States. Based on experience, the CDC (www.cdc.gov) believes that it is likely that flu activity will continue for some time, possibly into May. Early data from the CDC suggest that this season’s vaccine is ‘moderately effective’, in that it is reducing the risk of having to go to the doctor for influenza by about 60% for vaccinated people. This is because this year’s vaccine is protective for most influenza strains currently circulating. There are, however, some new mutations for which vaccines have not yet been produced. Swine flu is the recent strain of the virus that first caused concern in 2009, affecting more healthy adults than other flu viruses and a large number of people in Western Europe. Swine flu cases have reported by the Beijing’s centre for disease control and prevention as being particularly high in Beijing at present, and cases of Swine flu were recently reported in Poland. Swine flu is one of the strains that have developed some resistance to anti-viral drugs, which makes it more difficult to treat effectively. This means that travellers in Eastern Europe and Russia should be more vigilant about preventative hygiene measures.

Flu treatment A number of medicines are known to be effective against flu. Here in Russia it is possible to buy some medicines over the counter (see MeL Winter 2012). Some of these are not safe if you have an underlying condition, so you should never take them without a doctor’s prescription. If you suffer from asthma or bronchitis, ensure that you discuss vaccination with your doctor. The US government is recommending vaccination of all persons over 6 months of age. In the UK the programme

Moscow Health continues to protect the elderly and those with other conditions that put them at increased risk from flu e.g. heart disease and lung diseases such as asthma. New arrivals in Moscow should be particularly vigilant, because chest and gastric infections, including flu can be brought on by being in new surroundings because you will have little or no resistance to unfamiliar viruses. Moscow, like most major cities has a higher reported rate of asthma and bronchitis probably due to poor quality air.

General advice • Wash your hands regularly (especially before and after using public services such as handrails and door handles) to reduce the transfer of bugs to and from hand to mouth • Stay away from other people during the incubation period (5-10 days after symptoms appear). • Drink plenty of fluids to flush out the bugs. • Take fever-reducing medicines on the advice of a pharmacist (see my article in the Winter 2012 issue of MeL for detailed advice). •There are articles circulating in the popular press that recommend treatments other than those listed above, and appear to quote organisations such as the World Health Organisation. If you want to try an alternative medicine, be sure to have read and understood the citation first!

Advice for employers The following questions may help be useful when considering arrangements against pandemic flu in your business continuity plan: • Look at how the spread of infections within the business can be prevented. It is important to look at general cleaning routine: hand washing facilities, disposal of hand towels etc. • Who are your frontline staff? • Do frontline staff have access to vaccination? • Do reporting procedures enable early identification of a potential infection risk in an office or depot? • Have managers been trained in those procedures? • Is it possible to identify contacts that may have been exposed to infection during the day’s infectious period prior to a colleague becoming sick? • Do we need to quarantine any offices or depots during the incubation period following a case of flu? • If a colleague has recovered from flu but remains infectious, what work can they do and where?

Travel planning and first aid Travellers should take action before, during and after their trips to protect themselves from influenza. Moscow expats who travel to the Southern Hemisphere should be aware that influenza activity occurs typically between April and September. If travelling to an area where flu is known to be circulating, check that you have received this season’s vaccination in time. People should be vaccinated at least two weeks before travelling because it takes two weeks for vaccine immunity to develop. The vaccine is modified every season to cover known circulating strains, so check that your most recent vaccination is up to date. • Discuss with your doctor whether you should take prophylactic (preventative) medicines with you. • Carry antibacterial hand wipes or alcohol-based hand sanitizers containing at least 60% alcohol, a digital thermometer and oral rehydration packs. • Pack any prescription medications (antibiotics and antivirals) in your carry-on luggage with copies of all prescriptions, including the generic names for medications. NB You may need a note on letter headed stationery from the prescribing physician for some drugs and injectable medications. • Leave a copy of your prescriptions at home with a friend or relative. • Check with your embassy or consulate to make sure that your medicines will be allowed into the country you are visiting. Some countries do not let visitors bring certain medicines into the country. If you know that you have a condition that can be aggravated by flu, consider carrying commercial suture/syringe kits to be used by a local healthcare provider (these items will also require a letter on letter headed stationery from the prescribing physician).

Biography

Lucy Kenyon SCPHN, M.Med.Sci., RGN is a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse, with a background in occupational and environmental health. She has a keen interest and expertise in the relationship between people and their environment. Prior to moving to Moscow in 2009 she was involved in pandemic planning for Tier 2 emergency services in the UK. She has written specialist articles on health matters for Croner Special Reports since 1997. She is also an expat spouse, who understands the challenges of day to day issues when living abroad.

driven re a rs a c 0 0 ,0 0 0 7 An average of cars arrive 0 0 ,0 0 0 4 t u o b A in Moscow daily. n and other parts ow regio sc o M e th m o fr w o sc in Mo of Russia every day

Embassies Interview: John Harrison

t n e d e c e t n a is e “Cultur ics, m o n o c e d n a s to politic sa a h it s n a e m t a and th y.” potential to unif r o d a s s a b m A h Iris

Philip McDonagh

How long have you lived in Russia, and how long do you plan to be here? I have lived in Russia for four years, and in accordance with our general rule, I am being transferred in the summer to another posting.

Have you got used to Russia in terms of the climate and the food? Yes I have, and so has my family. We came already equipped with fur hats, because we previously had a posting in Finland. In

terms of culture and outings for the children, such as skiing and skating in the winter, you can find anything in Moscow. I have been in the foreign service quite a long time, so I don’t find adaptation that much of an issue really. It is a privilege to learn about a new country and a new society, especially a country as interesting as Russia.

A lot of people who come here don’t really get on with Russians, they find them a bit brusque. Do you get on with Russians?

I think Russians are amazingly coherent and loyal people. We have a wonderful Russian staff here at the embassy, and I feel very well looked after. There is graciousness and a spirit of service, which is quite striking.

How many Irish are there here? It’s hard to know exactly because not everybody introduces himself or herself to the embassy. But there are many hundreds in Moscow, and many hundreds in other parts of Russia, including we believe 200 on Sakhalin island. We also feel that there are many people in Russia whose first identity is British or American, who may also have some Irish blood, and a connection with Ireland. So we see on certain occasions on events like St.

Embassies Patrick’s Day, that the real Irish community is bigger than one thinks.

What difficulties do the Irish community face, and how are these difficulties overcome? The business profile changes from decade to decade, but actually our trade and investments in both directions now are higher than ever before and increasing at a very impressive rate. Our trade with Russia is now about EURO 2 billion a year, which for a small country as far away as Ireland is promising. Moreover, trade is increasing; it has more than doubled in my time here in Moscow. We have recently seen significant Russian investment into Ireland from Russia, including most recently Transaero which is creating a base at Shannon airport for the overhaul and maintenance of aircraft. We have investments from Ireland into Russia from many sectors, so as far as business is concerned; this is a good news story. There are other categories such as people who come here to get married, or those who

the embassy, we have two very able members of staff who are both Irish and Russian. They are absolutely Russian if you approach them in Russian, and absolutely Irish if you approach them in English.

What’s the main Irish profile now in Russia? In business we have food and beverages, we have various forms of information technology. We have construction, we have medical equipment, we have the leasing and overhaul of aircraft; Ireland is a very major centre for that. We have many niches. It is very interesting to see that the Irish profile is so broadly based. The same sort of thing is happening in some of the neighbouring countries, including Kazakhstan.

In your opinion as Ambassador, how important is culture in terms of facilitating communication and bringing people together?

Culture is antecedent to politics and economics, and that means it has a potential to unify. Then there is a particular content which creates a common focus. For example, John Field – the Irish pianist and composer – whose bust is downstairs, influenced a whole series of Russian musicians; indeed a whole Russian tradition. We had a festival of Irish chamber music here in Moscow with wonderful venues such as the Kremlin last October. In literature, I think you could look at Pushkin and Lermontov and Byron and Shelley as part of the European movement, but the link is Irish. Thomas Moore was the biographer of Byron, and I have been reading about how the Russian embassy in London in 1818 made a report to St. Petersburg about the importance of Thomas Moore. Vasily Zhukovsky in St. Petersburg, who was poet laureate decided that Thomas Moore should be translated into Russian, and Nicholas 1st celebrated his marriage with a performance of Lalla Rookh. Thomas Moore was translated into Russian by the ’Dekabristy’, so it wasn’t only the Tsar in his court who appreciated him, but also the opposition. Thomas Moore became immensely important. He is mentioned in Eugene Onegin, and also Lermontov says that he came to poetry through Thomas Moore’s biography of Byron. So the content that writers, painters and musicians generate is something that can be focussed on together.

come here to study Russian. We have a steady stream of cultural figures; writers and performers, as there is a huge interest in coming to Russia. It is quite remarkable. Then we have another phenomenon, which people haven’t woken up to: how many Russian-speaking people we have in Ireland. A lot of the people who came to Ireland in the 1990s from Eastern Europe are actually Russian speaking, whose children are now coming up to university entrance level. Here in

Embassies Do you think that if countries understand each other culturally, that there is less chance of them misunderstanding each other politically, simply because they share so much in common that serious misunderstanding is inconceivable?

exactly this is the English poet Shelley. In his ‘A Defence of Poetry’ he talks about poetry as being ‘the unacknowledged legislator of the world.’ I am not sure that poets are experts at legislators, but Shelley’s idea that poetry is a kind of tuning fork which sets a note which people ought to work around, to help build social harmony, is extremely important.

That is an interesting idea. I have been posted in Sweden, and I lived in Denmark as a child. Something happened in the eighteenth century between Sweden and Denmark, that it became inconceivable that they could ever fight each other again. Some kind of cultural transformation took place which meant that they were family. In a sense this is also true between Ireland and Britain. Despite certain troubles, nevertheless there is also a unity, and there is a state of affairs where it is inconceivable that there could be what is called war. I suppose the UN Charter, or the Helsinki Final Act, or the Universal declaration of Human Rights, are an attempt to institutionalise that idea.

How do you view the current relationship between Ireland and Russia?

Do you feel that modern Irish culture and in particular poetry is appreciated in Russia today? That is certainly true, but it is also true that the audience for poetry is not what it was. I think Pasternak was able to sell 300,000 copies of a book, in his day. There is no doubt that the audience in Russia is stronger than it is in most places, as it is in Ireland where the average person knows the names of poets, even of contemporary poets, and know some of their work. That may not be true in every country. I think the greatest poet in the English language who wrote about

I don’t think the relationship has reached its full potential. I am not sure that our business operators understand where Russia is

portant name in the peace process, described the European Union as the world’s largest peace process. I suppose all diplomacy is a peace process. I am tempted to go back to my Greek studies. Behind dialogue you have the logos, which is about giving a true account of where one is, and that brings us back to culture and all the common reference points that we have between us.

Does your family enjoy being here? My family is very happy here. My wife is the doctor at the British embassy, and appears on the

today. Many of them do, but they don’t all understand it. I also think that there is an interdependence in the European continent that can be developed further.

How would you like to promote Russia to the Irish? As an ambassador you have to report accurately, but you also have to promote dialogue. Dialogue is not always easy. I was involved for five years in the peace process in Northern Ireland, which was a wonderful experience. Dialogue involves finding common ground. John Hume, who was probably the most im-

British diplomatic lists. She also appears on the Irish diplomatic list as my spouse. She may be the only person who has ever been on both the British and Irish diplomatic lists at the same time. The children have been happy here as well. The fact that we live upstairs in the embassy is very good for them. They have made progress in Russian, I hope that in the future they may be Russian speakers if they keep working at it.

Site preparation for Moscow

was started in 46

1992

City

Education

Secondary Education in Mosco John Harrison

You

are thinking about moving to Russia with your family, or you have been here for some time and wondering how to educate your children if you stay on? Perhaps you are dissatisfied with the school that your child is going to and would like to know what else is available? In the first part of a three-article series on education, Moscow expat Life discovered that there is a surprising amount of choice available. The choice of schooling in Moscow is complex. If you want to provide a western education which will give your child the same opportunities as he or she would benefit from by attending a good school back home, then there is really only one kind of school for you here; the socalled â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;international schools.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; There are currently five such schools which are established, and they are expanding year by year as Russian parents also recognise the value of such schools. There are also specialist schools which act for the non-English speaking international community, such as the Indian School and the Swedish school. Some

of these schools have their own premises; others are very small and offer courses for only a limited age range within the premises of large established English-language schools. International school provision outside Moscow is very limited. There are some options in St. Petersburg, but otherwise there are only a few small non self-sustaining schools, usually with a distance learning component. You are advised to check carefully before accepting a provincial job, if taking the family. Being an education provider in Russian is not easy. There are rules and regulations from the Ministry of Education to abide with; there are problems that teachers face coming to terms with life here, and a multitude of other issues which parents never find out about. Teachers in the best schools are qualified foreign nationals who work here on contract and teach in their mother tongue. The high cost of education at these establishments can be partly explained by the fact that good teachers do have to be given a remuneration package that motivates them to come here, and stay on. Links with schools and universities back home have to be maintained.

Education How do you decide which school is right for your child? Cost aside, parents want to know which curriculum the schools follows, the main distinction being between schools which offer The International Baccalaureate (IB), and the UK-style IGCSE and ‘A’ levels. Paul Seedhouse, Headmaster of the International School of Moscow commented: “Our school uses the English National Curriculum as a basis but is contextualised to our position here in Russia and to support British and International families. In Secondary school in Year 10 children begin their IGCSE courses – typically 6 subjects selected by them along with English Language, Literature, Maths and ICT that allows them to study up to 10 subjects in total. At the end of Year 11 they will then have the opportunity to complete ‘A’ Levels in up to 4 subjects that will allow them to enter universities all over the world.” Most western universities accept a variety of different qualifications and a few hours spent researching exactly what qualifications particular universities accept for certain courses is time well spent. This may be ‘mission impossible’ as nobody – including your child – can pinpoint the university he or she wants to go to

until the time comes to apply; and getting into a chosen university is never easy. It may be possible, nevertheless, to determine which country the university will be in; and thus which curriculum to aim for. Academic qualifications and prospects aside, talking to other parents is perhaps the best way to find out how successful a school is. Most parents are quite naturally highly subjective when it comes to their own children, so you need to talk to quite a few families to get an accurate picture of a particular school. A visit to the school/s which you are considering is essential, with your child. In terms of academic standards, the international schools equate to the level of education provided by reasonably good private schools (or public schools in America). Students address teachers as ‘Sir’ or ‘Miss,’ uniforms are worn and an air of respect, cleanliness and order rules most of the time. As a whole, the international schools do their job, and give children a home education whilst abroad. It is important to understand that this is what is being provided. Your child will to all intents and purposes be spending six hours a day in a foreign country. This works well when parents are foreigners

Education and their acquaintances are foreigners. If you wish your child to not only speak your language without a Russian accent and write convincingly then an international school is for you. If you are here for only a few years and if you consider your cultural heritage to be overwhelmingly important, or if you wish your child to enjoy the benefits of a western private education then an international school is also the only option. But the children themselves (the most important people) may not fully integrate with Russian society at an international school. This may well be the exact reason why parents want their children to go to an international school, although there will be Russian children in each class. The exact proportion of foreigners to Russians is something that parents should find out about. When one of the parents is Russian and the family lives in two different cultural worlds at the same time, the child may experience cultural identity problems. Parents who argue amongst themselves as to which language to speak at home should perhaps consider that from the child’s point of view, such conflicts are absurd. Most children can relate to stability, so if one parent speaks consistently in one language and the other in another, then there is no real problem. Your child will grow up knowing two languages, which is not the same as being bilingual, but gets pretty close to it! For many foreigners living here, the international schools are simply

too expensive. So, what of Russian schools? It would be foolish to write them off. A tradition of emphasis on the three ‘r’s; a perhaps useful hangover from the Soviet school system is still present in most Russian schools. Russian children who transfer to western schools usually find themselves in the top streams of their new western school for maths and science subjects. Art and music are not taught as a core subject in most Russian schools, because of the Soviet; and now Russian emphasis on ‘useful’ subjects. So if your child is artistic he or she will have to attend a network of special evening art centres for children around Moscow. Most of these are good, if somewhat classical. As at school, tuition will be in Russian. Most Russian teachers are extremely well qualified, and loyalty to particular schools is still there, although as in any other capital city there are good schools and bad schools. There is a category of Russian schools which corresponds roughly with our idea of‘grammar’(UK) or‘magnet’ (USA) schools. Long-time expat Charles Borden who is married to a Russian and whose child attends one of these Russian grammar schools commented:“These schools usually have dress codes and classes six days a week. Entrance exams are required. The entry year is US 5th class. In my son’s grade there are about 60 students divided between three groups of 20. Based upon my personal observation it seems to me that my son is well ahead of US schools in maths. He has taken courses in Latin and French. He will select a third language (besides English and Russian) beginning next year. As for prepaPaul ration for a foreign university, at Seedhouse least for the United States, the main requirements will be a good score on academic SAT or ACT exams, and TOEFL. A good score on the SAT or ACT tests would mean there would be no problem whatsoever with TOEFL. Preparation for the SAT or ACT exams means independent work. I am extremely pleased with my son’s school, and the education he is receiving. As long as he maintains a strong link with home and English language (through visits, friends), I think graduation from a Russian school will be a real plus for his future education and life.” Whilst certainly cheaper in comparison to international schools, most Russian schools do not offer a direct pathway into foreign universities. Critics point to high level of cheating at exams and corruption when it comes to university entrance. A more realistic comparison would be with state schools back home, in which case Russian state schools – in my opinion – come out as clear winners. Russian students actu-

Education acquire the necessary IELTS/SAT scores needed to gain access to particular foreign institutions, which somewhat destroys the whole purpose of doing IB in the first place. International schools say that this does not present a problem at their school. It is worth checking up. Marianna Rovneiko, the IB coordinator at L.I Milgram Moscow Gymnasium No 45, confirmed that the Middle Year IB programme (Russian 5-9 years) is free of charge for parents, whilst the two-year IB diploma course (Russian years 10-11) costs 245,000 roubles a year. Children have to sit an entrance examination for the diploma programme in Maths, Russian and English. ally know more than their western school leavers. Be this as it may, the Russian secondary school certificate is treated â&#x20AC;&#x201C; perhaps incorrectly in the UK â&#x20AC;&#x201C; as being at the same level as Scottish Highers; to AS level only which is an exam taken at 17. Thus many UK institutions may demand that students complete a foundation year and attain at least a 4.5 score at IELTS before entering university. The British Council web site may be able to give you more detailed information. Many brilliant Russian school leavers have not been accepted in top UK universities simply because they are too young, although most western universities value Russian students highly. Despite this, a large number of Russian Apart from good Russian State schools, there are an increasing number of Russian private schools which cater for the Russian financial elite. These schools are expensive, and although they can afford to employ good Russian teachers, do not necessarily offer a better education than Russian state schools. This is perhaps difficult to understand for most expats; however it is worth considering that most Russians are not in favour of paying for education. Russian secondary schools still retain a core of extremely proficient teachers from Soviet times who may be advanced in age, but still provide a certain backbone of school children do enter UK universities. In the US, Russian school leavers seem to have fewer problems, as long as one factors in the necessity to obtain the necessary SAT and ACT scores, which can place considerable extra stress on the child at a difficult age. Nine Russian state schools in Moscow now provide IB programmes, mostly taught by Russian nationals. Such Russian schools have to abide by standards set by the International IB authorities. Another 20 schools are waiting for course approval. As all Russian schools are bound by charter to prepare children for Russian State examinations, IB students have to sit for both IB exams as well as Russian state exams, although for most students this does not present too much of a challenge due to the fact that academic standards on IB courses are not inferior to those of the Russian curriculum. The IB curriculum does, however, demand more individual research than Russian state school graduation exams. IB students going on to western universities generally still have to attend extra-curriculum courses to

standards, emotional care and stability which younger, more expensive schools are unable to do. An article about higher education will follow in the summer edition of Moscow expat Life. If readers have any particular questions, please send them to editor@moscowexpatlife.ru

Ask The Experts

The

Pitfalls

and Andrew Bartlett

my last article, (see Moscow expat Life Winter 2012) I focussed on the first stages of accepting financial advice; choosing an advisor and having an initial meeting with him or her (a fact find meeting). After the initial meeting you should then have been presented with a full and formal summary of your discussions, needs and goals, and an initial recommendation based on the information and requirements you gave. The second meeting should focus on ensuring that this recommendation is correct and in line with the requirements and tolerance for risk provided by yourself at the first meeting, and possibly any other areas that your advisor has identified that need to be addressed that you may not have thought of. When considering whether the advice does meet your needs, it is important to understand the impact should your circumstances change. What happens if you are repatriated or moved to a different country? What are the potential tax liabilities both now and in the future (don’t believe any advisor that says there will never be a tax liability with an offshore investment!)? What if you find yourself unable to maintain any contribu-

Traps of Financial Planning

tion? What are the implications of stopping your investment or accessing your funds if you need to before maturity? One of the biggest complaints I receive from people I meet who have taken advice from less scrupulous advisors is that they were not told (or sometimes blatantly lied to) about lock-ins, penalties and surrender values, usually when discussing long-term contractual savings plans. Unfortunately (and this is a well-known and frequently discussed problem within the industry), long term contractual savings plans are very actively sold, usually for one reason only… they pay massive, up-front, indemnified-commissions to the advisors. These types of investments pay an initial commission which is multiplied by the term of the investment, and as long as the investor funds the “Initial Funding Period” (normally 18-months) the advisor gets to keep this commission. If the investor fails to maintain the regular investment until the end of this period, the commission will be “clawed back” from the advisor

(and the investor will also lose everything he has invested). It is also important to understand that any regular premium investment is designed to be fully funded until maturity. Although there may be flexibility to stop or reduce premiums, the investor will always be penalised in some way or another (directly or indirectly). At Farringdon, we do not advise clients to take long term contractual savings plans. Our view is that the client is better taking a short term investment (typically five years), and then upon maturity we review his circumstances and then make a further recommendations. This maximises his flexibility and helps ensure that the advice is always current for his needs at the time. However, assuming what has been proposed does meet your needs, the advisor should then provide you with a full disclosure of the terms and conditions of any product recommended, along with any charges you have to pay for both the product and the advice given. My key piece of advice at this stage is do not enter into any contract until you have read and understood the terms and conditions. If they have not been provided, ask for them. If the advisor cannot or will not provide them… thank them for their time and walk away. You should never be pressured into something you do not fully understand! In my next article, I will focus on product and fund charges, how they are often hidden and how they affect you. As always, if you have any specific questions for me or would like some professional advice, please feel free to email me at abartlett@farringdongroup.com.

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Education

g n i g g i D O

an Educated Hole to China

nce upon a time, my brother and I used to play ‘digging a hole to China’ in the sandpit at the bottom of the garden. Many years later, with a TEFL certificate and 9 ½ years teaching experience in the bucket, I have arrived. I am a seasoned expat in China. Since August 2012 I have lived in Jiangsu province, not far from Shanghai, teaching EAP, that is English for Academic Purposes. Five months into my Chinese affair, I am at a loss for words. Is anything I heard or read about China before last August, since the days in the sandpit, true?

My students are 1st year undergraduate degree students, 18 year olds. I work at an International University, a 2+2 Sino-Foreign cooperative where students who pass their 2nd year courses have guaranteed entrance to a UK university. All of this is for a very high fee: three times the annual income for the average person in Jiangsu province. My students are bright, creative, and very courageous, and for the most part lack the attitude of the super-rich or the much discussed ‘little emperors’. My students deserve high praise. They have worked from dawn to midnight for 8 (of their 12 years education) years slogging away at their desks trying to pass the Gaokao (The National College Entrance Examination), the infamous exam which decides the fate of all Chinese students, to get here. They all believe that the higher the score the better the university and the better the job upon graduation, though this isn’t necessar-

Text and photographs Lucy Marryat ily true anymore. The market economy has become entrepreneur-friendly resulting in certain unexpected ramifications for the educated, such as factory jobs paying more than the highly desirable but increasingly more difficult to find office jobs. Like my Omani students, the thought of doing manual labor – peasant work – horrifies my Chinese students, male and female alike. It doesn’t matter how often I tell them about the highly regarded western farmers, or that my nephew with a grade 12 education and a certificate in plumbing is earning more than I am as a university tutor. The stigma attached with peasant work is profound and deepening with the times. It seems there are many twists and turns in Cultural Revolutions. My living conditions are the stuff of dreams. I live in an 80 km² industrial park which is the result of a joint venture between Singapore and China initiated in 1992. Deng Xiaoping was said to have remarked around that time: “Singapore enjoys good social order and is well managed. We should tap on their experience, and learn how to manage better than them.” Since then, the venture has

Education caused heavy losses and scandal for the Singaporeans. As author Ben Dolven noted, “Conceived in the early 1990s as a model in which Singapore would show China how to take care of international investors, instead [the industrial park] became a lesson in how not to get things done in the mainland.” My apartment is in the higher educational town (HET) part of the industrial part. It is on the 9th floor of one of the four identical 15-storey blocks painted grey with a few yellow stripes between alternating floors. Beyond these four blocks, apparent only when the pollution lifts enough to see clearly, which is not often, are literally hundreds of other blocks, all concrete, all grey. There is no heating in the winter as the location is south of the public heating latitude, being considered ‘South China.’ I have reverted to the weatherproofing techniques of my London 1950’s childhood: hot wa-

than 20 years upon which time the government buys the owners out and pulls the structures down and starts again, and it shows. Looking out, it would seem that the goal is to house the entire populace in highrises. Up and up, more and more. The idea of conservation is hard to find. It would seem that people are moved whenever and wherever if a highrise or freeway is determined to be planted – like concrete locusts. “But teacher, you don’t understand,” said one of my wise students, “the people have nowhere to live.” Right, right, I stand corrected as I do with most of my semi-political-environmentallyfriendly class rants. On a Saturday or Sunday, weather and pollution permitting, I ride my bicycle in search of the ‘real’ China. This turns out to be about a 10 km bike ride from B1 of the HET concrete towers. The village of Cherfang has survived the last bulldozer and sits there

ter bottle, four pairs of socks, and newspaper in the windows to block the draughts where cling-on fails. Maybe this building marks the day Singapore withdrew from the project, as the construction is appalling. It is rumored that none of these buildings were built to last more

amid a field of water taro (a kind of potato), chestnut trees and a 10-lane highway. All around the encroaching development has an almost suffocating effect. I desperately take photos of the disappearing ‘real’. Now and again, my students have the honour of seeing the fruits of my weekend labours. Photographs are a good

TEFL conversation starter, which can be turned into citing exercises for EAP. As I start my environmentally sustainability speech, one of my horrified and very wise students remarks, “But teacher, that isn’t the real China, this is China.’ Ah so, so much for expat nostalgia. And really, what did I think I was doing? What right do westerners from developed worlds have to ask people in undeveloped worlds to live in shanty towns full of rotting shacks not just without heating but also without water or toilets, because they are looking for some misguided sense of the real? “Why shouldn’t I have a car? You do. Why shouldn’t I have running water and a toilet, you do,” says another wise student. Actually, I have had six cars, though never all at the same time which seems to be the thing these days. Luckily, one does get wiser in this TEFL/EAP business. After nine years of teaching English in disparate and sometimes desperate places through desperate times, post 9/11 and into homeland security, post Iraq, post Martha Stewart, post financial disaster, post The Queen Mother and Alexander Queen, I have found finally found it wise to practice what I preach. Speak no religion, sex, or politics especially when delivering English classes. And how does one finally get so wise? It went like this: Upon booting up and opening the first of a barrage of emails one morning I opened this email and knew that I had found my own personal Waterloo:

The Line

d Davi y n o Anth

here are few worse feelings than being robbed in Moscow or simply, out of carelessness losing your documents or your money, or both. If this has never happened to you, you may just have been lucky, but, rather than feel blasé about it, you can be certain that you have been looked at more than once as a potential target and got away with it. So watch out! If you want to continue to avoid the unpleasantness and the ensuing hassle you might learn a few tips from my personal experiences to avoid it occurring to you. One thing I learnt in my time in Russia, and this does not just apply to the dark days of the USSR, whatever you do to try and make yourself look like a Russian, you will always stick out even in a crowd as a foreigner, just as if you had a big “F” pasted to your back. I heard a European visitor once say, “the trouble with the Russians is that they look like us!” This is not exactly true, as Russians themselves say that, if you scratch one, you find a Tartar. However, despite the similarities in physiognomy, the trouble is that we obviously do not look like them.

obbed

MOSCOW

So you can forget about trying to dress like a Russian, as if there is much difference in international fashion these days except that Russians tend to dress better than foreigners. I have tried different types of walk, head positions, even a limp occasionally, which once got me a seat on the metro. I played with different facial expressions, my favourite being to set my top teeth against my bottom teeth as I was told by my teacher at university that this is how Russian jaws are configured to get the proper sounds out and also supposedly helps you look like one. I seem to do pretty well at Russian pronunciation with my English mouth left as it is. Despite all these contortions, it is useless. The wily thief, or sometimes the observant cop, will pick me out as easy prey despite my attempts to disguise my identity. So what can you do to avoid getting robbed? The risk managers among you would say that you have to be aware of what is going on around you, of who your immediate neighbours are in crowded places and to be conscious of your surroundings. I once had my wallet stolen whilst daydreaming coming

up the escalator out of Pushkinskaya metro station. When I got to the top, a man who had come up the escalator parallel to mine told me he had seen some girls fishing inside my briefcase, which I had slung over my shoulder on its strap. They managed to up-zip the case, remove my wallet and zip it up again without my noticing. I saw the three girls disappearing down again on the other side. Whilst I was looking for the policeman, who is usually standing there but today was mysteriously absent, one of the girls had the cheek to come up to me and give me my wallet back – minus the rubles of course. They probably go up and down all day like that looking for dozy idiots like me. So, I now never carry anything on my back anymore on the metro and I always look to see who is immediately behind me. Better keep your wallet and your documents deep in an inside pocket, preferably one with a zip on it. Mind you, I once had my wallet removed by an expert in the Gorbushka electronics market, a popular spot for pickpockets, from a pocket of my skijacket with a zip on it. It was a really tough pocket as well as I always had

The Line problems unzipping it myself. How the thief got into it in a split second without my noticing is amazing. I only realized when someone bumped into me and a person behind me, probably the perpetrator, shouted, “Someone dropped a wallet!” Fortunately, I had just paid for the phone I bought but someone must have been watching where I put the change! Don’t carry huge amounts of cash around with you is an obvious thing to say. When I was buying an apartment I traveled on the metro to deliver several million rubles in a hefty sports bag to the bank deposit box where the escrow type arrangement for the purchase was enacted. It is ridiculous that in this modern day and age the practice of doing this in cash still persists. This must surely be a major source of plunder for the criminal minded. I felt like I had a neon sign on my head advertising the fact that I was carrying an enormous sum but, fortunately, the crooks who might have seen me traveling over open ground from one bank depository to another must have been having a day off. So, be warned, I know of cases of people being dispossessed of significant amounts of money in public places so maybe there is the use of parapsychology to highlight them. Or they are just downright careless. If you have to move money, take a taxi door to door. Don’t drive yourself, as, if the cops stop you, you might have some explaining to do at the police station and risk not seeing it again. It has happened. Don’t trust anything to luck. I was lucky once. I was traveling on a crowded bus to work one morning with two thousand dollars in my briefcase. Having missed one bus due to overcrowding I squeezed myself into the next but the doors closed like a vice on my arm holding the briefcase before I could get all of myself inside.. I agonized all the way to the next stop with my two grand waving in the freezing air for any passer-by to grab. Thank goodness,

no one did. The lesson there is, do not put your valuables in your bag or case, which may become subtly detached from your body. I only had my briefcase stolen a couple of times. Once I was in a bar after work when I told my friend who was engrossed in watching a football match to keep his foot on it while I went to the toilet. When I returned, he had his foot on his own case but mine was gone. Some friend! I had been asked at the entrance to remove my top layer of clothing which involved annoyingly emptying the pockets of my coat of various needy items such as mobile phone, wallet, passport, visa, car papers, keys into my case. A few days later, I was just about to commence the laborious process of applying for the renewal of the lost documents when I happened to open the letterbox, the one with the broken lock and the door half hanging off. There was a thick envelope there neatly addressed to me personally. It contained all my documents, including my wallet and my passport, in fact everything except the phone and the cash. The tip is, always keep a piece of paper in your wallet with your name and address on it in case your thief is one with a conscience like mine. Some robbers are less scrupulous of course, and may phone you, using your phone no doubt, to demand a ransom for the return of your papers. It is pointless to involve the police in such cases. It is better to turn up preferably with a well-built Russian to negotiate the exchange How much you pay depends on how valuable you think the return will be to you but a hundred dollars will usually do the trick, which is cheaper and quicker than applying for a replacement passport and visa. A more recent experience, and another warning to all, concerns the gang of thieves operating the cafes and bars on Tverskaya Street. I have known about this set of crooks for some time having already had first-hand experience of the way they operate. A

colleague had a substantial wad of dollars surreptitiously lifted from the inside pocket of his jacket by one of them, whilst I was sitting opposite him. They are smartly dressed in shirt and tie, often wear glasses and speaking foreign languages. They will sit down behind you at the next table and spend time looking at the menu, often sending the waitress away as if not ready to order, casually waiting for the opportunity to go through your pockets from behind, particularly if you have slung your jacket over the back of the chair as foreigners are wont to do. Despite my knowing about them I was not aware of the guy quietly sitting in the corner behind me sipping a glass of wine as I was having a late lunch in one of my favorite bars recently. I paid my bill and was waiting for the change, standing at the bar with my hand on my wallet and my iPhone when the owner invited me persuasively to the other end of the bar to meet an acquaintance. In the ninety seconds I was absent from my spot, the non-descript character in the corner, coolly stepped up to the bar, paid for his drink and walked out with my belongings. None of the dozen or so people in the bar noticed a thing. In such circumstances it is useful to remember to inspect the rubbish bins up and down the street outside the premises immediately after such a thing happens. Thieves are not interested in your passport or your private papers, not even in your credit cards. They are only after your cash. They will ditch anything else as incriminating evidence at the first opportunity, either tidily in a bin or straight in the gutter! Moscow is not unique in this respect. I have been done in Paris, Rome, London and New York. But there are places where, as a foreigner, you need to be particularly careful. It is always worth remembering that, wherever you are in town, there may well be someone watching you and waiting for the opportunity!

Moscow Personalities

, h g u ro is h t f o e n o “There is n g in h t n ia s s u R r u o d , ff gru .” t u o b a rd a e h e w that Andrew Quayle, HEINEKEN Russia’s new Chief Financial Officer tells Moscow expat Life what life is like here after eight months in Russia. Interview by Peter Hainsworth How long have you been in Russia? For almost eight months.

What is the overriding impression you have about living in this city? It’s big, it’s busy, it’s noisy, and it’s congested, as it should be because it is a huge megacity. But actually I quite like it. It lives up to the expectations of what everybody says it is going to. Ok, maybe after eight months there are some surprises, which we haven’t yet come across, but so far it has been a remarkably straightforward transition.

Did you have a choice of whether to come here or not? In theory you have a choice. In my case I was presented with two options of where I might go next. Once I knew what the other choice was, there was only one place I wanted to go – here; although the other option

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would have probably been a more pleasant quality of life, but not as good a job. Some people turn down Moscow because they hear all sorts of stories about it, but that never entered our heads really. It was: let’s give it a go and see what happens.

What did you hear about Russian that might have put you off? Because it’s Russia, and an important country on a global scale, you can’t avoid being exposed to other people’s impressions. You read about Russia in the newspapers every day, you see it on the television news, you see it on the internet. Then you hear the stories of people who have been here and did not like it. Many of the people who like it are still here, quietly getting on with their jobs and lives. I have to say that after eight months, we think it’s a great place. You very rarely hear positive stories about Russia outside of the country, which is wrong. To a certain extent we are used to this. Before we lived here, we lived in Romania, which has a very negative image in Western Europe particularly. But we thought Romania was a fantastic place and we enjoyed it a lot. I think Romanians are great people, and you won’t hear many people in Western Europe saying that. Perhaps that is because they don’t know any. You don’t hear too many people saying that Russia is a great place, unless they are Russian, which I think half the people in London are now.

What’s been the worst thing so far? Well, somebody once told me that there is no such thing as bad weather; there are only bad clothes. Before we came we bought big heavy hats and coats, and, so far, we have survived the winter. I must admit that I find the darkness in the mornings goes on a long time (editor. This interview was conducted in the winter). Perhaps it has got something to do with the fact that the clocks don’t change for wintertime like they do in most other countries. It took a while to find somewhere to live, and that’s very expensive obviously. Now we have a very nice apartment right in the heart of the city. We can walk just about everywhere, as although Moscow is huge the centre is actually fairly small. We are lucky because I have an assistant in the next office who handles all the bureaucracy, she just asks me to sign things. But I can image that if you don’t have a big company behind you, then handling the bureaucracy can be tough; especially if you’ve just arrived.

Moscow Personalities What about the best things? We have genuinely been pleased with the hospitality of the people. Everywhere we go we find people who are happy to help in one way or the other. Despite what I have heard, if you can offer one or two words of Russian, and a smile, generally they smile back. There is none of this rough, gruff, dour Russian thing that we heard about. No doubt it is there, but we haven’t experienced it. And the same goes for the situation at work. The Russians could have made it very difficult for somebody like me coming in but in fact, they have made it very easy, even when there is a recognition in business terms that we still have a lot of work to do.

What sort of things do you do at the weekends? We have been walking around the city quite a lot. Liz is slowly expanding our walking routes, to try differ-

ent parts of the city. When you arrive somewhere you work out a way to meet people, usually in bars and restaurants. Sure, maybe the people you meet, in expat life are sometimes transient; just when you make friends with somebody they leave! But we have met a few people, and had a few good nights out, and are able to make the best of things. All of our social connections are with expats, which I recognize is a limitation in that it would be nice to meet more local people and get a feel for Russian culture.

What about work, is it the same as in Romania? It is very similar, because it is the same business, but everything here is about double the size. The fact that you are doing a job like I am doing in a culture and language that you don’t know, make it a challenge, but this also makes the job very interesting. I realised that there are three parts to the continent we call Europe. There is Western Europe,

Eastern Europe and there is Russia. I did make the initial mistake of lumping Russia together with Eastern Europe, but of course Russia is different, and half of it is in Asia anyway.

So Russian business culture is a long way from European culture? Yes, and a long way from eastern European culture also. I fully understand this; it is a very big country and perfectly capable of standing on its own. So why should it be referred to as part of Eastern Europe? There is a cultural and historical background that makes us all a bit different. Romanians have a very “can do” attitude; they are not so interested in debating “why?” Here, the situation is a little bit more challenging. The attitude is let’s talk about this a bit more, and fully understand why we are doing something. So I find the approach here to be different, but also very healthy.

Moscow Personalities

â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you are open-minded and simply try to accept the people you are working with and respect their historical, cultural and religious tradition, you begin to see that insurmountable problems do not really exist, there are only huge opportunities.â&#x20AC;?

Anton Greiler

Anton Greiler moved to Russia in 2010 as y b w e Intervi nsworth General Director of ai Julius MeinlRussland Peter H OOO. In this interview, Anton talks about the pros and cons of working in Russia.

Moscow Personalities

efore I came here almost three years ago, I worked for ten years in the export business. The first time I came to Russia was in the beginning of 2000. The wild times were over by then, but Moscow was still very different. Right from the beginning I always felt very comfortable here. In 2005 I started to work for Julius Meinl; at that time Russia was simply a country we exported to. It soon became clear that Russia is going to be one of the strategically most important markets for our company, and in 2007 we took over the Russian import and distribution company, and founded Julius Meinl Russland OOO.

be interested in going to Russia as general director. I spent all of one night thinking it over; as I loved Russia and Moscow. I arrived in March 2010, and have been working here since. My first job was to continue with the restructuring of the company that my predecessor started. We shrank down to 70 people, then last year we started growing again. Now we are up to 90 people again. But in the meantime we have tripled our revenues, and we are the fastest growing unit in the group. In Russia we are one of the biggest suppliers of premium grade coffee.

So youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re the man who came here and set it all up? The earliest work was done by the Russian importing and distributing company, but after 2005 I was involved in managing and boosting development. In the beginning I used to come here a couple of times a year as most of the work was done locally. In business terms, we made the classical mistake of taking over the complete management team. The ways of doing things locally differed with our Western European, transparent systems. In theory, we were doing the same thing, but the practical side of things was a different story. In 2008 we finally realised that themanagement which we had inherited was not going to work out in the way that we thought it would. There was the belief that all development should come out of the regions. We started 12 regional offices. This turned out to be far too ambitious for the time, as we were still quite small in terms of revenues. At one time we were employing 150 people, which was really a lot. So the train was travelling fast in the wrong direction. Then came the crisis. We pulled the brake at the end of 2008, and appointed a new Russian general director who started to reorganise the company and make it more feasible. She had perhaps thought that the job was going to be easier than it actually was, and decided to leave the company after one year. As I was the only one in the company who was truly familiar with the whole story in Russia, my boss asked me if I might

Moscow Personalities There are

147 embassies are

in Moscow and 2392 representatives

of foreign companies registered in Moscow now What are the problems and advantages of doing business in Russia? I was able to travel a lot during my ten-year stint in the export business. I was in touch with a lot of different countries and cultures from Japan to the Middle East, the US, South America, Africa and Russia. I am inclined to repeat an Italian saying: ”tutto il mondo è un paese”. At the end of the day, you have the same kind of problems everywhere, the same kind of desires, the same kind of good or bad people, education and business etiquette. If you are open-minded and simply try to accept the people you are working with and respect their historical, cultural and religious tradition, you begin to see that insurmountable problems do not really exist; there are only huge opportunities. I personally think that mixing cultures and ideas is a good thing. The synergy that comes out of the area behind San Francisco known as Silicon Valley is perhaps a good example of this. Creative companies have thrived there because the population is multi-cultural and full of energy and ideas. Russia is a special case, because Russians mostly look like Europeans. But they are not Europeans. One of the biggest surprises for me when I first came here, was to find out that Russians talked about Europeans as those people in the West, because they don’t consider themselves to be a geographical part of Europe. Russia is a huge bridge between the East and the West. Russia is full of different nations, philosophies and races, which makes the country very interesting and fascinating for

me. Certainly I am amazed at the depth and richness of Russian culture. For me, I have never experienced – to such a degree – the ‘live for today’ attitude to life. This sometimes creates problems with implementing the plans of western companies like ours, which is 150 years old and employs long-term planning. I am not sure how much importance Russians place on savings. Most Russians say that they actually don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow, so it is better to enjoy today. But on the other hand, when you take into consideration the history of this place, you can understand this philosophy.

What’s the best and the worst thing that has happened to you here? I have met a lot of wonderful people here, amongst them my current girlfriend. Russian women are very beautiful and emotional. They understand themselves to be women, whereas in a lot of western countries, they try to be more like men. As far as the worst thing that happened; on the 17th of November last year, I was driving my car and stopped by the traffic police who accused me of being drunk. They confiscated my driving license. A battle against the police started which I finally won. Last week a Russian court decided that the Russian police had not been proceeding in a proper way, because they did not provide me with a translator, and made a lot of procedural errors. So I have to say that the Russian legal system is working better and better, things are in general improving.

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Cinema As part of the 2013 Sh ort Film Marathon at th e 35mm cinema in Mosc ow, a mostly Russian audience was treated to a selection of some of the best short anim ated films from Norway , Denmark, Sweden and Finland. For the uninitiated into Scandinavia n films like yours truly, the originality of thes e films came as a bit of a shock. In terms of a ce rtain humanness and ingenuity, they are clo ser to what is going on here in central and easte rn Europe than much of the animation comi ng out of the western European countries an d the US. Here is an at tempt of one author to describe in words four of the films he saw:

Benigni

orway 2008, 10 min. Directed by Mats Grorud. As somebody who has witnessed the destruction of old Beijing in the name of progress, this animated film was particularly interesting for me. The whole story is told through the wrinkles on a granny’s face. Superb.

Festival of short animated Scandinavian

inland 2009, 8 min. A lonesome xylophone player finds a viciously growing tumour under his arm, in his attempts to get rid of it he discovers that it has some unusual qualities, and becomes his friend. When the man inhales a cigarette, the tumour, which now has an expressive face and personality, exhales. The story is about loneliness, friendship, the emptiness of the city and ends with an unexpected twist. The film was created as a simple class exercise at Finland’s Turku Arts Academy—it’s not even a graduation film, but the charm of its bizarre story got it a spot in Annecy 2010.

Alien Repair Guy

Min Bestemor Beijing

orway 2012, 12 min. Directed by Øystein Moe, Alexander Somma. This film tells the age-old alien origination of the human race through quite astonishing 2D and 3D animation. Earth’s control box gets broken. For the alien caretaker, what seems like just another day at work, ends up something completely different.

Films

Love Birds

enmark 2000, 10 min. Directed by Trylle Vilstrup. A bird looking for love tries blind-dating. Drawn in a satirical, highly amusing way, the film demonstrates how powerful animation is as a tool for parody. It reminded me of the tough Teddy Boy’ 1960-70s in Northern England, when a bird could be a luv bird.

Moscow Opera

Moscow

Opera in the Spring

Dali Asatiani

here is no doubt that the upcoming spring season is a real gift for opera lovers in Moscow. First of all, the Bolshoi Theatre is offering a renewed programme after a magnificent renovation. On February 15th, for example, there is a unique chance to enjoy Claude Debussy’s ‘Pelléas et Mélisande,’ in a production that has come all the way from

the northern capital’s Mariinsky Theatre. Debussy reveals the drama through the internal experiences of the heroes, not through dynamic action on the stage. This is something the director gives credit to, by assuming that ideally the opera should not give any hint about time and particular place. He has let the music play a predominant role. A few days later, the Bolshoi will host another guest performance, again in French -- “Les contes d`Hoffmann”. Following in close succession is ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ that proved to be the most epic and

massively popular show last autumn and ‘Turandot’ – famous for its unforgettable costumes. All of these operas will run on the main stage. The trick with the Bolshoi is never to do what everybody else does and buy tickets from agents. The best way is to go personally to the cashier in the theater at least two weeks in advance with a passport and get the best seats for no more than EUROS 80. The passport is necessary because it gives the theatre a guarantee that you are not going to resell the tickets and need them for personal use only.

if Pars

Moscow Opera Giul

ius C easa

Fran cesc a

For those who would prefer to stick to classical forms of opera but hardly have time to buy tickets in advance there is always the Stanislavskiy theater in Bolshaya Dmitrovka street. This theatre has a smaller stage, and puts on different but no less spectacular versions of your favourite operas. Splashy premieres aside, it

is enough to arrive just 2 hours in advance to get good seats for a ridiculous EUROS 10. Together with English National Opera, in February, the Stanislavskiy theatre proudly presents ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ to the music of Benjamin Britten. There is another reason to visit this relatively small theater – its main star, or Diva. It doesn’t really matter what opera is running – ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’, ‘La Traviata’ or ‘Tosca’, if you see the name Hibla Gerzmava in the cast, you may well be

– Anna Netrebko. Hopefully Gerzmava will stay part of the Russia cultural heritage in spite of numerous offers from abroad. The loss of her after Anna Netrebko left in 2006 would be simply unbearable. And last but not the least; this season presents somewhat of an unusual opera-viewing opportunity. You can enjoy famous productions without traveling to the Metropolitan NY; by watching splendid

pleasantly pleased by the strong yet velvety voice of a truly remarkable soloist. She has performed on the stages of Paris, Florence, Vienna, Sofia, Tokyo, New York, London and Munich and earned the highest Russian awards: the Golden Mask, as well as the Casta Diva Award and the Moscow Government Award for achievement and contribution to the world of Arts and culture. Her charisma, charm, incredible talent and a breathtaking career are reminiscent of another Diva

da R

imin

shows LIVE in HD in several local movie theaters (they all belong to the chain ‘Formula Kino’ which makes the process of buying electronic ticket easier). Four masterpieces are waiting audiences in the spring – ‘Rigoletto’ (its director Michael Mayer has placed Verdi’s towering tragedy in Las Vegas in 1960), the immortal ‘Parsifal’, ‘Francesca da Rimini’ (inspired by an episode from Dante’s Inferno) and ‘Giulio Cesare’. Despite of the fact that you will be watching the shows on the big screen with Dolby Digital Surround, the operatic atmosphere will remain the same. There will be gallant opera lovers sharing their artistic impressions during the intermission. During the intermission, viewers virtually go backstage and listen to interviews with the cast. The longest show takes almost five and a half hours (no surprise as this is Wagner), but if you choose the cozy hall of Strela cinema, you can press special buttons to call waiters whilst you recline in most comfortable horizontal chairs.

Other Stuff

Where

Do They Take The Snow?

All

forgotten now, as the sun shines sweetly over us, Russian winters bring challenges on a scale that would paralyse just about every major city in the world for weeks. Despite the moans and groans about poor municipal services, the city somehow copes and clears away hundreds of tons of snow A DAY. How? Armies of temporary workers are hired by the Moscow city government each year to handle the thousands of snow clearing machines and good old shovels. More highly paid members of the local housing administration clamber onto roofs and clear chunks of ice and snow off roofs. Drivers who leave their cars too close to buildings get the roofs of the car destroyed free (like your truly; see photo trying to kick the roof back into shape in truly Russian way). Roads are totally clogged when there is a heavy snowfall, but the concept of snow warnings doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really mean an awful lot here, as most drivers still insist on driving to work, even though taking the metro would be much faster, and safer. If you buy a nice vehicle, especially a big one, whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the point of having to leave it at home?, the logic goes. Each winter the same mad, circus-like situation develops on Moscow streets, saved only by studded tires, which destroy asphalt even faster than salt.

Other Stuff

How

on earth is the snow disposed of? Moscow streets are served by an army of trucks and bulldozers which clear the snow, that’s how. Snow clearing machines – the ones that used to look like escalators tipped into the snow – with mechanical arms which fed snow onto a conveyor belt used to be called ‘capitalisti’ in times gone by, because they grabbed the snow supposedly like capitalists grab money. Now, modern looking bulldozers come out at night and load lorries up with the snow. The snow is taken to one of 35 ‘Snego Splavnyi Punkty’or snow melting stations. Boris, the head of the Snego Splavnyi Punkt, Chrkizovsko No. 1 at Sokolniki explained how his station works: “Snow is tipped into underground water canals where the snow melts, and then it is pumped to one of the 5 sewage works around Moscow. The water is running and is at a constant temperature of 14 degrees centigrade, so that the snow doesn’t cool it down too much; which would lead to the canals freezing up. Rubbish such as plastic bottles and glass is separated and filtered before the snow descends down into the water. The underground chambers where the snow falls down to are regularly cleaned to get rid of sand used to clean the roads and other sediments.” The stations work 24 hours a day. Each lorry contains between 15-20 cubic metres of snow, each station processes between 12,000 and 15,000 cubic metres of snow per 24 hours. Whether the melted snow then flows into the river Moskva doesn’t really matter too much to me personally. The fact is that mostly, within a day or two, no matter how much snow falls, most of it IS cleared. And that is no mean achievement, anywhere.

Other Stuff

20012007.

Tom

Wiseman

-Clarke

It Doesn’t Look so Bad from Over There

month or so ago, I suggested to the editor of this magazine that he might print a piece about what former Moscow expats miss about Moscow. He replied that yes, it would be interesting and with barely any hesitation, provoked me to pick up my pen and quill and start writing. My admittedly not very scientific survey of former expat friends and acquaintances revealed quite an array of reminiscences, from Russian banyas to sushi and the Starlite Diner, the Moscow Metro to unlicensed gypsy cabs. From wild allnighters to hangovers on deserted railway platforms outside dacha villages in the dead of winter. Perhaps not surprisingly given the cold climate, food plays a big part in people’s memory of Moscow, though not many expats are talking about selyodka pod shuby (if you haven’t yet tried it, this is pickled herring under a chilly ‘fur coat’ of beetroot, potatoes, carrots, onions, eggs and mayonnaise – delicious!). For the most part, it is the variety of international comfort foods that seems to stick in the memory, though I have to say, I am a bit partial to a Russian mushroom julienne (ok, so maybe it is French in origin, but no one makes them like the Russians!).

As Bob and Maria Holliday, back home in sunny Costa Rica after living in Moscow from 1995-1998 and again from 2005-2008, put it: “we miss the cosmopolitan lifestyle that Moscow offers. You can get anything, and eat nearly any type of exotic food there is. There are times when we crave the cheeses you could get in the shops, or those fabulous almond croissants. We even miss the blinis from the portable blini stands. Miss that khachapuri too.” It is a little ironic, given the ongoing crackdown on anything Georgian, that many expats’ abiding food memory is of Georgian restaurants, where the joie de vivre, devilishly bad-for-your-heart khachapuri and plastic grapevines are so at odds with the frequently icy streets. Indeed, this fondness for all things Georgian is not unique to expats – a Russian friend visiting me in London enthusiastically helped me polish off my treasured bottle of Georgian brandy in preference to the ubiquitous Armenian variety (we drank that next…). Possibly not comfort food, but Hannah Kozlova (2001-2007) fondly remembers being able to order sushi

Business Insights pretty much whichever restaurant she went to, in spite of Moscow being some 1,000km from the nearest sea. Mention that to anyone who has never been to Moscow, and they might not believe you. Then again, take a Japanese client for Russian sushi, as I once did, and they might not pass their compliments to the chef… For me, and many others, getting around Moscow was often a liberating experience. Does that sound strange, as you contemplate the gridlock for which Moscow has become world-famous, the sharp elbows of the babooshki in the Metro, the ill-conceived, flimsy and inevitably crumpled barcode tickets that you have to scan to get off the suburban railway platforms, and the miles you sometimes have to walk just to cross a road safely? Maybe, but some aspects of Moscow travel are really quite convenient, when you think about them. Jules Evans, freelance journalist in Moscow from 20042007, misses the ‘crazy cab drivers.’ Maybe I was not as keen as Jules on the crazy ones, but at least they made the journey interesting/exhilarating, depending on your point of view. And meeting up for a bite to eat at 10pm in Moscow was never an issue, whereas in London, I find myself wondering how I am going to get home if I stay out late, whether I am going to pay a small fortune for a black cab, or wait half the night for a bus. Of course, in London, you would struggle to find anywhere to eat beyond 10pm. Nicolas Ollivant recalls bars and restaurants that were open all night long, and the rolling social life that revolved around them, as parties swelled and shrank – perhaps that goes some way to explaining why so many Moscow office desks were/are largely deserted at 9am. Something else that Nicolas mentioned, which I am ashamed to say I paid only scant attention to, were Russia’s old churches and monasteries. Given my time in Moscow again, I think I would make more effort to absorb that more ancient side of Russian culture, before they all get ‘evroremonts.’ As for the Moscow Metro – and you cannot write an article like this without mentioning it – setting aside the elbows of one’s fellow passengers and the occasional lolling drunken head, I can’t say fairer than Bob Holliday: “Oh BTW, I hope you’re making mention of the best damn metro system in the world. It was what gave Maria the freedom to take her classes and go to the expat meetings... just a thought.” Perhaps most significant for all of us former expats, Jules Evans “misses the daily surprise and amusement at life in a very different country.” That is certainly true. Very different, and yet still European, still familiar, and once you get past the frosty exteriors, it is warm and welcoming on the inside. So remember, next time you are cursing the exorbitant price of a half-decent bottle of claret, you will miss the place when you are gone. The author lived in Moscow in 1998 and again from 2001-2007, and is director of www.MarketingCopy.org, a London-based copywriting, proofreading and translation cooperative.

Other Stuff

1990-1993, 2003-2007. Elizabeth Malloy

hen I try to think of a few memories of my times in Moscow, it is hard to come up with just a few, and ones which can be summarised on paper – these memories can be intensely specific and therefore eligible for succinct description, but evade capture as they float through my mind, wrapping themselves around historical events, and, more often representing, through one experience, a vast insight into (sorry to say it!) the Russian soul. It does not help that I lived in Russia twice – first before the end of the Soviet Union (199093) and later from 2003-2007. The question is: How to find the best morsels and not sound boastful (I was told I was the first American woman in Nizhnevartovsk in 1990, but I digress!)? The expat crowd was small and I spent most of my time in Tyumen during my first spell in Russia. The second time round, being a foreigner had lost its shine, and the advent of the Business Lunch, coffee shops and rising wages meant I could easily share meals and experiences with my Russian friends (in the early 90s there were only a handful of restaurants, which were cheap with US dollars but prohibitive to average Russians). I was an expat but did not identify myself as being one and certainly did not have an expat salary package!

“…One might think that eventually, my dried up serotonin and vitamin D reserves would get the better of my duped brain and that eventually I’d succumb to the inevitable depression but by then it was almost Christmas.” Every year since living in Moscow, in the autumn, as soon as the days get shorter and light becomes scarce, I start thinking about Russia and how deeply dark it was. I remember my friends at the US Embassy who were issued light boxes to defeat seasonal light disorder. The funny thing is that from childhood I had issues with midautumn, when the clocks changed and suddenly 4pm felt like bedtime and the mixture of rustly leaves, dark, and cold left me feeling incredibly lonely. But in Russia, my experience with the changes in light were surprisingly positive. By November, when the darkness really set in, there would already be white snow all over town, covering the dirt, and making the light hours even brighter. But the lights – the extreme New Years decorations, blinking tree ornaments the size of buildings on the New Arbat, otherwise hideous concrete towers festooned with lights and the usual jumbotrons flashing casino ads (so bright my friends who lived blocks away from one of them had to buy blackout blinds)... those lights going on and on from mid-October until late January really perked me up. One might think that eventually, my dried up serotonin and vitamin D reserves would get the better of my duped brain and that eventually I’d succumb to the inevitable depression but by then it was

almost Christmas and we were all having holiday parties and leaving for those wonderful looonnnggg christmas holidays, usually starting around 21st December and going through at least a week after New Year. Returning to Moscow, the lights were still blazing, there were more celebrations, thanks to the revival of the Russian Church and the Russian orthodox calendar’s duplicating of old and new New Year. And then came February. I remember those days so well: deep snow and mid-afternoon sun, glancing briefly over the buildings, to the south. My friend Olga would beam as she stood in that sunlight, take a deep breath and say “ah I can smell spring!” and I’d remind myself about what Russians consider “spring” or “autumn” was what I’d always considered “winter”. Olga’s annual proclamation would always fill me with hope. And then came the Pussy Willow which I’d see when I skied in Izmailovsky Park, poking through the snow, glistening with little ice crystals like some cheesy postcard. Sprigs of Pussy Willows clutched in bunches by old women at the Metro stops and, even as I always wondered if these old ladies selling the signs of spring were part of some organized krisha, I allowed my cynicism to lift and let the fluffy little signs of spring tide me over until May holidays.

Hole in the Wall

The Perlov Tea House 19 Myasnitsakaya Ulitsa

This

Hole in the Wall is a mammoth Chinese pagoda building on Myasnitskaya Ulitsa, a 5 minute walk south from Chistye Prudy metro station. Originally a high-renaissance style building typical of most of the others on this street, the building housed the offices and show rooms of the Perlov family; who were highly successful tea merchants.

Hole in the Wall

an attempt to be granted the privilege of having extraordinary Chinese ambassador Li Hongzhang, invited for the coronation of Nicolas II, reside in the headquarters of the family business, the Perlovs commissioned architect Karl Guippious to redesign the building in 1895. The faรงade was entirely changed and decorated with Chinese architectural elements. The interior also underwent many modifications and the first floor was turned into a store.

The

Ambassador did not accept the invitation, however the building became possibly the first successful example of retail signage and remained in use as a tea shop throughout the Soviet Period, although the upper floors were turned into communal flats. The building was renovated and returned to the Perlov family in 1997.

Today

the shop houses a vast collection of tea from India, Ceylon, China and Kenya with coffee beans from Italy, Brazil, Costa Rica and Kenya. The place is worthy a visit.

Dance

Scottish Dancing Class

eep in the Kurski area of Moscow, in the ‘World of Dance’ studio Mikhail Smagin, a certified Royal Scottish Country Dance Society teacher is taking a group of Russian and foreign dancers through their paces. Lines of dancers swirl around each other in various patterns, then somehow find their way back to their first dance partner. As long as each performer remembers his or her steps, a formation of dancers gradually progresses up and down the dance hall. If one or more dancers forget where they are, there is a danger of the dance ending in communal hysterics. This seemed to be excusable bearing in mind the fact that dancers are also hopping, stomping or waltzing their way along, according to the step for each dance’s particular choreography. The music, or reels which are arranged as continuous pieces of music, which repeats itself every 8, 16, 32 or even 48 bars, have exotic names such as The Bees of Maggieknockater, or The Belle of Bon Accord. Experi-

Peter Hainsworth

enced dancers seem to know instinctively when to turn and twirl, when to throw an understanding nod or smile to their partners. Such freedom of expression within the restrained framework of this kind of dance can take a while to achieve. Fascinated by what I had seen when I visited this group to research this article, I came back a week later to take part. In the space of a couple of hours, even a complete beginner like me who doesn’t even know how to waltz, could at least end up facing the right direction, even if facing the wrong partner. Olga Ivanova, also a Scottishqualified Royal Scottish Country Dance Society teacher, and one of the leaders of this group told me in a Russian accent which transformed into a Scottish accent as the dance class progressed: “In our school you can join the classes at any time during the year. The first part of each rehearsal is all about technique, so those who are experienced can perfect their dance, and those who are new can learn. We always try to accommodate a newcomer by choosing easier dancers. The important thing is that a novice starts feeling com-

fortable from step one.” As confidence grows and the dancer begins to grasp the difference between ‘The White Heather Jig’ and ‘Nighean Donn’, for example, the prospect of performing at one of the events organised by the St. Andrews Society which this group grew out of in 1993 – such as the St. Andrews ball and the Burns Night Supper – presents itself. Dancing in public is not compulsory however and is left for those who feel totally comfortable about donning sashes, kilts and dancing ghillies, and parading themselves in front of mostly drunk expat Scotland-related audiences. Scottish Country Dancing is a social dance, and although the dancing is carried out to unmistakably Scottish music, the dance routines can be traced back hundreds of years to English country dancing, contra dancing, cèilidh dancing and Irish set dancing. It is a great way to meet Russians, and is basically a lot of fun. Said Galina, one of the more proficient dancers: “I like this because it is group dancing, not just for two people, it brings people together. I have been dancing here for three

Dance

years, and have made a lot of friends; in fact I met my husband here.” All age groups from 15 upwards were present at the rehearsals, and the teaching is in English when there are dancers who don’t speak Russian. “Scottish Country dancing is practiced all over the world,” explained Olga who received an MBA in St. Andrews. “So if I get to go on a business trip, I take my dancing shoes, because there is always a club nearby. We welcome people who come on business to Moscow, we get emails from Scots, for example, who ask if they can come to our class because they are in town for a week or so on business. We have branches in Perm and Voronezh, as people from those cities join our classes when they are in Moscow. All the figures and formations have

English or rather Scottish names, like the dances themselves. Me and Mikhail, who trained to become instructors in Scotland had to pass our exams in English.” Olga also mentioned some specifics about Scottish Country Dancing: “unlike other dances such as waltz or tango, you don’t need to have a constant dance partner, so you will still have somebody to dance with if your partner can’t come to rehearsals. You are a member of team, we have even done team building events using Scottish Country Dancing because if one of six or eight dancers can’t get it right, the whole dance is ruined. It’s a great way to train social skills such as

eye contact; there are so any aspects of Scottish Country dancing which are applicable to everyday life.” Most of all, this is something completely different and is thoroughly enjoyable. Contacts: http://www.rscds.ru/ rscds_russia@yahoo.com Classes are held in Moscow on Sundays from 5pm-7pm and cost 200 roubles, to cover the cost of the hall.

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services?

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Business Insights

Moscow

now offers so many wonderful restaurants and great bars. Our aim is to provide you with Moscowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most extensive listings of Restaurants and Bars. In this issue it is an A-Z format and in the near future it will be combined with our inter-active website

www.MoscowExpatLife.ru

Our

wonderful researchers continue to work hard to produce this list, however if your restaurant/ bar is not listed, please contact us, and you will be in the next issue.

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants 02 Lounge

3 Tverskaya The Ritz-Carlton Moscow M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: Japanese, $$$$

1-2-3 Cafe

6 bld.1, Bolshaya Cherkizovskaya M. Preobrazhenskaya Ploshchad Cuisine: Russian, $

1-2-3 Cafe

11, Bulevard Dmitriya Donskogo M. Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo Cuisine: Russian, $

7 sisters

Adriatico

A&B Cafe

Africa

18/1 Olimpiyskiy pr. (Hotel Renessans) M. Prospekt Mira Cuisine: European, $ 8, Tulskaya bol. M. Tulskaya Cuisine: European, $$$

A. F. Koni

9/1 Novaya Basmannaya St. M. Krasnye Vorota Cuisine: Russian, European, $$

A.V.E.N.U.E.

3, Blagoveschensky Pereulok M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Aloha Bar

Ahtuba

4, 1st Kazachii Per. M. Tretyakovskaya Cuisine: European, Seafood, Vegetarian, $$

1a Nijegorodskaya St. M. Rimskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, $

Aiko

29, Zemlyanoi Val M. Kurskaya Cuisine: Russian, $

1-2-3 Cafe

Abricol

Aist

5, Pushkinskaya Square M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: Russian, $

1001 night

31 kor.1, Bratislavskaya ul. M. Maryino Cuisine: European, Azerbaijan, $

11/1 Burger Bar

15/2, Lubyansky Proezd M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: American, $$

Lipeckaya 7a M. Tsaritsyno Cuisine: European, Russian, Mixed, $$

Academia Cafe & Pizzeria 2/1, Kamergersky Pereulok M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$

Academy

10/2 str.2b,Nikolskaya M. Lubyanka Cuisine: American, $

Building 2, 23 1st Shchipkovskii Per. M. Dobryninskaya Cuisine: Caucasian, European, Japanese, Seafood, $$

3 Rooms

Accenti

1920

84/32 kor.1, Profsoyuznaya St. M. Kaluzhskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, Japanese, $$

32.05

3 Karetniy ryad M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: European, $

7, Kropotkinsky per. M. Park Kultury Cuisine: Author’s cuisine, Italian, Japanese, $$$

Acienda

39 Vavilova St. M. Leninsky Prospekt Cuisine: Brazilian, Spanish, Cuban, Latin American, Mexican, Portuguese, $$$

Building 8, 52 Kosmodamianskaya Nab. M. Paveletskaya Cuisine: European, French, $$$

10, 2nd Vladimirskaya St. M. Perovo Cuisine: African, Georgian, Mediterranean, $$

8 km of Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Shosse,Barvikha Luxury Village M. Molodyozhnaya Cuisine: French,Italian, Japanese, Russian, $$$$

1-2-3 Cafe

Allegro

24 Frunzenskaya Nab. (Embankment) M. Park Kultury Cuisine: European, Japanese, Seafood, $$$ 8/1, Malaya Bronnaya M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, Russian, $$$

Akademicheskiy 1 Donskaya St. M. Oktyabrskaya Cuisine: European, Japanese, $$

Alazani

11/15 Volochaevskaya St. M. Rimskaya Cuisine: European, Georgian, $$

Alenky tsvetochek 6/5 Kostyakova St. M. Dmitrovskaya Cuisine: Jewish, European, $$

Alioli

Ulitsa Neglinaya, 8/10 M. Lubyanka Cuisine: Spanish, $$

All-Time Bar

7/5 bld.2, Bolshaya Dmitrovka M. Teatralnaya Cuisine: European, $$$

38 bld.1, Myasnitskaya M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: European, $$

Alrosa

Alter Ego

Profsoyuznaya St. 152/2 M. Tyoply Stan Cuisine: Caucasian, European, Russian, $$

Alye Parusa

66 Aviatsionnaya St. M. Shchukinskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Amarcord

6 Pokrovka St. M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: European, Italian, $$

American Bar and Grill

14, Kirovogradskaya M. Yuzhnaya Cuisine: American, $$

American Bar and Grill

2 bld.1, 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: American, $$

AMG cafe dj bar

13a Vavilova St. M. Leninsky Prospekt Cuisine: European, Italian, Japanese, $

Amigo Migel

47 Leningradskiy prospekt M. Aeroport Cuisine: Mexican, American, $$

= Menu in English

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Amstel

2, Kievskiy vokzal square (Evropeyskiy) M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: European, $

Andiamo

10 N.Maslovka M. Savyolovskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, Japanese, $

Amstel Bar

Amsterdam

Amsterdam Cafe 19a bld.1, Vorontsovskaya M. Taganskaya Cuisine: European, Japanese, $$

Ananas (Pineapple) 11 Generala Beloborodova St. M. Tushinskaya Cuisine: Jewish, $$

AnderSon

74 bld.8, Leningradsky Prospect M. Sokol Cuisine: European, Confectionery, $$

3 Krasnokazarmennaya St. M. Baumanskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, Fish, $$

ANDIAMO

2, Dnepropetrovskaya ul (Yujniy) M. Yuzhnaya Cuisine: European, $ 4, Ilinka M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: Dutch, European, $$$

Anna Mons

Aquarelle

36 Krasnaya Presnya St. M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: European, $

“Classy & relaxed café and restaurant. Excellent cuisine and extensive wine list”

Ararat Park Hyatt

53/6 Ostojenka M. Park Kultury Cuisine: Italian, $$

Andreas

Kutuzovsky Prospekt 12 M. Kutuzovskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$$

Anfilada

Olympic Ave, 16, M. Prospekt Mira Cuisine: European, Russian,Mixed, $$$ 60-letiya Oktyabrya Prospekt 3 M. Leninsky Prospekt Cuisine: Mediterranean, Japanese, European, Italian, $$$

Annenfeld

17 Uralskaya St. M. Shcholkovskaya Cuisine: Azerbaijani, Russian, European, $

4 Neglinnaya ul., Ararat Park Khayat Moskva Hotel, 10th floor M. Teatralnaya Cuisine: Caucasian, European, $$$

Arbat

Chistoprudny Bulvar M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: Russian, $$$

12 Plotnikov Per. M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: Beer Restaurants, European, Russian, $$

ANT-25

Argento

Annyushka Traktir

24 Rusakovskaya St. (Holiday Inn Moscow Sokolniki ,25 floor) M. Sokolniki Cuisine: European, Russian, $$$

Antaliya

29/1, Proezd Dezhneva M. Otradnoye Cuisine: Turkish, $$

Aozora

Leninsky Pr 38 M. Leninsky Prospekt Cuisine: Japanese, $$$

Apartment

12/6 Savvinskiy Bol. per M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, $$$

Apple Bar & Restaurant

11 Malaya Dmitrovka (Hotel Golden Apple) M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, Japanese, $$$

2 Frolov Per. M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: talian,Mediterranean, European, $$$

4/2 Stroileley Ul. M. Universitet Cuisine: European, Italian, Japanese, $$

Andiamo

Angello

Apropos

104 Profsoyuznaya ul. M. Belyayevo Cuisine: European, Italian, $$

Argo

19 Melnikova St. M. Volgogradsky Prospekt Cuisine: Caucasian, European, Georgian, Russian, $$

Argument cafe

41, Kutuzovsky Prospekt M. Kutuzovskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

Aristocrat

6 bld.2, Lokomotivny Proezd M. PetrovskoRazumovskaya Cuisine: armenian, georgian, caucasian, mexican, european, $$

Arkhitektor

20 M. Nikitskaya St. M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: European, Russian, Seafood, Vegetarian, $$$

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Arshin Mal Alan

152/2 bld.2, Profsoyuznaya M. Tyoply Stan Cuisine: Azeri, Fusion, $$

Art-Cafe Etre

2/14, Lopukhinsky Pereulok M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: European, $

Asia

Krasnogorsk district, 65/66-y km Ring Road, TVK M. Strogino Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese, Seafood, $$$$

AROMASS INDIAN RESTAURANT Krizhizanovskovo 20/30 M. Profsoyuznaya Cuisine: Indian, $ www.aromass.ru +7 499 125 6276

“The most authentic and best Indian food in Moscow. Delivery service also available”

Artefact

11 Konstantina Fedina St. M. Shcholkovskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, Japanese, , $

Artist Gallery

19, Prechistenka Street M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: French, Fusion, Italian, Japanese, $$$

Artplay

11 bld.34, Timura Frunze M. Park Kultury Cuisine: European, $

ArtТs Palace

3, bld.4 Uspensky Pereulok M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: Armenian, Azeri, European, Fusion, Georgian, Russian, Seafood, $$$

Aruba

4 Narodnaya St. M. Taganskaya Cuisine: Cuban, Spanish, $$$

Asakhi

118 Prospekt Mira M. Alexeyevskaya Cuisine: Japanese, $$

Assambleya (President-hotel)

24 Bolshaya Yakimanka St. M. Oktyabrskaya Cuisine: Oriental, Italian, French,, $$$$

AST-Mayak

25/1 Bolshaya Filevskaya Street M. Bagrationovskaya Cuisine: Azeri, European, Russian, $

Asteroid

10 Krylatskaya St. M. Molodyozhnaya Cuisine: European, Japanese, Russian, $$

Astoria

57, Trifonovskaya street M. Prospekt Mira Cuisine: European, Russian, $

At PirosmaniТs

4, Novodevichiy proezd M. Sportivnaya Cuisine: Georgian, $$$

Atlantic

2/1 Kutuzovskii Prospekt M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

Atlantis

Balaclava Avenue, 7 M. Chertanovskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, Japanese, $$$

Aurora

8/1 Bolshaya Sadovaya M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: European, Japanese, Russian, Seafood, $$$

11/20 Petrovka st., Marriott Royal Aurora Hotel M. Teatralnaya Cuisine: European, $$$$

Baan Thai

Aurora

8 Gogolevskiy bulvar M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: Bulgarian, $$

12 Startovaya St. M. Medvedkovo Cuisine: European, mixed, $$$

Aurora - Restaurant Cruiser 1st Rank

10 Krasnopresnenskaya Nab. M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: Mediterranean, European, Russian, $$$

Aurora Yacht Club

Moskovksaya oblast, 6th KM from MKAD on Dmitrovskii Shosse M. Rechnoi Vokzal Cuisine: European, Mediterranean, Seafood, $$$

Avocado

12/2 Chistoprudny boulevard M. Turgenevskaya Cuisine: Vegetarian,European, Indian, Mexican, Japanese, $$

Azon

Korpus 1, 28 Narodnogo Opolcheniya St. M. Oktyabrskaya Cuisine: European, $

B-52

7 Litovskii Bulvar M. Yasenevo Cuisine: European, Italian, Russian, $$$

B-69

69 Vavilova St. M. Profsoyuznaya Cuisine: Seafood, $$

11, Bolshaya Dorogomilovskaya M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: Thai, $$

Baba Marta

Bagrationi

1/7 Spartakovskaya pl. M. Baumanskaya Cuisine: Caucasian, European, Georgian, $$$

Bakinskiy Dvorik 6 Stomynka St. M. Sokolniki Cuisine: Caucasian, Seafood, $$$$

Baku

12/14 Usievicha M. Aeroport Cuisine: Azeri, European, French, Russian, $$

Baku Patio

6 Strominka M. Sokolniki Cuisine: American, Azeri, Georgian, $$

Baku Patio 2

10 a, Akademika Sakharova M. Krasnye Vorota Cuisine: Azeri, Russian, European, $$

Balcon

8 Novinskiy bulvar Lotte plaza M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, Japaneese, $$$$

Balikoti

13/9 B. Ordynka M. Tretyakovskaya Cuisine: Italian, European, $$

= Menu in English

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Baltschug

1 Balchug, Hotel Baltschug Kempinski Moscow M. Novokuznetskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, $$$

Bamboo Bar

Presnenskaya Naberezhnaya 8 M. Vystavochnaya Cuisine: Asian, Japanese, Chineese, $$$$

Bank

1/15 Kotelnicheskaya Embankment M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: European, $$

Bar 1920

10/2, Nikolskaya M. Lubyanka Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

Bar Strelka

14/5 Bersenevskaya naberejnaya M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: European, $$$

Barashka

20/1, Petrovka M. Trubnaya Cuisine: Azerbaijani, $$$

Barbados

5, Bolshoy Putinkovsky pereulok M. Tverskaya Cuisine: European, Indian, Spanish, Thai, $

Barbontempi

Bed Cafe

Beloe solnce pustyni

47 bld.2, Leningradskiy Prospect M. Aeroport Cuisine: Italian, $$

Bedouin

Beloye Solntse Pustyni

Baron Munchausen

Beef Reef

8a str.1 Nikitskiy bul. M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$

Barista Bar

11 Mikluho-Maklay M. Yugo-Zapadnaya Cuisine: European, Georgian, $$$

Barracuda Tavern 24/27 SadovayaKudrinskaya M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: European, Seafood, $$

Barry White

1/2 Glubokiy per. M. Krasnopresnenskaya Cuisine: European, $$

6 Presnenskay Val. bldg.2 M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: European, Japaneese, $$$ 57 Leninsky prospect M. Oktyabrskaya Cuisine: East, $ 20, Malaya Dmitrovka M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: Steakhouse, $$$

Beefbar

13 bld.1, Prechistenskaya Nabereznaya M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: Italian, French, Asian, $$$$

Beeftro

26, Tsvetnoi Boulevard M. Tsvetnoy Bulvar Cuisine: American, $

Beer & Loga

21/10, Komsomolskiy Prospekt M. Frunzenskaya Cuisine: Beer Restaurants, German, $$$$

23 Autumn Avenue (Osenniy bulvar) Bisness Center M. Krylatskoye Cuisine: Beer Restaurants, European, German, Japaneese, $$

BBcafe

Beer House

Bavarius

13 Skatertniy per. M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Beavers

Ulitsa Lyublinskaya 171 M. Maryino Cuisine: European, $$

2/12 Kozitsky Maly pereulok M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: Austrian, German, $$

Belaya Rus

14 Bolshaya Nikitskaya Ul. M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: Belarussian, $$

Bellagio

8 Mosfilmovskaya M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$$

Belochka Bar

1/2, Lesnaya M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: Europeane, Russian , $$

29, Neglinnaya M. Trubnaya Cuisine: Azerbaijiani, Chinese, Uzbek, $$$

29 Neglinnaya Ul. M. Tsvetnoy Bulvar Cuisine: Arabic, Uzbek, Chineese, $$$

Bericony

11 bld.6, Volxonka M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: Georgian, European, $$$

BEVERLY HILLS DINER 1, Sretenka M. Turgenevskaya Cuisine: American, $$ Beverly Hills Diner 10, Nikolskaya M. Lubyanka Cuisine: American, $$

Biblioteka

Novinskiy bul’var, 8 LOTTE PLAZA M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Black Berry

10 Academic Sakharov Prospect M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: European, Japanese, $$

Blackberry cafe

10, Akademika Sakharova Prospect M. Turgenevskaya Cuisine: European, Asian, $$

BloggiBAR

12 Preobrajenskaya sq. M. Preobrazhenskaya Ploshchad Cuisine: European, $

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants BLACK MARKET Usacheva 2, Bldg 1 M. Frunzenskaya Cuisine: International, $$

“An inventive and ever changing menu offering International specialities and friendly service”

Bochka

Blur Cafe

8/1 Bolshoy Drovyanoy per. M. Marksistskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

2, 1905 Goda M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: Beer Restaurants, European, $$$

Bolshoi

2/15 Moroseyka M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: European, American, $$

3/6 bld.2, Petrovka M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: French, Russian, $$$$

BOOM BOOM BOOM ul. 1905 Goda 2/1 M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: Pan Asian

“Bar, restaurant & karaoke with good cocktail and wine list. Excellent PanAsian cuisine”

Bon

6/1 str.1, Sretenskiy bul. M. Turgenevskaya Cuisine: Italian, Corean, Russian, $$ ENG

Bobby Dazzler

4/4 bld.1, Yakimanskaya Nabereznaya M. Polyanka Cuisine: International, $$$

Boomcafe

26/1 Sretenka M. Sukharevskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, $$

Bora Bora cafe

14/3 Orehoviy bul. M. Domodedovskaya Cuisine: Italian, Japanese, $

Bora-Bora Grill

1 Semyonovskaya square M. Semyonovskaya Cuisine: Italian, European, $$

Bosco Bar

3, Red Square M. Ploshchad Revolyutsii Cuisine: European, $

Bosco Bar

19, Novy Arbat St. M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: European, $

Bosco Café

3, Red Square M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Bosco Cafeteria

3, Red Square M. Teatralnaya Cuisine: Confectionery, $$$

Bosfor

7/13 Kostiansky pereulok M. Turgenevskaya Cuisine: Beer Restaurants, European, $$

Bontempi bar

8A bld.1, Nikitsky Boulevard M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$

47/23 Stary Arbat St. (Old Arbat St.) M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: Turkish, $$

Bobry & Utki

Bontempi Restaurant

BottleBar.ru

1A, Chistoprudnii Bulvar M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: European, Italian, Thai, $

12 bld.1, Bersenevskaya Nabereznaya M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Bocconcino

Bookafe

7, Strastnoi Bulvar M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: Italian, Tuscany, $$$

3 Glinishevskiy per. M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: European, $

2 Pyatnitskiy per. M. Novokuznetskaya Cuisine: European, Thai, Asian, $

BOOZE PUB Potapovsky Per 5 M. Chisty Prudi, +7 495 621 4717 www.boozebub.ru

Bouillabaisse

37, Leninskyi bulvar M. Leninsky Prospekt Cuisine: Seafood, $$$

Bread and wine

27, Bolshaya Polyanka M. Polyanka Cuisine: Italian , Russian, $$

Bread and wine

27 Bol. Polyanka Ul. M. Polyanka Cuisine: Japanese, $$$

Brichmula

3,19 Starovagankovsky Bystreet M. Alexandrovsky Sad Cuisine: Uzbek, $$$

Briz (ship Alexander Blok)

12a Krasnopresnenskaya Nab. (Embankment) M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: European, Seafood, $$$

Bruder

46 bld.1, Butyrskaya M. Savyolovskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Brussels

10/12 Timiryazevskaya M. Dmitrovskaya Cuisine: Belgian, $$$

Brussels Catering

17/1 Myasnitskaya St. M. Turgenevskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, German, Russian, Seafood, Vegetarian, $$$

Bublik

24, Tverskoi Boulevard M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, – onfectionery, $

Buffet

14/34 Maly Afanasyevsky per., bldg.2 M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: European, French, $$$

Would you like to have your restaurant/bar featured in one of our future issues? Please contact us for details editor@moscowexpatlife.ru = Menu in English

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants CAFE FRESCO 8, 1st Frunzenskaya M. Frunzenskaya Cuisine: Italian, Seafood, $$$

“Charming, bright terrace restaurant. High quality Italian cuisine, extensive wine-list and professional service”

Bulka

9, Krymski Val M. Oktyabrskaya Cuisine: Vegetarian, Bakery, $

Bungalow Bar

6/1 Zemlyanoi Val M. Kurskaya Cuisine: African, $$$

Café

Café De Fauchon

7 1st TverskayaYamskaya St., delicatessen Fauchon, 2nd floor M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: European, French, Seafood, $$$

Café Dioskuriya

22в Tverskaya M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: European, $$

5 Nikitsky Bulvar M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Caucasian, $$

Café Ararat

Café Fresh

4 Neglinnaya M. Teatralnaya Cuisine: Armenian, $$

Café Bellissima

2/38 Dobroslobodskaya St. M. Baumanskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, Russian, Seafood, $$

23 Olhovskaya St. (Hotel Mandarin Moscow) M. Baumanskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, $$$

Café Gotty

Café Brocard

25 Nikolskaya, shopping center УNautilus, 6th floor M. Lubyanka Cuisine: European, French, $$$

36/1 Bol. Novodmitrovskaya St. M. Dmitrovskaya Cuisine: European, $

Café Manon

2, 1905 Goda M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: European, Asian, $$$

Café Margarita

28, Malaya Bronnaya M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: Russian, $$

Café Pushkin

26a, Tverskoi Bulvar M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: Russian, $$$$

Café Pushkin Sweet-shop

26a, Tverskoy bulvar M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: confectionery, $

Café Swiss

25/6 Kosmodamianskaya nab. M. Paveletskaya Cuisine: Rusian,Swiss, $

Caribe cafe club

18/18 Pokrovka St. M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: Mexican, Brazilian, European, Italian, Cuban, Latin American, $$

Carre Blanc

19/2, Seleznevskaya M. Novoslobodskaya Cuisine: French, $$$$

Casa Bella

29 Pr. Vernadskogo St. M. Prospekt Vernadskogo Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Casa di Famiglia

7/18 Metallurgov St. M. Perovo Cuisine: Italian, $$

Bolshoy Cherkasskiy per 17, M. Lubyanka +7 495 424 5766 www.casa-agave.ru

Mexico in Moscow. Good, food, good drinks and great atmosphere!”

Calvados

23 Leninsky Pr. M. Leninsky Prospekt Cuisine: European, $$$$

Cantinetta Antinori

Casa Mia

MKAD 65 km ( Crocus City Moll) M. Myakinino Cuisine: Italian, Seafood, $$$$

20, Denezhny Pereulok M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: Italian, tuscan, $$$$

Casta Diva

Cappuccino Express

Castle Grill Bar

26 Bolshaya Polyanka St. M. Polyanka Cuisine: Italian, $$

Capri

7 Academika Sakharova M. Sukharevskaya Cuisine: European, Mediterranean, $$$$

18, Lva Tolstogo M. Park Kultury Cuisine: French, $$$

CASA AGAVE

24 Tverskaya St. M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: European, $$$

Café Loft

Carabas

26, Tverskoi Bulvar M. Tverskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$$ 4 Komsomolskiy Pr. M. Park Kultury Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

Castle Knight

58 Bol.Nikitskaya Cuisine: European, $$$

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Castle Rose

Che

CDL Club & Restaurant

Chekhonte

10/1 1905 goda St. M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: European, Russian, Italian, $$

50, Povarskaya M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: Russian, Italian, $$$$

Central Park Cafe 14a Prospect Vernadskogo M. Prospekt Vernadskogo Cuisine: American, Italian, $$

Chaika

7, Marksistskaya M. Marksistskaya Cuisine: French, Georgian, International, Italian, Mediterranean, $$$$

Chaikhana Kishmish Multiple Cuisine: Uzbek, East, $

Chaikhona є1

4 Lodochnaya St. M. Tushinskaya Cuisine: European, Japanese, Mediterranean, $$

Chaikovsky

31/4, Triumfalnaya Squqre M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, Russian, $$

Chalet

10/2, Nikolskaya M. Lubyanka Cuisine: Latin American, $$ 22, Tverskaya M. Tverskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, $$$$

Chemodan

Gogol Boulevard, Bldg 25, M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: Russian, $$$

Cherdak

7, Kuznetsky Most M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: European, $$

Chesterfield

Building 1, 19 Novy Arbat St. M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: American, European, $$$

Correa’s

Cipollino

Corsa

2g Minskaya M. Park Pobedy Cuisine: Georgian, $$$ 7 Soimonovskiy prospekt, building 1 M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: European, $$$$

City Club International

23a Taras Shevchenko Embankment M. Vystavochnaya Cuisine: International, $$

Cofelavka

5, Zabelina M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine:– onfectionary, $

Coffee Mania

Multiple Cuisine: European, $$

China Club

Coffee piu

China Town

Coffee-house Landrin

21, Krasina M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: Author, Pan-Asian, $$$ 25/12 Lubyanka Proezd M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: Chinese, Seafood, Vegetarian, $$$

Chito Grito

11 Trubnikovsky pereulok M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Geogian, $$

7б Elektrolitny proezd M. Nagornaya Cuisine: European, French, Italian, Swiss, $$

Chito Grito

Chateau de Fleurs

Multiple Cuisine: European, $$

29 bld.3, Lomonosovsky Prospekt M. Universitet Cuisine: European, $$$$

Cicila

22 Narodnaya M. Taganskaya Cuisine: Georgian, $

Chocolate

9, Chistoprudnii bulvar M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: European, $$

9-4 Suschevskaya M. Novoslobodskaya Cuisine: European, French, Russian, $

Comedy Cafe

163a Dmitrovskoe Shosse M. Altufyevo Cuisine: European, Italian, Japanese, $

Conversation Cafe 23\14, Bolshaya Nikitskaya St. M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: American, $$

Correa’s

32, Bolshaya Gruzniskaya M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: Italian, $$ 78 Mira Prospect M. Rizhskaya Cuisine: Italian, $

Cosmos Planet

The Cosmos Hotel, 150 Prospekt Mira M. VDNKh Cuisine: European, Russian, $$$

Costa Coffee

Multiple location Cuisine: Coffee, European, $

Courvoisier

Malaya Sukharevskaya Sq. Bldg.8 M. Sukharevskaya Cuisine: European, $$$

Coyote Ugly

6/3 bld.3, Kuznetskiy Most M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: Coctails, $$

Crab House

6 Tverskaya Ul. M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: American, Mediterranean, Seafood, $$$

Crazy Hunter

8 Dovatora St. M. Sportivnaya Cuisine: European, Russian, $$$

Cup&cake

10/2, Nikolskaya M. Lubyanka Cuisine: European, $$

Da Cicco

13/12 Profsoyuznaya M. Profsoyuznaya Cuisine: Italian, $$

Multiple Cuisine: European, $$

Don’t find your favourite bar/restaurant? Send us the details, we would be pleased to include them in our future issues. editor@moscowexpatlife.ru = Menu in English

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Dacha na Pokrovke

Dim Sum

Donna Klara

Durdin

Darbars

Dioskuria

Donna Margarita

Dzhagannat

Darling, I’ll call you back ..

Divas

Doolin house

18/4 bld.16, Pokrovsky Bulevard M. Kurskaya Cuisine: European, $$$ 38 Leninsky Pr. 16 Fl Hotel Sputnik M. Leninsky Prospekt Cuisine: Indian, $$$

3, Smolenskaya Square M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: Chinese, $$$ 2, Merzlyakovsky Pereulok M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Georgian, $

7, Bolshoy Strochenovsky M. Serpukhovskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, $$$

10 Strastnoy Boulevard, Building 2 M. Chekhovskaya Cuisine: European, French, Russian, International, $$

Das Kapital

Dodo

Building 1, 6/9/20 Rozhdestvenka St. M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: European, German, $$

De Marco

21/2 Petrovka M. Tverskaya Cuisine: European, $$$

Dolls

Multiple Cuisine: European, International, Seafood, $$$

23b Krasnaya Presnya, Building 1 M. Krasnopresnenskaya Cuisine: European, Japanese, Seafood, $$$$

Ded Pihhto

Dom Karlo

Building 3, 37 Myasnitskaya St. M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: European, French, Italian, Russian, $$$

DeFAQto

30/2 str.1, Bol.Lubyanka M. Trubnaya Cuisine: American, European, Indian, $$$

Denis Simachev

12 Stoleshnikov Per. Bldg.2 M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: European, Mediterranean, $$$

Devi Cafe

Miklukho-Maklaya st., 21a M. Belyayevo Cuisine: Indian, $$

6 Sadovaya-Kudrinskaya M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: Russian, $$$$

Don Ivan

10 Yaroslavskoe shosse M. VDNKh Cuisine: European, Russian, Italian, $$

Don Macaron

53, Lusinovskaya M. Serpukhovskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$

Don Pedro

9 Spiridonievsky lane M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: European, Mediterranean, $$$$

Don’t Tell Mama

5, Putnikovskiy bol. per M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: European, $$$

21/13, Malaya Bronnaya M. Tverskaya Cuisine: European, $$$ 2 bld.1, 1905 Goda M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: Home, Italian, $$$ 20 Arbat St. M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: European, $

Dorian Gray

6/1 Kadashevskaya nab. M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: European, Italian, $$

Doucet X.O.

31 Novinsky boulevard, Trading Center ТNovinskyТ M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: European, French, $$

Drevny Kitai

5/6 bld.4, Kamergersky Pereulok M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: Chinese, $$

Druzhba

4, Novoslobodskaya M. Novoslobodskaya Cuisine: Chinese, $$$

Due Soldo

33/4 Narodnogo opolcheniya M. Oktyabrskoye Pole Cuisine: European, Italian, $

Dukhan Alaverdy

23-25/2 Gruzinsky Val. M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: Georgian, $$

Duma

11 bld 3b, Mokhovaya M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: European, $$

Multiple Cuisine: Beer Restaurants, Russian, $$ 11, Kuznetsky Most M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: Indian, $$

Eat & Talk

7 Mohovaya St. M. Borovitskaya Cuisine: European, $

Ecle

5 Oktyabrskaya St. M. Novoslobodskaya Cuisine: European, French, $$

El gauchito

48, Kutuzovskiy pr. M. Slavyansky Bulvar, $$$

Emporio Armani Caffe

3, Red Square M. Ploshchad Revolyutsii Cuisine: European, Italian, $$

Esperanto Lounge Bar

41a Vyatskaya ul. M. Dmitrovskaya Cuisine: European, $

Est-Caffe

40 Pokrovka St. M. Kurskaya Cuisine: European, Caucasian, $

Etaj

bld. 1, 14 Tverskaya M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Etaj

9/28 Pyatnitskaya M. Novokuznetskaya Cuisine: European, Japanese, $$

See any information that is not correct? These listings are for you, so to help us to help you please send us the corrections. editor@moscowexpatlife.ru We might even reward you!

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Etaj

89 Dmitrovskoye shosse, Trading Center ТXLТ M. PetrovskoRazumovskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Etaj

2aya - Brestskaya 52/1 M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Eva

31 Marshala Rokossovskogo bulvar M. Ulitsa Podbelskogo Cuisine: European, Russian, Medeterian, Italian, French, Japanese, $

Evoo

15, Kosygina (Korston hotel) M. Vorobyovy Gory Cuisine: European, Italian, $$

Ex Libris

6 str.1 Bobrov per. M. Turgenevskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Extra Lounge

15, Kosygina M. Vorobyovy Gory Cuisine: European, $$$

Farsi

2/1 Kutuzovskiy prospect M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: Iranian, $$$

Favorite Pub

24, Spiridonovka M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: American, $$$

Filini Bar & Restaurant

26, 3 ulica Yamskogo polya M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Five Spices

3/18, Sivtsev Vrazhek Pereulok M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: Chinese, Indian, Thai, $$

Flat Iron Bar & Roadhouse

7,Voznesenskiy per. M. Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Cuisine: American, Russian, Mexican, $$$

Flei

8 bld.2, Lyalin Pereulok M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: Farm products, Home, $$

FM Cafe

11 Novy Arbat St. M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Europeane, $$

Focaccia

3 Kozitsky per. M. Tverskaya Cuisine: Chinese, Indian, $$

Fonda

2 str.90 Ugreshskaya St. M. Dubrovka Cuisine: European, Russian, $$$$

Free Bar

21-23 bld.1, Pokrovka M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: European, Tex-mex, $$$

Free Bar People

26/1 Trubnaya St. M. Trubnaya Cuisine: European, $

French Cafe

3 Smolenskaya Pl. M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: European, French, Japanese, $$$

French cheese hole

15-17 Bolshoi Cherkasskii Per. M. Lubyanka Cuisine: French, $$$

Frendys

28/6 bld.3, Pokrovka M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: American, $

Friends Forever

25, Nikolskaya St. M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: American, Italian, $$

Friends Forever

18, Kozijinsky per. M. Tverskaya Cuisine: American, Italian, $$

Fusion Plaza

Gin-no Taki

6 Tverskaya St. M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: Japanese, $$

Ginkgo by Seiji

3 Tverskaya, The Ritz-Carlton M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, $$$$

12, Krasnopresnenskaya nab. M. Vystavochnaya Cuisine: European, Italian, Indian , $$$

Gino Taki

G Graf

58 Bol. Yakimanka M. Oktyabrskaya Cuisine: Japanese, Seafood, $$

8, 4th Dobryninsky Pereulok M. Dobryninskaya Cuisine: Italian, European, $$$$

Gallery

27, Petrovka M. Chekhovskaya Cuisine: Author’s, Asian, European, Italian, Russian, French, Japanese, $$$

Gandhara

15 bldg.7, Rochdelskaya M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: Pakistani, $$$

Gayane’s

1/4 bld.2, Smolensky Pereulok M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: Armenian, $$

Genatsvale

11 bld.2, Novy Arbat M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Georgian, $$$

Genatsvale

12/1, Ostozhenka M. Park Kultury Cuisine: Georgian, $$

6 Tverskaya Ul. Bldg.1 M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: Japanese, Seafood, $$

Gino Taki

Giovedi Cafe

26, Ozerkovskaya Nabereznaya M. Paveletskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Godunov

5/1, Teatralnaya Square M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: Russian, $$$

Gogol-Mogol

6 Gagarinsky Per. M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

Golicin

bld. 4, 15 Staraya Basmannaya M. Krasnye Vorota Cuisine: Russian, $$

Good Beef

15-17 bld1, Bolshoi Cherkassky Pereulok M. Lubyanka Cuisine: Steaks, $$

Goodman

57 Leninskii Prospekt M. Leninsky Prospekt Cuisine: European, $$$$

Giardino di pino

30/1 str.1 Obrucheva St. M. Kaluzhskaya Cuisine: Italian, $

= Menu in English

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Gorki

Happiness

I Like Bar

Indabar

GQ Bar

Harbin

Ichiban Boshi

Insolito

Grand Cru

Harbin

IL Camino

Inzhir

1/3, 1st TverskayaYamskaya M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: Italian, $ 5, Balchug M. Novokuznetskaya Cuisine: Asian, european, russian trend, $$$ 8 bld.1, Presnenskaya Nabereznaya M. Tverskaya Cuisine: Seafood, $$$

Greenwich Pub

52/5, Kosmodamianskaya Nabereznaya M. Paveletskaya Cuisine: Pub Food, $$

Gusyatnikoff

3, Kamergersky pereulok M. Teatralnaya Cuisine: Confectionery, $$ 5 bld.1, Prospekt Mira M. Sukharevskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

21, Shukhova St. M. Shabolovskaya Cuisine: European, $$$ Multiple Cuisine: Japanese, Seafood, $$

66, Niznyaia Pervomaiskaya M. Pervomaiskaya Cuisine: Chinese, $$

4B bld.4, Kozlovskiy Pereulok M. Krasnye Vorota Cuisine: European, Italian, French, $$$

Hard Rock Cafe

Il Capriccio

44, Arbat M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: American, $$

Help Bar

Building 4, 92 Lobachevskogo St. M. Prospekt Vernadskogo Cuisine: Italian, $$$

2a Aleksandra Soljenicina St. M. Taganskaya Cuisine: Russian, $$$$

27 bld1, TverskayaYamskaya M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: European, Tex-mex, $$

IL Forno

Hachapuri

Hiro

8/10 Neglinnaya ul. M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: Italian, $$

2/1 Shluzovaya Nab., bld. 7 M. Paveletskaya Cuisine: Georgian, $$$

Hachapuri

10 Bolshoy Gnezdnikovskiy Per. M. Tverskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, $

Hachapuri

7 Ukrainskiy Bul. M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: Georgian, $$$

Hamon and Wine 4, Sytinsky Pereulok M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: Spanish, $$

Happiness

5, Bolshoi Putinkovsky Pereulok M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, – onfectionery, $$

bld. 32, 31 Dolgorukovskaya M. Novoslobodskaya Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese, Thai, $$

Hugo

39, Bolshaya Yakimanka M. Oktyabrskaya Cuisine: French, $$$

Hunter

Golovinskoe shosse 1a M. Vodny Stadion Cuisine: European, $$

HuntsmanТs House and Safari Lodge 32 Pokrovka M. Kurskaya Cuisine: German, $$$

Hyppocratus

2-3 Bolshaya Pirogovskaya M. Frunzenskaya Cuisine: French, Russian, $

3/14 Ostojenka ul. M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$

IL Forno

IL Kamino

4 Bld.4, Bolshoi Kozlovsky Pereulok M. Krasnye Vorota Cuisine: European, Swiss, $$$

Il Patio

Multiple Cuisine: Italian, $$

Illarion

24, Novy Arbat M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Uzbek, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, $ 7/5, Pushechnaya M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: Italian, $$ Multiple Cuisine: Uzbek, $$

Iskra Cafe-bar

36 Bol. Novodmitrievskaya M. Dmitrovskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$

Isola

23 A Tarasa Shevhenko Emb., Bashnya M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: Mediterranean, $$$

IST Buffet

16 Novoslobodskaya Ul. M. Novoslobodskaya Cuisine: Asian, $$

Jourbon

81, Vavilova Street M. Universitet Cuisine: International, $$$

Ju-Ju

15, Smolenskiy Boulevard M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: Author’s, Home, draw-heavy oven, $$$

Jukovka

5 Kosygina M. Vorobyovy Gory Cuisine: Georgian, $

41/1 Marshala Jukova pr. M. Polezhayevskaya Cuisine: Mediterranean, Italian, European, $$$

Illarion

Kabanchik

20/2 Pyatnickaya ul. M. Novokuznetskaya Cuisine: Georgian, $

Illarion

119 Mira prospect, pav. 67 VVC M. Botanichesky Sad Cuisine: Georgian, $

27 Krasina St. M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: Georgian, European, $

Kabinet

Building 4, 15 Malaya Kaluzskaya M. Oktyabrskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, $$

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Kalina Cafe

17 Prechistenskaya Nab. M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean, Russian, $$

Kasbar

Kalinka

Building 5, 3 Turchaninov Per. M. Park Kultury Cuisine: Arabic, European, French, International, Japanese, Seafood, $$

Kamchatka

KATIE O SHEA’S Groholsky Per 25, Bldg 5 M. Prospekt Mira Cuisine: Irish, $$

УCosmos Hotel, 150 Prospekt Mira M. VDNKh Cuisine: European, Russian, $$$ 7, Kuznetsky Most M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: European, Russian, $

Kampus

Multiple Cuisine: European, East, $$

Kapri

7 Saharova Pr. M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: European, Italian, $$$

Karaoke Boom

46 Novoslobodskaya M. Mendeleyevskaya Cuisine: Italian, Japanese, Russian, $$$

Kare

42 str.1 Dmitriya Ulyanova St. M. Akademicheskaya Cuisine: European, Caucasian, $$

Karetny Dvor

52/1, Povarskaya M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: Azeri, Caucasian, Georgian, $

Karma Bar

3 Pushechnaya St. M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: Japanese, $$$

Khlestakov-Traktir

Build.1, 9 3rd Frunzenskaya St. M. Frunzenskaya Cuisine: French, Fusion, Russian, $$

Khorosho Sidim

17 bld.1, Pokrovka M. Lubyanka Cuisine: Georgian, $$

Khram Drakona

37 Leninsky Pr. M. Leninsky Prospekt Cuisine: Chinese, $$

Kavkazskaya Plennitsa

Kioto

36, Prospect Mira M. Prospekt Mira Cuisine: Georgian, $$$

55 bld 1, Mitinskaya M. Mitino Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese, $$

Kebab City

Kish-Mish

5 Kamergersky Pereulok M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: Azeri, European, Japanese, $$

Ketama Bar

5/6 str.5 Bolshaya Dmitrovka M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: European, Moroccan, $$

Khajuraho

14, Shmitovsky Pereulok M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: European, Indian, $

Khinkalnaya

15, Neglinnaya M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: Georgian, $$

Khinkalnaya

28, Novy Arbat M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Uzbek, $$

Kitaisky Kvartal

12 bldg.1, Prospect Mira M. Prospekt Mira Cuisine: Chinese, $$$

Kitaisky Letchik Jao Da

25, Lubyansky Proezd M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: European, Asian, Russian, $$$

Kitezh

23/10 Petrovka St. M. Chekhovskaya Cuisine: Russian, $

Kleopatra

71, Bolshaya Ordinka M. Dmitrovskaya Cuisine: Georgian, $$

2a 1905 Goda Ul., Bldg. 2 M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: International, $$$

Khinkalnaya

Knyaz Bagration

11, Trubnikovsky Pereulok M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Gerogian, $$

58 Pluscgikha M. Park Kultury Cuisine: European, Georgian, $$$

Kogo Fragola

12a Suzdalskaya St. M. Novogireyevo Cuisine: European, Japanese, $

Kolbassoff

Multiple M. Oktyabrskoye Pole Cuisine: Russian, $$

Kolkhi

1/1 Leningradsky Pr. M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: Georgian, $$

Komi

62 Volokolamskoe shosse M. Sokol Cuisine: Russian, $$

Konigs Platz

1a str.2 Kozitskiy per. M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, German, $$

Koonjoot

36a Berejkovskaya nab. M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: European, Eastern, $$

Krambambula

352 Prospekt Mira M. VDNKh Cuisine: Belarussian, $$

Krick

16, Strastnoi Bulvar M. Chekhovskaya Cuisine: European, Japanese, $$$

Kruaj

4 Prechistenka St. M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, $$$

Kruzhka

Multiple M. Ploshchad Revolyutsii Cuisine: European, $

Would you like to have your restaurant/bar featured in one of our future issues? Please contact us for details editor@moscowexpatlife.ru = Menu in English

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Kruzhka

15 Nikolskaya ulitsa M. Ploshchad Revolyutsii Cuisine: Beer Bar, $$

Kuhmeister

Build.1, 47 Piatnitskaia M. Novokuznetskaya Cuisine: French, Fusion, $$

Kult

5 Yauzskaya emb. M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: European, Spanish, $$$$

Courschevel

7, Kuznetsky Most M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: Panasian, French, $$$$

La Luna

69 Sadovnichevskaya nab. M. Novokuznetskaya Cuisine: European, International, Japanese, $$

La Mancha

12a Kravchenko ul. M. Prospekt Vernadskogo Cuisine: European, Spanish, $$

La Maree

201 Zhukovka, Odintsovsky District M. Molodyozhnaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$$

La Maree

20, Kuznetsky Most M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: European, $

Malaya Gruzinskaya ul., 23 M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: Mediterranean, $$$

Kvas

La Stazione

Kuznetsky Most 20

20 SadovayaChernogryazskaya St. M. Kurskaya Cuisine: Russian, $$

18/1 Olympiysky Prospekt M. Prospekt Mira Cuisine: Italian, $$

La Bottega

Latuk

La Bottega Siciliana

Lavash

5B, Lesnaya M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$ 2, Okhotny Ryad M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: Italian, $$

La Cantina

1/15, Yauzskaya M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: vegetarian, $$$ 7 Tsvetnoi Bul. M. Tsvetnoy Bulvar Cuisine: Armenian, $$$

5, Tverskaya M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: Mexican, American, $$

Lawson’s Bar

La Delizia

Lazzetti

56a Sevastopolskiy prospect M. Belyayevo Cuisine: European, Italian, Caucasian, $$$

La Gourmet

1/3 Bolshaya Polyanka St. M. Tretyakovskaya Cuisine: Caucasian, $$$

14/6, Bolshaya Sadovaya M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: European, $$ 4 Nogorniy bul. M. Nagornaya Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean, $

Le Gateau

23, Tverskaya M. Tverskaya Cuisine: European, French, $$

Le Gateau

Liga Pap

Le Gateau

Light House

2 bld.1, Paveletskaya Square M. Paveletskaya Cuisine: European, French, $ 24/27, SadovayaSamotechnaya M. Tsvetnoy Bulvar Cuisine: European, French, $$

Lemonade

7 Kievskaya St. M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Leningrad

21/40 Kalanchevskaya St. M. Krasnye Vorota Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

Les

10/7, Rozdestvensky Boulevard M. Trubnaya Cuisine: Coffee, European, $

Les Menus Par Pierre Gagnaire 8/2 Novinskiy bulvar M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: French, $$$$

Letto Club

33 str.1 Povarskaya St. M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: Italian, J apanese, $

Lex–lubCafe

2 kor.2 Balaklavskiy Pr. (Aridan) M. Chertanovskaya Cuisine: American, European, Caucasian, $

Life Pub

20 Fr. Engelsa M. Baumanskaya Cuisine: European, $$

24, Bolshaya Lubyanskaya M. Sretensky Bulvar Cuisine: European, Italian, Spanish, $$ 7 kor.1 Michurinskiy pr. M. Universitet Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Lilit

2 Ohotniy Ryad St. (Moscow Hotel) M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: European, $

LiLu

Sireneviy bulvar 25a M. Shcholkovskaya Cuisine: Caucasian, European, Russian , $$

Limonchello

4 Komsomolskii Prospekt M. Park Kultury Cuisine: European, Italian, $$$

Linderhof

Korpus 1, 7 Lomonosovskii Prospekt M. Universitet Cuisine: European, German, Vegetarian, $$

Lisya Nora

2 Dayev Per. M. Sukharevskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Little Japan

12a, Bolshaya Dorogomilovskaya M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: Japanese, $$

Lobby Bar

28 Tverskaya St. (Mariott Grand Hotel) M. Tverskaya Cuisine: European, $

Look In!

9 Bolshaya Dmitrovka St. M. Teatralnaya Cuisine: European, $$$

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Los Bandidos

7 Bolshaya Ordynka St. M. Tretyakovskaya Cuisine: Seafood, Spanish, Vegetarian, $$$$

Louisiana Steak House

30 Pyatnitskaya, bldg.4 M. Tretyakovskaya Cuisine: American, $$

Luce

21, 1-ya TverskayaYamskaya M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, Japanese, $$

Luch

27 bld.1, Bolshaya Pirogovskaya M. Sportivnaya Cuisine: Coctails, $$

Luciano

LТAltro Bosco Café 10 Petrovka St. M. Teatralnaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Macaroni

62 Bolshaya Gruzinskaya Ul. M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$

Madam Boulange

12, Nikitsky Boulevard M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Confectionery, French, $

Madam Galife

26/1, Prospect Mira M. Prospekt Mira Cuisine: Georgian, European, $$

Maestro de Oliva Mega moll-2 M. Rechnoi Vokzal Cuisine: Spanish, $$

3, Smolenskaya Square M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: Italian, Author’s, $$

Maharaja

Ludi kak ludi

Maison Elitaire

1/4, Solyansky Tupic M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: European, Confectionary, $

Ludvig

3/1 Marshala Vasilevskogo St. M. Shchukinskaya Cuisine: Czech, European, German, Russian, $$

Lyustra

11/1, Vorotnikovy Pereulok M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: European, International, $$

LТAlbero

Delegatskaya Str., 7 M. Novoslobodskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$$

2/1 Pokrovka M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: Indian, $$ 1 A, 37/43 Bolshaya Pirogovskaya St. M. Sportivnaya Cuisine: French, Mediterranean, $$$

Mandarin

Marocana

1/15, Kotelnicheskaya Nabereznaya M. Taganskaya Cuisine: Moroccan, $

Martinez bar

1, Sretenka M. Turgenevskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Maxim bar

15, Tsvetnoy Bulvar M. Tsvetnoy Bulvar Cuisine: European, $$$

Maxima Pizza

78, Leningradsky Pr. M. Sokol Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean, $

38, Myasnitskaya M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: European, $$$

MinSelHoz

5, Petrovka M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: Home, $

Mio DJ Cafe

1, Kaluzskaya Square M. Oktyabrskaya Cuisine: French, Italian, $$

Modus

Mayashi

Moo-Moo

McDonaldТs

More vnutri

24, Novy Arbat M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese, $

1a, Square of Europe M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: Russian, European, $

Multiple Cuisine: American, $

Megu

Mario

Merkato

18 bld.1, SadovayaSamotechnaya M. Tsvetnoy Bulvar Cuisine: Seafood, Asian, Chineese, $$$

Milk and Honey

19/3, Bolshaya Nikitskaya M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Japanese, $$

8/2 Novinskiy bulvar M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: Japanese, $$$$

Market

38, Leninsky Prospect M. Leninsky Prospekt Cuisine: Italian, $$$

vl.4, 1 Truzjennikov per. M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, Japanese, $$$

Mayak

2 Mal. Cherkasskiy Per. M. Lubyanka Cuisine: Pan Asian, $ 17 Klimashkina Ul. M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: Italian, $$$$

Mestiere

9, Krymskii Val M. Oktyabrskaya Cuisine: Italian, $

7, Pesochnaya alleya, Park Sokolniki M. Sokolniki Cuisine: European, Asian, Vegetarian, $$

Mr. Lee

7, Kuznetsky Most M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: Panasian, Author’s, $$$

MUCHACOS 10 N.Maslovka M. Savyolovskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, Japanese, $

Burrito & margarita bar with authentic mission style burritos, tacos & quisadillas. Happy hour specials!

Don’t find your favourite bar/restaurant? Send us the details, we would be pleased to include them in our future issues. editor@moscowexpatlife.ru = Menu in English

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Muzey

52 str.7 Kosmodimianskaya nab. M. Paveletskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, Austrian, $$$

Myasnoi club

19 bld.1, Kuznetsky Most M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: Creative, Meat, $$$

Myasnoy Club

19 str.1 Kuznetskiy Most St. M. Lubyanka Cuisine: European, $$$$

N Cafe

News&More

11 Novinskiy bul. M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: European, American, $$

Nobu

B.Dmitrovskaya 20/1 M. Chekhovskaya Cuisine: Japaneese, $$$$

Noev Kovcheg

Ogorod

Novoi

Navarro’s Bar & Grill

23, Shmitovskiy Proezd M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: Mediterranean, Latin American, $$

25 Universitetskii Prospekt M. Universitet Cuisine: Uzbek, $$

NYM yoga

4/5, Plotnikov Pereulok M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: European, Asian, Vegetarian, $

O2 Lounge

3, Tverskaya M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: International, $$$

NIGHT FLIGHT 17 Tverskaya St +7 495 629 4165 www.nightflight.ru

“Superb food at sensible prices prepared by excellent chefs with friendly, efficient service”

Neolit (Kristina)

9/1 Altayskaya St. M. Shcholkovskaya Cuisine: Azerbaijani, Russian, European, French, Caucasian, $$

24, Novy Arbat M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Japanese, European, $

Nostalgie

Na Melnitse

13, Prechistenskaya Nabereznaya M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: Asian, $$$

Octyabr

Ogonek

12A, Chistoprudny Boulevard M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: European, French, Japanese, $$$

Nabi

5, Monetchikovskyi 1-iy Pereulok M. Dobryninskaya Cuisine: Russian, European, $$$$

9 Maly Ivanovsky pereulok M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: European, Georgian, $$$

87/89 Leninskiy Pr. M. Universitet Cuisine: European, Azerbaijan, $$ 24, Sadovaya-Spasskaya M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

Oblomov

Oblaka

48 Kutuzovskiy pr. M. Slavyansky Bulvar Cuisine: European, $$$$

5/2, Potapovsky Pereulok M. Sretensky Bulvar Cuisine: European, Asian, $$ 30/2 Prospekt Mira M. Prospekt Mira Cuisine: European, $$

Old Batum

7, Academika Bochvara St., bld.1 M. Shchukinskaya Cuisine: Fusion, $$

Olivetta

20 Mal. Dmitrovka St. M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Olympos

13 Akademika Korolyova St. M. VDNKh Cuisine: European, $$

Om Cafe

15/1 Novy Arbat Ul. M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Thai, $$

Onegin

12/2 Prechistenka St. M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, $$$

Orange CowТs House 18 Pavlovskaya St. M. Tulskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

Oriental Tale

25 Arbat St. M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: German, $$

22 D Frunzenskaya Embankment M. Frunzenskaya Cuisine: Azeri, Russian, $

Old Havana

Osteria Da Cicco

Old Man Muller

Osteria della Piazza Bianca

Old Berlin

Talalihina St. 28/1 M. Volgogradsky Prospekt Cuisine: Cuban, $$ Multiple Cuisine: German, $$$

Olimp

3, Banniy Pereulok M. Prospekt Mira Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean, $$

5A, Lesnaya M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$$

24 Luznetskaya Embankment M. Sportivnaya Cuisine: Armenian, Azeri, European, Russian, $$

Osteria Montiroli

Oliva

Bolshaya Nikitskaya, 60 M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$$

3/5, Smolensky Boulevard M. Park Kultury Cuisine: Middle Eastern, $$

Bolshaya Nikitskaya, 60 M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: Italian, $$

Osteria Montiroli

Osteria nel Parco 9, Krymskiy Val M. Oktyabrskaya Cuisine: Italian, $

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Osteria Numero Uno

Pane & Olio Pizzeria

Ostozhye

Pane & Olio Trattoria

2, Tsvetnoy Boulevard M. Tsvetnoy Bulvar Cuisine: Italian, $$ 40/1 Ostojenka ul. M. Park Kultury Cuisine: Russian, $$$

Otkrity Mir

18, Pavlovskaya M. Tulskaya Cuisine: European, Indian, $

Oсakbasi

10 str.2 Kozjevnicheskaya St. M. Paveletskaya Cuisine: European, Turkish, East, $$

Pacha

4 Pokrovka M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: East, European, Caucasus, $$$

Pachito Bar

10, Nikolskaya street M. Lubyanka Cuisine: American, European, $$

Palati Nu Cafe

38 Bldg 1. Myasnitskaya M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: Italian, $$$ 22, Timura Frunze M. Park Kultury Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Panorama

5 Smolenskaya St. (Hotel Golden Ring,2st floor) M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: European, $$$$

Papa Joe’s

Building 26, 1A Nikoloyamskaya St. M. Taganskaya Cuisine: American, Latin American, Mexican, $$

Papa JohnТs

Multiple Cuisine: American, $

Papa’s place

22, Myasnitskaya street M. Lubyanka Cuisine: American, European, Italian, $$

11/13 str. 1 Kozjevnicheskaya St. M. Paveletskaya Cuisine: European, $$$

Paparazzi

Palazzo Ducale

Paper Moon

3 Tverskoy Boulevard M. Tverskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$$

Paluba

8 Berezhkovskaya nab. M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: Armenian, Azeri, Turkish, $$$

Pancho Villa

52, Bolshaya Yakimanka M. Oktyabrskaya Cuisine: Mexican, $$

3 Pyatnitskaya St. M. Novokuznetskaya Cuisine: European, American, $$ Build. 1, 17 Petrovka St. M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: Italian, Vegetarian, $$$

Paradise

2a Nagornoe Shosse M. Planernaya Cuisine: European, Caucasian, $$

Parisienne

31/9, Leningradsky Pr. M. Dinamo Cuisine: rench,European, $$$$

Pasta Mama

Piccolino

Pattaiya

Pino-Pizza

12/9, Spiridonevsky Pereulok M. Tverskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$$ 14, Bol. Sukharevskaya Square M. Sukharevskaya Cuisine: Thai, Chineese, $$

Pavilion

7 bld.1, Bolshoy Patriarshiy Pereulok M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: Russian, $$$

Pechki-Lavochki

10 Nizhnyaya Radishchevskaya Street M. Taganskaya Cuisine: Russian, $

Peking Duck

24 Tverskaya St. M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: Chinese, Vegetarian, $$$

Peperoni

17, Petrovka M. Teatralnaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Pepper

9 1st Proezd Perovo Pole M. Perovo Cuisine: European, Italian, $

Peshi

Kutuzovskiy prospekt 10 M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: Mediterranean, Italian, Fish, $$$$

Peshi

10 Kutuzovsky Prospekt M. Kutuzovskaya Cuisine: Seafood, $$$

Petrovich

24/3, Myasnitskaya M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: Russian, $$

11 1st Kolobovsky Pereulok M. Trubnaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$ 73 Volgogradsky Prospect M. Tekstilshchiki Cuisine: Italian, $$

Pino-Pizza

32 Perovsky St., bld. 1 M. Perovo Cuisine: Italian, $$

Pino-Pizza

23 Bolshaya Bronnaya St., bld. 1 M. Tverskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$

Pinocchio

23 A Naberejnaya Trasa Shevhenko M. Mezhdunarodnaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Pizza Amore

43 Leninsky Pr. M. Leninsky Prospekt Cuisine: Italian, $

Pizza Express

17 Tverskaya St. M. Tverskaya Cuisine: Italian, $

Pizza Hut

17 Tsvetnoy Bulvar M. Tsvetnoy Bulvar Cuisine: American, Italian, $$$

Pizzeria il Pomodoro 54 bld.2, Sadovnicheskaya M. Paveletskaya Cuisine: Mediterranean, $$$

Planet Sushi

Multiple Cuisine: Japanese, $$$

See any information that is not correct? These listings are for you, so to help us to help you please send us the corrections. editor@moscowexpatlife.ru We might even reward you! = Menu in English

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Plotnikov Pub

Plotinikov pereulok 22/16 M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Pochtmeyster

47/23, Arbat M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, German, $

Pokrovskie vorota 19 Pokrovka St. M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: Tibetan, $$$

Porto Maltese

3 Varvarka Ul. M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: Seafood, $$$$

Porto Maltese

Multiple Cuisine: Seafood, $$$$

Porutshik Rzhevsky

Build. 4, 4 Bolshoy Tolmachevsky Pereulok M. Tretyakovskaya Cuisine: Fusion, Russian, Vegetarian, $$

POLO CLUB 11/12, Petrovka M. Lubyanka Cuisine: European, $$

“Polo Club, one of the best hotel restaurants in town serving quality steaks and seafood”

Polyana

75 A Udalcova St. M. Prospekt Vernadskogo Cuisine: Europe, East, $$

Pomest’e

Tamanskaya 46 M. Polezhayevskaya Cuisine: American, Caucasian, European, French, Italian, Mediterranean, Seafood, Spanish, Vegetarian, $$$

Ponton

Berezhkovskaya Nabereznaya M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Porter House

20 Arkhitektora Vlasova St. M. Novye Cheryomushki Cuisine: European, $$$

Porto Chervo

24, Novy Arbat M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Italian, $

Poslednyaya Kaplya 4 Strastnoi Bul., Bldg. 3 M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: Beer Restaurants, $$

Post Scriptum

42b MiklukhoMaklaya St. M. Belyayevo Cuisine: European, Italian, $$$

Praga

2/1, Arbat M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Brazilian, European, International, Japanese, Russian, $$$$

Pravda 21

21/1 Pravdy St. M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: Russian, European, $$

Prego Pizza & Pasta 6, Dolgorukovskaya M. Novoslobodskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Presnya Cafe

7, Stolyarniy Pereulok M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: European, Caucasian, $$

Prichal

Ilyinskoe Shosse, 2km M. Krylatskoye Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese,Uzbek, Italian, $$$

Prime Star

77 bld.2, Sadovnicheskaya naberezhnaya (Aurora) M. Paveletskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, Mixed, $$

Prince

16 Kashirskoe Shosse M. Kashirskaya Cuisine: Armenian, Azeri, European, Georgian, Russian, $$$

Prospektbar

42 str.2a, Shepkina ul. M. Prospekt Mira Cuisine: European, $$

Radio City Bar & Grill 5, Boshaya Sadovaya M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: International, $$

Ragout

16, bld.5, Olimpiisky Prospect M. Prospekt Mira Cuisine: European, $$$

Ragout

69 Bolshaya-Gruzinskaya ulitsa M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Rakhat Lukum

9 Bol. Dmitrovka M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: Uzbek, $$$

Razguliay

11 Spartakovskaya St. M. Baumanskaya Cuisine: Russian, $$

Would you like to have your restaurant/bar featured in one of our future issues? Please contact us for details editor@moscowexpatlife.ru

Real Food Restaurant 12, Krasnopresnenskaya nab.(Crowne Plaza Moscow World Trade Centre) M. Vystavochnaya Cuisine: European, Italian, $$$

Red & White

15 Lesnaya St. (Hotel Holiday Inn) M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, $$$

Red Lion

12 Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: British, $$

Red Point

7 Autumn Avenue (Osenny bulvar) M. Krylatskoye Cuisine: European, French, Japanese, Seafood, $$

Red Sails

66 Aviationnaya Street M. Shchukinskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Red Square

1 Krasnaya ploschad M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: Russian, $

Reka

6 bld.2, Bersenenskaya Nabereznaya M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Restaurant Moschoice

15 Kosygina St. M. Leninsky Prospekt Cuisine: European, $

Restaurant-vinoteca Dissident 25 Nikolskaya str, Nautilus Shopping Center, 5th floor M. Lubyanka Cuisine: European, $$$

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Revolutsiya

Roll Hole

Sahara

Seiji

Romanov

Sakhili

Seven Fridays

10/2, Tryokhprudny Pereulok M. Tverskaya Cuisine: Seafood, European, $$$

Romanov Restaurant

Sandik

Shamrock bar

Richard Lion Heart

Roni

Sanduny

Shanti

Rio-Grande

Rosemary

Saperavi

Shantil

Savoy

Sharabara

15 Ul. Kosygina (Hotel Orlyonok) M. Leninsky Prospekt Cuisine: Korean, $

Savoy Hotel, 3 Rozhdestvenka M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

Royale

Sayani

Shashlichnaya #1

40, Novokuznetskaya M. Paveletskaya Cuisine: Home, $$$

Rialto

9/11 Bolshoy Fakelny Lane M. Marksistskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$

Ribny Bazaar

29 Michurinsky Prospekt M. Universitet Cuisine: European, $$$ No.19 Zeleny Prospekt M. Perovo Cuisine: Armenian, Azeri, European, Georgian, Mexican, $

Rio-Rio

16 Krasnopresnenskaya Emb. M. Kutuzovskaya Cuisine: Brazilian, European, $$$$

River Side

10 Mantulinskaya St. M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: European, Chineese, Japaneese, International, $$$

Riverside cafe

29, Serebryanicheskaya Nabereznaya M. Kurskaya Cuisine: european, $$

3 Holodilnyy Per. M. Tulskaya Cuisine: European, Japanese, Vegetarian, $ 17/1 Neglinnaya ulitsa M. Teatralnaya Cuisine: Mediterranean, Russian, European, $$ 17 Bldg 1, Neglinnya M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: European, Russian, Meditarrian, $$$ 20/1, Petrovka M. Trubnaya Cuisine: Asian grill, $$$ 26 Nikoloyamskaya M. Taganskaya Cuisine: French, International, Italian, $

Royal Family

21/1 Begovaya St. (in the Hippodrome building) M. Begovaya Cuisine: European, Italian, Russian, $

14 str.4, Neglinnaya M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: Chinese, Russian, Uzbek, $$ 27, 1st TverskayaYamskaya M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: Gerogian, $$$

Ural’skaya 5 M. Shcholkovskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Rytsarsky Club

28 Kosygina M. Vorobyovy Gory Cuisine: European, $$$$

5/2, Komsomolsky Prospect M. Park Kultury Cuisine: Japanese, $$$$ 6, Vorontsovskaya M. Taganskaya Cuisine: Russian, French, $$$ 11 str.1 Noviy Arbat St. M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: European, Irland, $$ 2/1 Myasnitsky Proyesd M. Krasnye Vorota Cuisine: Vietnamese, $$$ 57, Bolshaya Gruzinskaya M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: European, $$$ 29/3 Lomonosovskiy pr. M. Prospekt Vernadskogo Cuisine: Eastern, European, $$ 2, Ryazansky Pereulok M. Krasnye Vorota Cuisine: European, $

SCANDINAVIA 7 Maliy Palanshevskiy Per. M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: European, Skandinavian, $$

“Comfortable, calm restaurant with high quality cuisine offering many Scandinavian specialities”

Rybatskaya Derevnya

Roberto

= Menu in English

Shyolkovskoe shosse 68 M. Shcholkovskaya Cuisine: European, Uzbek, $$

4 Nashekinsky Per. M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, Seafood, $

4, Bolshaya Dorogomilovskaya M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: French, $$$ 20 Rozhdestvenskii Bulvar M. Sukharevskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$

6 Bolshoi Karetny Per Bldg 1 M. Tsvetnoy Bulvar Cuisine: Georgian, $$$

Ryba

All-Russia Exhibition Center, Selskohozyaistvennaya St. M. Botanichesky Sad Cuisine: Georgian, Russian, $$$

Riviere

1 Shcholkovskoe shosse M. Shcholkovskaya Cuisine: European, Caucasian, $$

Scotland Yard

34 bld.1, Petrovka M. Chekhovskaya Cuisine: Pub Food, $$$

Secret place

4 str.1 Kaloshin per. M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: European, $

Shatush

17, Gogolevsky Boulevard M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: Chinese, European, Japanese, Tai,, $$$$

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Shinok

5/6, Nikitsky Pereulok M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: Pub food, $$

“Traditional Irish hospitality with great pub food and excellent beers”

Shokoladnica

Multiple Cuisine: European , $$

Shore House

Crocus City (66 km MKAD) M. Myakinino Cuisine: European, Japanese, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, $$$

Shvarcvald

Multiple Cuisine: European, $$$

SIMPLE PUB Smolenskaya Ploshad 6 M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: European, $$ Sindbad

14, Nikitsky Boulevard M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Lebanese, Middle Eastern, $$

Sirena

15, Bolshaya Spasskaya M. Sukharevskaya Cuisine: Seafood, $$$$

Sisters Grimm

11, Stoleshnikov Pereulok M. Chekhovskaya Cuisine: Author, European, $$

Sixties diners

16/2 str.2 Noviy Arbat St. M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: European, American, $

Skazka

56 Profsoyuznaya St. M. Novye Cheryomushki Cuisine: European, $

Super Mario

SILVERS IRISH PUB

2, 1905 Goda M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: Ukrainian, $$$

Sky Lounge

32а Leninskii Prospekt M. Leninsky Prospekt Cuisine: European, Japanese, $$$

Small Pub

6 Mira Prospect M. Sukharevskaya Cuisine: European, Japanese, $$

Starbucks

Multiple location Cuisine: american, $

Stariki

13 str.2, Bol.Lubyanka M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: European, $$

Soup Cafe

62/25 1st Brestskaya, bldg.3 M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: European, $$

SQUARE

60 str.1 Brestkaya 1st St. M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, English, $

Stakan

3/3, Teatralniy pr. M. Lubyanka Cuisine: European, Russian, Japanese, $$

Staraya Usadba

29a, Metallurgov ul. M. Perovo Cuisine: European, Russian, $$$

1, Stroginskoe shosse M. Strogino Cuisine: European, $$

Sushi-Bar Kiot

Krymsky val, 10 M. Oktyabrskaya Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese, $$

8a, Strasnow Bulevard M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: American, $$

66 Leningradskiy pr. M. Aeroport Cuisine: European, Japanese, $ 12/8 Bolshoi Savvinsky Nab. M. Sportivnaya Cuisine: International, $$$$

Superbeach

STARLITE DINER

Smotra Bar & Restaurant

SOHO Rooms

41 Gastello St. M. Sokolniki Cuisine: Armenian, Azeri, European, Georgian, $$

Moscow’s original diners still serving our favourite food

Starlite Diner

6, Vernadskogo Pr M. Universitet Cuisine: American, $$

Starlite Diner

9a, Korovy Val M. Oktyabrskaya Cuisine: American, $$

Starlite Diner

16/5, Bolotnaya Square M. Tretyakovskaya Cuisine: American, $$

Starlite Diner

16 Bolshaya Sadova M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: American, $$

Steyks

21 Verkhnyaya Radishchevskaya St. M. Taganskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Suliko

42/2 Bol. Polyanka M. Polyanka Cuisine: Georgian, $$$

Sweet Home Cafe

14/2 str.1, Myasnitskaya M. Lubyanka Cuisine: European, $$

T-Bone

Pyatnitskaya Ul. 52, bldg. 2 M. Polyanka Cuisine: International, $$

T.G.I. Friday’s

Multiple location Cuisine: American, $$

Taisky Slon

25 Khoroshevskoye Shosse M. Polezhayevskaya Cuisine: Thai, $$$

Takasa

2/1 bld.1, Kutuzovsky prospect M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: Japanese, $$$

Take

No.20, 60-Letia Octyabrya Prospekt M. Akademicheskaya Cuisine: Japanese, $$

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Talavera

TORRO GRILL

2 Europe squar (RadIsson Slavyanskaya Hotel) M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Multiple Cuisine: European, $$$

Some of the best steaks in Moscow. Great service, great drinks and great prices

Taliesin

26 Valovaya M. Paveletskaya Cuisine: European, $$$$

Tancy

11, Nicolskaya M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: European, Italian, $$

Tanuki

Multiple Cuisine: Japanese, $$

Tapa De Comida 20/2 Trubnaya St. M. Tsvetnoy Bulvar Cuisine: Spanish, $$$$

Tapa’rillas Tapas Bar 4/3 bld.3, Strasnoy Boulevard M. Chekhovskaya Cuisine: Spanish , $$

Tequila Bar & Boom 4, Kuznetsky Most M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: Mexican, $

Terrace

13 Uglichskaja St. M. Altufyevo Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

Terrace

The Cosmos Hotel, 150 Prospekt Mira M. VDNKh Cuisine: European, $$

Thai Elephant

25 bld,1, Horoshevskoe shosse M. Polezhayevskaya Cuisine: Eastern, European.Thai, $$$

The Hudson bar

Taras Bulba

Multiple Cuisine: Ukrainian, $$

10, Butirsky Val M. Belorusskaya Cuisine: American, European, $$

Tatler club

The Old School Pub

2/1, Kutuzovsky Prospekt M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: European, Russian, $$$$

15, Bol. Cherkasskiy M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

Tavern Admiral Benbau

The Pink Cadillac

Building A, 52 Sudostroitelnaya St. M. Kolomenskaya Cuisine: Fusion, $$

4-6, Bolshaya Gruzinskaya ulitsa M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: American, $$

Tel Aviv

The Real McCoy

30/1, Tsvetnoy Boulevard M. Tsvetnoy Bulvar Cuisine: Israeli, $$$

Temple Bar

Multiple M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: European, $$

= Menu in English

1, Kudrinskaya Square M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: Tex mex, European, $$

Tiflis

32 bld.2, Ostozhenka M. Park Kultury Cuisine: Georgian, $$$

Time Out Bar

5, Sadovaya ulitsa Hotel pekin M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Timeterria LiPeople 4, 2nd Shemilovsky pereulok M. Novoslobodskaya Cuisine: Pizzeria, $

Tinkoff

11, Protochny Pereulok M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: Beer Restaurants, German, $$$

Tommy D Gastro Bar 1, Tretyakovsky Proyezd M. Lubyanka Cuisine: International, $$$

Tonino Lamborghini Boutique Caffe

19 bld.1, Kuznetsky Most M. Kuznetsky Most Cuisine: Author’s, Home, European, Italian, $$$

Traktir Chyornaya Koshka 6 Vorontsovskaya Ul. M. Taganskaya Cuisine: Russian, $$

Trattoria Venezia

9 bld.3, Stoleshnikov Pereulok M. Chekhovskaya Cuisine: European, $$$

Trattoria Venezia

4/3 bld.3, Strastnoi Bulevard M. Tverskaya Cuisine: European, $$$

Trattoria Venezia

17, Shabolovka M. Shabolovskaya Cuisine: European, $$$

Tri kabana

34 kor.2 Ryazanskiy pr. M. Ryazansky Prospekt Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

Trubadur

2/1 bld.1, Kutuzovsky prospect M. Kiyevskaya Cuisine: European, $$$

Truffaldino

20 Marksistskaya Ul., bldg 1 M. Taganskaya Cuisine: Italian, Seafood, $$

Tsarskaya Okhota

186a, Zhukovka village, Rublevo-Uspenskoye shosse M. Krylatskoye Cuisine: Russian, Hunting, $$$

TsarТs Hunt

186a Zhukovka, Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Shosse, 9 kilometers from MKAD M. Krylatskoye Cuisine: Russian, $$$$

Tsifry

40 bld.2, Pokrovka M. Kurskaya Cuisine: European, Mediterranean, $$$

Tsimmis

3, Novoslobodskaya M. Novoslobodskaya Cuisine: Jewish, $$$

Tunnel

7 Lubyansky Proezd M. Lubyanka Cuisine: American, European, International, Japanese, $

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants Tutto Bene

Unicum

Vesna

Vodny

Tverbul

Usadba in Archangelskoe

Veterok

Vogue Cafe

8, Presnenskaya nab., bld.1 M. Vystavochnaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$ 24 Tverskoy bul. M. Tverskaya Cuisine: European, $$$$

Twin Pigs

10 2nd TverskayaYamskaya St. M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: French, $$$

Arсhangelskoe Settlement M. Tushinskaya Cuisine: Russian, $$$

19a Akademika Koroleva St. M. VDNKh Cuisine: Russian, Japanese, Philipino, $$$

Uzbehka

Tyrandot

29/14 Neglinnaya Ul. M. Trubnaya Cuisine: Arabic, Azeri, Chinese, Uzbek, $$$

26/5, Tverskoy bulvar M. Tverskaya Cuisine: European, Chinese, Japanese, $$$$

U Shveika

2, Barrikadnaya M. Barrikadnaya Cuisine: Beer Restaurants, Czech, European, $$

Ub cafe

40 Dolgorukovskaya St. M. Mendeleyevskaya Cuisine: European, Medeterrian, $$

Ugra

5/14 Porechnaya St. M. Maryino Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

Uilliam’s

20 Mal. Bronnaya M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Un Sun

9, Achsheulov Pereulok M. Turgenevskaya Cuisine: European, Korean, $

23/10 Petrovka St. M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: Mediterranean, $$

Uzbekistan

Vanil

1, Ostozhenka M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: Russian, French, Japanese, $$$

Vanilla Sky

Build.3, 11-13 Nikolskaya St. M. Okhotny Ryad Cuisine: European, Russian, $$

Vapiano

26 bld.1, Prospect Mira M. Prospekt Mira Cuisine: Italian, $$

Venice

16 Spartakovskaja Square M. Baumanskaya Cuisine: European, Italian, Mixed, $$$

Veranda u Dachi

70, Zhukovka village, Rublevo-Uspenskoye shosse Cuisine: Italian, Uzbek, Japanese, $$$

19, Novy Arbat M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: Author’s, Italian, Mediterranean, Japanese, $$$ 24, Gorki-2 village, Rublevo-Uspenskoye shosse Cuisine: Home cooking from Arkady Novikov, $$$

Vinil

13 str.2 SadovayaSpasskaya St. M. Krasnye Vorota Cuisine: European, Russian, Japanese, $$$

Vinosyr

6, Maly Palashevsky Pereulok M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Vinyl

4 Pevcheskiy Per. M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: European, $$

Vision Cocktail Hall

11 Noviy Arbat St., bld. 1 M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: European, Japaneese, $$$

Viskonti

28a Shipilovskaya St. M. Domodedovskaya Cuisine: European, $$

Vivace

7 SadovayaSamotechnaya St. M. Tsvetnoy Bulvar Cuisine: Italian, $$$

Vizavi

6 Serpukhovskoy Val M. Tulskaya Cuisine: European, $$

39 bld.6, Leningradskoye Shosse M. Vodny Stadion Cuisine: Italian, Uzbek, Japanese, $$$ 7/9, Kuznetsky Most M. Teatralnaya Cuisine: European, $$$

White Cafe

36/9, Novy Arbat M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: European, Japanese, $$$

White clouds

4, Pokrovka M. Chistye Prudy Cuisine: European, Asian, Vegetarian, Mexican, $

White Rabbit

6 bld.3, Smolenskaya Square M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: Russian, Haute couture, $$$$

Who is Who (Karaoke)

15a Oruzjeyniy per. M. Mayakovskaya Cuisine: European, Japanese, $$$

William Bass

9 Malaya Yakimanka St. M. Tretyakovskaya Cuisine: European, $$$

Wok Express

26 Bolshaya Nikitskaya St. M. Arbatskaya Cuisine: European, Asian, $$

Wolkonsky

26, Valovaya M. Dobryninskaya Cuisine: European, French, $

Don’t find your favourite bar/restaurant? Send us the details, we would be pleased to include them in our future issues. editor@moscowexpatlife.ru

Moscow’s Bars, Clubs, Cafés and Restaurants X.O.

Z-Lounge

Yan Pen

Zafferano

25 str.1 Rusanova pr. M. Sviblovo Cuisine: European, Caucasian, $ 3/7, Pokrovka M. Kitay-gorod Cuisine: Korean, $$$

Yapona Mama

4 Smolensky Bulvar. M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: Japanese, $$

Yar

32/2, Leningradsky Prospect M. Dinamo Cuisine: French, Russian, $$$$

Yasniy Perec

3 SadovayaSamotechnaya St. M. Tsvetnoy Bulvar Cuisine: Italian, $$$ 8/10, Novinsky Bulevard M. Smolenskaya Cuisine: Azeri, European, Japanese, $$$

Zafferano

Vegas Mall, 25th km MKAD Cuisine: Azeri, European, Japanese, $$

Zolotaya Vobla

9 Sushchevsky Val Ul. M. Savyolovskaya Cuisine: Beer Restaurants, $$

51/23 Pervomaysky St. M. Pervomaiskaya Cuisine: Russian, International, $$

Zolotoi Drakon

Yasumi

Zolotoi Kupol

61a Profsoyaznaya ul. M. Kaluzhskaya Cuisine: Japanese, $$

YogaDOM

1/30, Petrovsky pereulok M. Pushkinskaya Cuisine: asian, indian, vegetarian, $

Yoko

5, Soimonovskiy prospekt M. Kropotkinskaya Cuisine: Japanese, author’s, $$$$

Yolki Palki

Multiple M. Tretyakovskaya Cuisine: Russian, $

Yujung

12, Krasnopresnenskaya Nabereznaya M. Ulitsa 1905 Goda Cuisine: Asian, Japanese, Korean, $$

= Menu in English

15a Kalanchevskaya M. Komsomolskaya Cuisine: Chinese, $$ 10/2, 10-Gorky township, Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Shosse M. Molodyozhnaya Cuisine: European, Russian, Caucasian, $$$

Zolotoy Dar

154 Profsoyuznaya St. M. Tyoply Stan Cuisine: European, Russian, $$$

Zucker

12/2, Bolshoy Kozikhinsky Pereulok M. Tverskaya Cuisine: Moroccan, Lebanese, Syrian, Persian, Bukharan, $$$

Essential Information

Moscow

is served by three major airports: Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo. You can get a taxi (see taxi ad on page 96) fares range between 1200 and 2300 roubles to get there, and generally, the service is good. The operators speak English, but the drivers may not. A taxi back can also be booked, and this saves a lot of hassle and possible agro when dealing with the taxi drivers at arrivals. If you prefer pubic transport, read on.

Sheremetyevo Airport http://www.svo.aero/en/ +7 495 578 6565 + 8 800 100 6565 +7 495 956 4666 for flight information Sheremetyevo Airport is 29 kilometres north-west of Moscow and up until the time when Domodedova airport started to attract foreign airlines, used to be just about the only way into and out of Russia. It never used to be very user-friendly, but things are changing, slowly. Getting there: Sheremetyevo has become much more accessible thanks to the opening of the Aeroexpress from Byelorusskaya Station. Before that there was taxi or shuttle from one of Moscowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s northern Metros, but endless traffic jams resulted in countless missed flights, flaming tempers and road rage. The Aeroexpress costs 320 roubles and they leave every half an from 5:30 to 00:30. So beyond that, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s taxis but the traffic is lighter during the night. After recent modernisation, Sheremetyevo

now has 6 terminals from A-F. Terminals A-C are further away from the Aeroexpress Railway Station. Long term parking costs 250 roubles a day according to the airport web site. If you are getting a taxi or driving your own car there during the day it is advisable to leave a minimum of two hours to get there from the centre.

Domodedovo Airport http://www.domodedovo.ru +7 495 720 6666 for flight information Domodedovo Airport is constantly being modernised, which has led to the creation of a more-orless European airport and infrastructure. But on-going construction work can create inconveniences. The airport has broken the monopoly of Sheremetyevo airport and now hosts an impressive array of foreign airlines including BA, Lufthansa, JAL. Getting there: The Aeroexpress train departs from the left hand

Essential Information side of Paveltskaya station. Tickets which come as flimsy paper receipts with bar codes in them. Don’t lose your ticket as you need it to get out of the station at the airport. Tickets cost from 320 roubles. The journey takes 40-50 minutes, and they run reliably and regularly, every half an hour from 6am to midnight. On the way home, this is a convenient way to beat the taxi mobs, however there is only the taxi if you arrive during the night. Leaving your car in the long-stay car park costs 600-700 a day depending on the season, although information on the airport’s site is not clear on this score.

Vnukova Airport http://www.vnukovo.ru/eng/ 8 (495) 937-55-55 Vnukovo International Airport, is located 28 kilometres southwest from the centre of Moscow, Russia, and serves mostly Russian domestic routes. How to get there: 1. By airport bus from Yugo Zapadnaya Metro. Turn right once you get off the train, proceed down the platform, up the stairs, turn right once out the station’s doors and into the pedestrian underpass. Five yards down the underpass, turn left, walk up the stairs and out onto the street and 20 yards straight ahead you will find the Airport bus stop. Or ask somebody. You need bus 611, 611с or 611ф, (611f) (express) bus. You need

to listen carefully to the pre-recorded stop announcements. Your stop is Airport Vnukovo. Busses run every 10 minutes or so, so to be sure you get there on time and the journey to the airport takes about 30 minutes. You can also get a ‘marshrutka’, (mini-van taxi service) route 45 which will take you to the airport faster. Fare is 100 roubles plus 10 roubles for each piece of extra luggage. 2. From Metro Oktyabrskaya (the Circle Line) (subway) Route 705m ‘marshrutka’ runs between Metro Oktyabrskaya (Circle Line) and the Vnukovo airport. They take 35-40 minutes, although Moscow traffic is Moscow traffic, so at peak time leave at least an hour. Fare is 130 roubles plus another RUB 10 for every extra item of baggage. Metro Oktyabrskaya has one exit, so take the escalator up, and once you are out on the street, turn right. The 705m bus station is twenty yards ahead diagonally to your right, located between a newsstand and a StarDogs stand. 3. By Aeroexpress Train From Metro Kievskaya (Metro) (exit to Kievsky Train Station). Once out on the Train Station forecourt, go round the corner of the Station terminal building and a few yards down on your left-hand side you will see the entrance portico of the Vnukovo Aeroexpress Terminal. Tickets cost 320 roubles for standard fare, and can be bought on line, if you read Russian. The journey takes 40 minutes.

Essential Information

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