A Perfect Day in Moscow
I make all of my friends take the metro when they first visit Moscow. Out of the 176 stations within the spider-like metropolitan, every single one is a must-see. The Slavyasnky Boulevard station has turquoise metallic trees lining the platform, lanterns perched at their tops; everywhere within the metro, there’s free Wi-fi too.
But this is a fact of Moscow’s nature. Its is a counter movement to the rest of Europe, where mess becomes a comfort zone. “Moscow never sleeps,” preaches a famous DJ Smash song, and it’s true. A constantly throbbing mechanism, Moscow is more than the stereotypes of Russia many believe it to be.
Image Credit: Pixabay/Quinn Kampschroer
My friend runs out screaming towards me. Arms linked and already gossiping, we make our way to the Krymskiy Bridge—Crimean Bridge—an central path to the main entrance of the the 100-hectare Gorky Park.
Passing through its tall, metallic gates, I tell my friend that only 6 years ago this place was an amusement park. But with a swoosh of Roman Abramovich’s hand and $2 billion, the menacingly old rides were taken down and the park has been radically transformed into a highly Europeanized, recreational utopia. Complete with trendy cafes, sports grounds, outdoor yoga and dance classes, educational programs, Russia's first philanthropic museum of contemporary art Garage, and, most importantly, a nightly open-air art house cinema, it is the core of Moscow’s day-time life.
Image Credit: Flickr/Efrain Garcia Arguemedo
Following the brim of the park above the Moscow River, we reach Olive Beach, a half modern-equipped beach, half open air cafe spilling lounge music over the waterfront. This heavenly spot between two bridges and overlooking the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is where we will have our first drink. A valuable thought: when your debit card serves a Western currency, drinking in Moscow is cheap and can start whenever.
In Moscow, different nutrition needs are fulfilled in different places. Olive Beach has a great cafe, but the strategic location of the park lets us walk within the pedestrian area of the Krymskaya Quay in the direction of the city's center: the Red Square.
Image Credit: Ekaterina Vorobyeva
On the other side of the Krymskiy Bridge, however, is Muzeon, an open-air museum of sculpture and art with over 1000 objects. We give up the idea of lunch and instead lurk through the accumulating virtuosos and works of modernists, avant-gardists and social realists. This is the to-go place for public art, music festivals and dancing classes, shows of rare films and theater performances.
Of course, the middle of the quay is also the best angle to capture the 98-meter-high monument of Peter the Great on his ship. I lean over the stone fence of the embankment to see what is going onboard of the Bryusov Ship, the on-water art center employing shops and restaurants. With the help of the pedestrian Patriarshiy Bridge—Patriarchal Bridge—leading to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, we walk onto the all red-brick Balchug Island, the cluster of Moscow's party life. It’s alive day to night, with over 6 clubs and 21 restaurants of different concepts and levels of pathos.
Image Credit: Pixabay/Alenio
Gipsy is the gem of this small island. This is Moscow's central oasis with long swimming pools and tall palm trees, wooden tables, benches, swing sets, bars and sun beds. We sit down for some gipsy pilaf and a basket of garlic croutons. The hookah waiter comes up to us asking if he can treat us to some flavored vapor, but we apologetically explain how we plan to smoke at the neighboring Fudzy Smoke rooftop instead.
We head over and watch the sunset sink over Peter the Great from a baldachin-resembling couch, while sipping on tropical cocktails the names of which we won't care about and letting out clouds of watermelon-flavored smoke into the warm dusky air. As the sunsets, the party begins.
Image Credit: Facebook/Gipsy Bar Moscow
Hopping from the Rolling Stones club to Red and, finally, ICON, it’s nearing dawn and we scramble out of the club. Following the group of friends we’ve accumulated throughout the night—young people in Moscow are very friendly—we head over to a friend’s residential building and climb the roof.
Perched on that roof and sipping onto the beige can of the Russian Zhiguli beer under the sunrise light, my friend whispers with a smirk, "What's next?”
Image Credit: Ekaterina Vorobyeva
