The city is named after Anton Chekhov, the famous Russian writer – and there’s a good reason for that. Anton Chekhov’s estate is located right outside of town, so if you’re a fan of his famous works – you should definitely try and visit the place. Apart from the estate, you could also visit “Talezh” and gather some fresh spring water that runs right near the beautiful chapel.

There’s no way to get to those beauties without using Kursky vokzal unless you’re planning to drive by car. Be careful, however – Moscow roads require a certain set of skills that not every foreigner has.

If you’re willing to travel outside of Moscow by car, you should surely seek advice of Moscow driver.

Apart from Chekhov, Kursky rail terminal also serves “Tsaritsino” and “Butovo” stations – those are located in Moscow, but you can save a lot of time if you travel by train and not by Moscow metro. If your goal is Moscow region, you can get to the cities of Serpuhov, Podolsk, Tula and Orel. If you’re willing to travel really far, you can get to Kursk, Belgorod and as far as Ukrainian cities of Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk and Krivoy Rog – but that’s gonna be an extreme ride, I tell you right away!

Whatever destination you choose, I think the best option is to travel by rail. Just buy a ticket to good old “elektrichka” (those commuter trains that run on electricity hence the name), and enjoy the ride. You can sleep, eat, talk by phone – and never worry about all those nasty traffic jams you’d definitely got in if you were driving.

Try to use Kursky rail terminal outside of city’s rush hours. I doubt you’d like to get squeezed in the train without having a chance to sit for the entire trip, right? Instead, get there at, say, 11AM, and safely board the first available elektrichka.

Before you do that, make sure there aren’t any changes in the schedule – “Russian Railroads” love to play with it during the daytime. On the other hand, it’s hard to avoid those because the rails have to be maintained and fixed, and no one is gonna do it when dozens of trains are passing by every morning and evening.

If you think that the regular, green trains aren’t good enough, there are express ones that get as far as the city of Tula, making just a few stops along the way (some including Chekhov). They are surely more expensive, but they are also more comfortable and less crowded. In fact, I would recommend you to ride these – they are much “closer” to what you’re used to see back in your country.

After all, you, westerners, are all about comfort, while Russian trains were built to serve one function only, and that’s to transport people from point A to point B. Years of communism didn’t really inspire the train constructors to think about the passengers, and that's why comfortable trains have appeared only recently.

But enough about the trains. Let’s look closer at Kusky rail terminal see how it’s built and what makes it “tick”. The terminal itself is located right outside of Moscow metro station “Kurskaya” (du-h!). In fact, you don’t even have to go out of metro to get to the terminal building, as there’s a nice, convenient passage that connects them.

It’s extremely convenient, especially when you’re carrying a couple of heavy bags. The only problem is not to get lost, as there are two exits from the station itself plus a passage to the adjacent “Chkalovskaya” and another “Kurskaya” that sits on the blue line. You can get to the terminal from both “Kurskaya” stations, but if you end up on “Chkalovskaya” – you’ll have to walk quite a distance to get to Kursky vokzal.

Ahh, it’s a pleasure to walk through Kurskaya these days. About a year ago, the station was renovated, and now it looks exactly like when it was first built. In fact, there even was a small scandal, as the architects restored the verses from old version of Soviet hymn that praised Stalin. Needless to say, human rights activists were not happy to see them.

While I don’t want to get into politics, I must say the station itself looks much better than before. Not that Kurskaya wasn’t beautiful, but it was slightly neglected during 80’s and following 90’s due to budget cuts. Now, however, everything is exactly as it should have been – maybe except Stalinist hymn, but that’s just details.

Anyways, if you do everything “by the book”, you will find yourself inside the underground level of Kursky in no time. Be careful, however – once you pass the metro wickets, there’s no going back unless you pay for a ride, so don’t change your mind all of a sudden!

Once you’re on the underground level, the first thing you should do is check the trains schedule. In fact, you should do this a couple of hours before you leave the house, as your train could be cancelled or delayed. Each Moscow rail terminal has a special hotline that allows you to check the status of your trip, but unfortunately it’s only available in Russian.

However, if you have a couple of Russian friends, they will be more than happy to help you out. It’s doesn’t take a lot of time or effort to get through to the operator, so the only problem you may have is the language.

If somehow you didn’t check the status of your train by phone – get to the ticket stalls that are a little bit to the right from the metro exit, and look at one of the pillars that have time tables on them. No, don’t look for computer screens – those are just regular pieces of paper. Again, you’ll need to know the language – there’s no way you’ll be able to get around Kursky rail terminal without speaking any Russian.

So, once you’re double sure your “elektrichka” is on time, get to the nice lady behind the window, tell her the name of the station you’re going to (like Podolsk or Chekhov), pay for the ticket – et voila, all you have to do is get to the platform and board your train.

Sounds easy, but sometimes we either come too early – or find out the train has been delayed or cancelled. So let’s look what you can do to kill those minutes...

First of all, you can walk around Kursky terminal. There are plenty of small shops around, where you can buy snacks and drinks in case you’re hungry. If, on the other hand, you’re hungry for news or a dose of pulp fiction – there are several book stalls that will help you out. Spending your time reading some newspaper is not such a bad idea, but I would say there’s a better way to avoid getting bored.

If you get out of the terminal building, you’ll see a big shopping mall right in front of you. That’s the famous “Atrium” – a place where you can spend the time left to departure – and surely enjoy it! There’s lot to tell about “Atrium”, and I even dedicated a whole separate article to it, but trust me on this one – sometimes it’s even better to come a couple of hours earlier!

Why? Because this shopping mall has “everything the body needs” – from shops and cafes to “Karo film” cinema. The cinema is not an option in this case, because it’s not fun to watch a movie with all those heavy bags, but you could surely sit in a cafe until the time comes – or visit my favorite “TGI Friday’s” restaurant.

In general, I would advise you to get to “Atrium” if your train is more than 40 minutes away. You see, Moscow rail terminals aren’t the safest place in the city (although they did get much safer recently), and getting stuck there for more than a small period of time may bring upon you some unwanted guests.

So, in order to avoid the possibly unpleasant situations, get to the mall, spend your time there – and have fun along the way. Once your train is about to arrive – pick up your bags, get across the square to the terminal building and enjoy the ride.

Just be sure you leave “Atrium” at least 15 minutes in advance – the distance may be longer than you think. Plus, you should buy the tickets right after you get to Kurskiy, as there can be unpredictable queues any given moment

If you follow this simple advice, Kursky rail terminal will give you nothing more than a pleasant experience – and unlock the doors to Moscow region and even the entire Russia should you wish to travel this far. As for me – I’ll just be sitting right here, waiting for you to come back for more.

Enjoy!

Since the Earth surface became as hostile as Mars, the remnants of humankind are forced to survive in the well-hidden, well-sheltered bunkers with autonomous air and water supply. Naturally, Moscow metro, that was constructed to withstand a nuclear blast and radiation, became a shelter for Muscovites that were lucky enough to be in proximity the day the bombs fell.

That day, the world shrank to the size of Moscow subway's tunnels and stations. The centralized chain of command ceased to exist shortly after the break of the war, making each station a state in itself that wages war, makes alliances – and engages in endless political games with its neighbors. Numerous alliances arose, and there are all kinds of governments present in the metro, from democracy to communism and monarchy.

Twenty years has passed since the beginning of the war, but the world above remains completely hostile to homo sapiens. However, Metro 2034 book is mainly dedicated to the events that happen one year after Metro 2033 book ending. This time, the story begins on "Sevastopolskaya" Moscow metro station, far from the prosperous trade federation "Ganza" built around the ring line.

The citizens of "Sevastoposlkaya" turned it into a little fortress since they have to fight the endless waves of monsters coming from the nearby "Chertanovskaya" station. They consider their home a little "Sparta", training its warriors so well they are being feared in the rest of the metro.

In addition to that, "Sevastopolskaya" engineers were able to set up numerous hydroelectric stations that utilize the underground streams around, making it an invaluable supplier of electricity to "Ganza" and the rest of Moscow subway.

Everything seems to be going pretty well, but there's one fatal flaw that not even brave "Sevastopolskaya" inhabitants can overcome – its distance from the center. The station is located in the far outskirts of Moscow metro with most of its northern neighbors being uninhabited. And of course, there are good reasons for that.

In fact, "Tulskaya" is the only "serious" northern station before "Ganza", and if anything happens to it – "Sevastopolskaya" will be cut from supplies and ammunition that it badly needs to repel the terrible creatures. As you probably guessed, the story begins when "Tulskaya" stops responding.

I must say right away that Metro 2034 book is completely different from its successful predecessor. The first novel was more about action, although it did have a good plot. This time, Dmitry Glukhovsky is trying to transmit a more serious message.

Yes, Metro 2034 novel is more about philosophy, so don't buy this book if you're just looking for more thrilling scenes. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of those in the novel, but overall it was written to make you think rather than just get excited.

However, if you think the book is boring – think again. As I said in Metro 2033 book review, Glukhovsky knows how to make you excited when he needs to. Don't worry, there will be plenty of mysteries and action to make you finish the book, but it will be a pity if you don't see the deeper meaning behind those decorations.

I would say that Metro 2034 book is all about choice. Choice between good and evil, ends and means, love and duty, bigger and lesser evil. Choice that can change the life of one – and choice upon which the fate of humanity rests. Choice that can't be undone.

Apart from that, the author seems to be asking that eternal question - what makes us human? Our looks? Our speech? Or perhaps that deep, moral “compass” that let us distinguish between right and wrong? Do we deserve the right to exist if we cease to be humans on the way? Questions, eternal questions. Questions with no simple answers…

By the way, you're about to meet someone who was supposedly dead in the first part. I won't give you the name of course, but be ready for a surprise. However, this character is going to be veeery different from the first part, as certain events left a heavy scar on his psyche.

Intrigued? You'd bet! However, that "return from the dead" is not the only change you'll notice in Metro 2034 book universe. I would say the whole world of Metro 2033 changed slightly, becoming even more complex and realistic.

However, when I say "realistic", I don't mean that nothing weird is going to happen. On the contrary, there are lots of very strange events that have no reasonable explanation. Metro 2033 also had some of those, but it was much more "worldly". Most of it was either mutants – or humans, and there were only a couple of things that couldn't be reasonably explained.

However, Metro 2034 book is full of mystical events that do not have any reasonable explanation whatsoever. It may be slightly embarrassing, I know. Several years ago I didn't like stories that weren't telling me all the answers because I was expecting to get everything "on the platter".

However, today I think that a good science fiction novel absolutely must keep something for itself, without telling you explicitly why and how it happened. And that's what I believe make Glukhovsky's universe much more "real".

Ooh, there’s lots of interesting stuff going on. Stations infested with hellish mutants are just a small part of all the horrors people encounter in Moscow metro – and a significant part of them are located right on the grey line next to “Sevastopolskaya”.

In fact, in the first book some characters have a conversation where one of them says that even “Ganza”, with all its power and money, is unable to colonize the grey line because of all the weirdness that’s going on there. There’s a slight contradiction between the two books, because the character then goes on saying that all the grey line stations behind "Ganza" are uninhabited.

However, since that conversation took place at “VDNH”, a station very remote even by today’s standards, you can safely assume its residents were simply quoting the rumours, as they could not possibly have the accurate information.

Anyways, Dmitry Glukhovsky doesn’t limit himself to genetically engineered mutants that inhabit the post-nuclear Earth. In many cases, Metro 2034 book tells us of horrors that can’t be explained by reason, like that thick, white mist that inhabits “Nagornaya” Moscow metro station, randomly taking the lives of the by-passers. Is it some sort of a life form, like sentient fungi? A gas that makes you hallucinate and die? An alien organism?

As I said, there’s no clear answer. However, I believe that Glukhovsky wants us to think that those things came straight from hell as a punishment for our deeds, present and future. The very souls of innocent victims came back from the other side as it couldn't accept them all at once.

In fact, in Metro 2033 book the author suggests that the very spirit of our planet has been ruined by the nuclear blasts, and the souls have nowhere to go anymore. Therefore, they are destined to forever lurk in the shadowy catacombs of Moscow metro tunnels.

I would say that Metro 2034 book is gloomier and darker than the first one. As I said, I consider it more realistic than its predecessor. While most of the events described there are a complete fiction, the atmosphere of the book is much closer to the real world. Here and there, the characters will share with you the legends of Moscow subway, only to later disprove most of them - just like in real life.

However, not all hope is lost, as some of the legends seem to have a reasonable basis. Can it be there are communities of survivors scattered across the post-apocalyptic Russia? Can it be they managed to save whatever technology they possessed? Can it be there will be another book?

…and most important - can we avoid the apocalypse described by Dmitry Glukhovsky?

P.S. Unfortunately, there's no English version of this book yet. Once it available, I will make sure you will be the first to know! Meanwhile, you can improve your language skills by reading the original Russian version of Metro 2034.

I can't say for sure there weren't other authors in Russia who wrote on the same subject, especially during the Soviet times, when we were preparing to fight the capitalists every next day. However, Metro 2033 book made so much noise it can easily be considered a pioneer in this area of Russian science fiction, as it spawned a whole new breed of such Russian novels.

Boy did I enjoy reading this book! First of all, I'm a fan of everything that portrays the world in ruins. It all started with "The Terminator" movie, and then got another push when I discovered "Fallout" game series. Don't ask me why I'm so attracted to such hopeless things – maybe I was born to be someone like John Connor?

However, I didn't only enjoy Metro 2033 book because it was post-apocalyptic (although it did draw my attention). I also didn't read it up until the end just because the idea was interesting. The main reason I'm so excited about the book is that it's just a darn good novel, with lots of action, good plot and interesting, "life-like" characters that you'll quickly identify with.

Let's see how the story begins. The year is 2033, and the civilization is destroyed in a global war that unleashed nuclear, bacteriological and mutagenic weapons upon the unsuspecting 6 billion souls.

The author doesn't tell who started it as it is not so important, but in his other short stories he tells that the war began because of Chinese invasion on Taiwan, which made US interfere and ultimately dragged the Russia into the mess as well.

The world is ruined, plain and simple. Most of Earth's surface is now extremely hostile, polluted with radiation and infested with genetically engineered mutants that consider men an easy prey. The remnants of humankind can only survive in reinforced bunkers hidden deep underground. Guess what – Moscow has one of the biggest ones in the world that we call Moscow metro.

The story tells us about a teenager name Artiom who lives on the station "VDNH". By the way, that was another reason I purchased the book – I used to live in that area for many years. Anyways, Artiom is one Moscow subway's numerous inhabitants. His mother was killed during the rat invasion of "Timiriazevskaya" while he was saved by the retreating troops.

These days, "VDNH" suffers from constant invasions coming from the northern "Botanicheskiy Sad" station. Somehow, it isn't shielded from surface by the blast doors, allowing hordes of frightening black humanoids to use that breach in their constant attempts to get past "VDNH" outposts.

One day, a mysterious man called "Hunter" appears on "VDNH" in order to attempt and destroy the lair of the monsters. In case he fails, he asks Artiom to get to the center of Moscow metro and call for reinforcements. Of course, Hunter disappears, and now Artiom has to travel through half of divided Moscow metro to help out a man who trusted him with his life.

This is how the story begins, and trust me – you won't stop reading until you reach the very last page. Why? Because the author created a whole new world based on something every Muscovite knows extremely well – Moscow subway.

In this universe, Moscow metro does not have centralized rule – it's everyone for himself. Every station is like a miniature city, with its own citizens, armed forces and of course – politicians. Some of the stations come together to form "federations" or "empires", but mostly there's chaos and anarchy, while the humankind is slowly dying out.

The thing I liked the most about Metro 2033 book is the atmosphere. While it's not very probable that people can survive even a year in such conditions (and we're speaking twenty years in Glukhovsky's universe), the author does his best to make the world as realistic as he can.

In fact, his world is very thought through and detailed. While I don't want to give you any spoilers, rest assured Dmitry Glukovsky thought about pretty much everything. The book will tell you where the air and water come from, how the food is grown – and what's going on planet's scorched surface, while the people are struggling to survive deep beneath.

However, realism is only a part of that wonderful, gloomy world created by Dmitry. When I was reading the book, I suddenly realized I started identifying myself with the characters. Somehow, I felt whatever they felt, and I grew deeply compassionate for most of them.

I caught myself feeling lost and hopeless. The room I was sitting at became dark and small, and I had a spontaneous urge to open the windows, breath some fresh air and make sure Moscow was still there.

And of course, I started paying much more attention to all the little details described in Metro 2033 book, like those huge blast doors that are supposed to shut us off from the world that will go down in flames in couple of minutes. I knew I wrote about it on other Moscow subway pages, but just imagine...

...it's late spring. You're taking a walk across one of Moscow's beautiful boulevards, enjoying the warm, sunny weather. You're smiling, life is good – and there's nothing really worry about. You're approach the stairs, get down to the underground passage, and from there you get straight to the metro entrance. Soon you will get back to your family and have a wonderful, tasty dinner. Life is good...

...all of a sudden, you hear a weird signal pouring out of metro speakers – one long beep followed by two short ones. The signal repeats again and again, and you don't yet know it's the "Atom code". You rush to the exit, just like everybody else, you try to get out of this mess, but the police and the metro personnel just won't let you do that. Suddenly, you hear a loud, calm voice...

..."attention all passengers. Atom alert, time to impact – 6 minutes. Everyone in proximity is requested to get inside the station. Attention all passengers..."

...all hell breaks loose. People outside are rushing to the station while some are still in denial, trying to get out. Someone falls from the escalator, women are screaming.

Everywhere, you hear the kids crying. "Mommy, mommy, I want to go home". Someone is trying to call his loved ones for the last farewell.

People continue to rush through the entrance. Some cops are fighting a couple of guys who want to get out at all cost. They still don’t believe it’s all over.

A young couple is running to the safety of the station. Suddenly, a heel breaks on one of girl’s shoes, and she falls on the pavement, tearing her tights. Her young man rushes towards her and starts dragging her to the entrance.

At this point of time, giant blast doors begin to close slowly, separating those who made it from those who’re about to die in the spark of nuclear fire. Horrifying screams fill the underground passage as people begin to squeeze themselves through the diminishing gap. People lose their loved ones in the mess, friends and families are separated forever.

With a rough, slashing sound, the blast doors close completely. “My wife, please let her through”, - a bulky aged man is weeping like a baby, looking for his woman one among the newcomers. She got lost in the panicking crowd, and now she’s probably knocking at the door from the outside, screaming her husband’s name. In vain.

The earth shakes. The shockwave from the blast penetrates even the rugged walls of Moscow metro, and for a moment it seems they won’t hold. The lights blink for a second, and then darken significantly as the backup generators kick in. The old world is gone. Forever.

Terrified? Well, that’s exactly the feeling you’ll get after reading the first couple of pages, because Glukhovsky knows well how do frighten the reader. However, soon you’ll become so thrilled with the plot that you’ll see how all the gloomy decorations work together to create a high-quality reading experience. Experience that you’ll never forget!

It takes a lot of talent and skill to write a post-apocalyptic novel gloomy enough to be realistic and interesting enough to make you read it instead of getting terribly depressed right after the first page.

Metro 2033 book is an example of such work. It will shake you, it will thrill you – and leave you with the feeling of slight sadness and thoughts of apocalypse that may just come if the world doesn't change soon. Let’s just hope it will never happen…

…but if you do want to get prepared – Metro 2033 book is the one to read!

In fact, railways are not only crucial for Moscow, but also for the entire Russia. We are very different here from our eternal rival, the US. In America, you either travel by car or by air, as there’s a widespread network of local airports and interstates. This approach has a lot of advantages – riding your own car is much more comfortable, and if choose to take a flight – you will be in your point of destination in no time.

In addition to that, US fuel prices are significantly lower than in Russia. I know you’re going to ask how come that in Russia, one of world’s biggest exporters of oil, the gasoline is so darn expensive? Well, if you ask me, the situation is caused by Russian oil companies that have long ago formed an oligopoly and can now set whatever prices they want.

The government has tried to drive the prices down many times, but their efforts weren’t very successful. Frankly, I don’t believe it tried so hard, because, as you know, the bureaucrats are the same in every country.

Anyways, even without fuel price, the "roads + planes" approach is doomed in Russia. First of all, roads are our country’s eternal problem, even a curse. There’s a saying that goes “Russia’s got two problems – fools and roads”, and it surely applies even today. Russian roads are terrible, except in certain regions like Moscow.

If you wish to travel by car even to St. Petersburg, it’s going to be one long ride, at the end of which you will probably have to replace some parts of your vehicle. Needless to say, going further is a much tougher challenge.

OK, but what about going somewhere by airplane? Well, first of all, not many Russians can afford taking regular flights – after all, air travel is quite expensive. Second, during the Communist times air travel was not considered too important, because Russia had a developed network of railroads.

The planes were only used for travelling abroad or when the railroads couldn’t compete in terms or time or reach. In any other case, trains were a preferred alternative, and therefore the air travel infrastructure is not too good in Russia.

Also, don’t forget that Russia is much bigger than the US, and even if we preferred the planes over any other options, our expenses would be significantly higher! Therefore, railroads remain the best means of transport so far.

Currently, Moscow has 9 rail terminals that connect the city to nearly every corner of Russia. Namely, they are:

• Belorusskiy vokzal
, that serves the north-west bound railways. From there, you can get as far as Belorussia.
• Kazanskiy vokzal
, that serves south and south-east destinations. Was previously called “Ryazanskiy vokzal”.
• Kievskiy vokzal
will help you get to Ukraine should you wish to do so. Also serves “AeroExpress” to Vnukovo airport.
• Kurskiy vokzal
is bound south. You can get to Ukraine from there as well, specifically the resort city of Krym. Going to North Caucasus? Chances are you’ll be leaving from Kurskiy rail terminal as well.
• Leningradskiy vokzal
– connects to St. Petersburg, as well as numerous other destinations.
• Paveletskiy vokzal
– very useful when you need to get to “Domodedovo” airport by “Aeroexpress”. Serves several important destinations, like Kazakhstan, Caucasus and Central Asia.
• Rizhskiy vokzal
– apart from local destinations, there are trains leaving to Riga, the capital of Latvia. Not very much to tell apart from that.
• Savelovskiy vokzal
– is strictly due north. If you need to get to the city of “Dubna” – get to Savelovskiy, can’t miss. This Moscow rail terminal also partly serves the destionations of “Belorusskiy”.
• Yaroslavskiy vokzal
– going to China, Mongolia or North Korea? Planning to visit Ural, Siberia or Russian Far East? Think you can take 9300 kilometers of travel in Russian train? If the answer is “yes” – welcome onboard!

The city's rail terminals literally cover any possible destination you could think of. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people use them to get to work – or simply visit the capital of Russia. Frankly, I can’t think of any other possible solution to that tremendous transportation task.

You see, even though all world’s capitals have a lot of out-of-city workers, Moscow is probably the leader in terms of the ratio. All of this happened because current Moscow flat rates are through the roof, and you can only afford to live in Moscow if you have a very decent income.

However, even if you do have a decent income, you would probably not want to spend one third of it on a flat somewhere far from the city center. Therefore, renting or buying a flat in Moscow region would still be a good option to consider.

Another reason to use Moscow rail terminals is to travel through Russia. Sure, you can get to Khabarovsk or Kamchatka by plane, but that wouldn’t be fun, would it? Imagine riding the train from Moscow through the entire Russia. Sure, it would take you probably a couple of weeks, but think of all the impressions you would get!

However, if you don't want to leave the city, there's much more to Moscow rail terminals than a mere railroad stations!

Apart from serving the passengers, Moscow "vokzals" have always been a major center of city's life. No wonder, since they always supplied a steady inflow of travelers and common Russians who wanted to settle in the capital.

These days, some Muscovites complain there are too many newcomers in town. They see the terminals as the "root of all evil", the "hell gate" that constantly spawns more and more people.

However, they forget the fact that without Moscow rail terminals the city would either die out, or forever remain just another Russian province. There's no way to build a thriving, successful city without attracting more and more people every year, and old Moscow governments realized that very well.

By the way, did you know that Moscow has not always been a capital of Russia? That's right, up until Bolsheviks revolution St. Petersburg was the center of our country. However, when comrade Lenin decided to relocate to Moscow, having good railways surely helped a lot. Who knows what city I would be telling you about now if Moscow wasn't so well connected to country's railroads!

Forget about Lenin, however. When I'm talking about the history of Moscow, he's truly the last person I'd like to talk about. Instead, let's go back a little bit further, to the time of Tsars, when communism was just another "buzzword" that many laughed at.

Back then, Moscow rail terminals were just being built, but they were always considered very important, and there's a very simple proof to my words.

Design.

Just look at their marvelous design. Thanks to Yuri Luzhkov, most of them were more or less restored to their original looks. This is how they were built back then, using the best designers the country could find. Aren't they just lovely?

Now ask yourself this – do you feel lucky today? Ahem, I meant – would they invest the time and money into something insignificant? Surely they wouldn't! So, all of this amazing decor means one thang, and one thang only – the authorities placed a lot of emphasis on the terminals.

When 173 years ago, at the end of October 1837, the first steam train departed from St. Petersburg to the town of "Tsarskoe Selo", people (and many government officials), saw railroads as something extremely exotic that will never make its way in Russia. However, the highest-ranking decision makers, including Tsars, already understood Russia does not really have a future without those clumsy steam monsters.

Here's another fact that many communists don't like – did you know that during the Tsar times more railroads had been built each year than during the reign of Bolsheviks? I'm not kidding, even Stalin wasn't a match for Tsarist Russia!

It's not a big surprise, though, because while Russian Empire was relying on foreign capital to do the job, the communists decided to go their own special way that just wasn't good enough.

Neither violence nor volunteers helped, and at the end we have a lot of Russian cities that absolutely need a link to country's railroad system – and don't have it simply because they were not considered important back in communist times.

Not only that, but the communist government wasted gazillions of rubles on projects like "BAM" ("Baikal-Amur Mainline") that till this day lie dormant, because nobody really needs them. However, this is the main problem of centralized planning – you just don't see all the details, and therefore bound to make a mistake.

If the October Revolution never came, I think we would have a much better railroad system...in fact, I think pretty much everything would be much better, but what done is done.

Ahh, enough with my pessimism. While Russia may have problems here and there, Moscow surely doesn't lack railroad connections! Moscow rail terminals proudly connect our city to the most remote destinations in Eurasia, and serve as the major transportation hubs inside the city.

Just look at Moscow metro map, and you will see that all of the terminals are directly connected to Moscow metro stations that sit right on the ring line to allow better passenger throughput. They provide the "blood" that runs the city, and there's no arguing about that.

In addition to that, Moscow rail terminals are simply a work of art. Take a look at, say, "Kievskiy" and "Belorusskiy" – aren't they magnificent? And the wonderful "Komsomolskaya ploschad" , the one we call the "Three Stations Square"?

Don't worry, I'll be writing additional pages dedicated to each one of them, and you'll be sure to know more. Meanwhile, take my word for it – they are well worth to have a look at!

Ahh, the history...the link between generations....by the way, recently I read how the cabbies were cheating the innocent out-of-towners back in the 19 and early 20 century. What they did is take them from, say, "Yaroslavskiy" terminal to "Kazanskiy" (both sit right across the square), go around in circles for about an hour, and charge a significant fee.

....I guess that times never change

The shopping mall itself is located right next to "Kurskiy" rail terminal, so you'll always know where to kill the time if you've come too early for the train. It wasn't always like that, however. In fact, before the mall was built, the area of "Kurskaya" metro station was quite a gloomy place, full of unfriendly people.

Frankly, back then there was no good reason to walk around that part of town. The terminal itself was dirty and full of little shops selling counterfeit goods and food that would probably make you end up in a hospital. The area was swarming with bums, drug addicts and petty thieves, and the police wasn't really doing anything.

The railway stations, especially big ones, basically always reflect the condition of the country. If you're in Switzerland, you can walk around pretty safe (although not always). However, Russia of 90's was quite a mess – and it immediately reflected on all the public places, especially those dealing with people from all social groups.

As I said, taking a walk in "Kurskaya" area was not the best idea back in 90's. You could've get yourself in a real trouble – and there wouldn't be anyone standing by your side, as the cops were too busy taking bribes from all the shops around. However, little by little, thanks to mayor Yuri Luzhkov, the area began to clean up.

Sure, all those bums didn't just disappear overnight, and there are some even up until this day. However, you could finally get out of metro without being too much at risk. The area of the terminal itself is messy even today day, but trust me - it has improved a lot since the times of "Perestroika"!

So, once life began returning to those shadowy lands, businessmen realized the place had a huge potential. So, they decided to build a shopping mall right next to the metro exit and frankly – not many believed that something good will come out of it.

Me too was skeptical. I was pretty sure that Moscow Atrium will be flooded with bums and other unwanted people right after its opening. After all, Kurskiy is right in front of the building, and there's no reason on Earth why all those smelly guys would not want to take a visit. Well, I was wrong!

Somehow, the management succeeded in creating efficient face-control system that filtered out the "undesired elements", as we said in the Soviet Union. Of course, officially this system doesn’t exist, but I believe that the mall simply didn’t have any other choice. Think for yourself – would you attend a place infested with bums? I don’t think so.

While I don’t have anything against the homeless people, I think they should get a proper care somewhere else, not in one of Moscow’s biggest malls. By the way, if you look closely, you’ll see there’s a passage connecting Kurskiy rail terminal with Moscow Atrium building. If you look even closer, you’ll realize that the passage is closed, so if you need to get to the train – make sure you have some spare time.

Don’t be upset, you’re not out of luck. You see, that passage has been closed right since the place opened. And of course, you want to know why it was built. Well, I’m not sure, but I think it was the demand of Moscow government. After all, all the public places belong to the public, and should be easily accessible – that is one of the most basic laws I believe every city has.

However, doing so would invite all those who consider the terminal a home right into the mall, so the management decided to play a little trick – they agreed to create the passage, but they never let a single person actually pass through it!

If you want to get to Moscow Atrium from the terminal building, you’ll have to get through a passageway blasted with cars, and go around a fence that stands right in the middle. It’s extremely inconvenient, but I believe even the fence was put there on purpose. This way, the security guys will be able to spot the people they don’t want to let it long before they approach the entrance – and thus avoid the inconvenience for visitors like you and I.

Oh, I see that frown on your face already. Right now you must be picturing the mall as the place guarded by Nazis who only let it the true Arians. However, you wouldn’t even notice all of that if I haven’t told you. Trust me, Moscow Atrium is a very friendly place unless you’re someone who can ruin other people’s experience, and I’m going to prove that.

First things first. By now you must’ve learned that I’m a big fan of movies. Guess what – there’s a cinema right inside the mall! And mind you that it’s not just a cinema, but one that belongs to famous “Karo-Film” network. It means you will always see the latest movies, both Russian and foreign, in great quality for a very reasonable price. All the newest films together with world's famous blockbusters will surely be there, all you have to do is buy a ticket...

Don’t forget, though, that all foreign movies are dubbed, so if you don’t speak Russian – get to specialized cinemas like “Dome”, where all films are in English. Personally, I'm against dubbing, as I think it ruins most of the experience. However, many Russians don't speak English, and they are not willing to read the subtitles as well.

In the past, I used to think that Russia is the only country to show dubbed movies in cinemas, and that it was the legacy of Communist times. However, later I became aware that many countries do that – Germany and Austria, for example. I remember when I was in Vienna, there was a movie I wanted to see. I was really disappointed to find out everything's shown in German, and so I had to change my plans. Well, tough luck...

However, even if you can't go to "Karo" because you don't speak any Russian, don't be in a hurry to leave, as there are lots of other things you can do!

First of all, Moscow Atrium obviously has a lot of very nice stores that sell anything from cosmetics to world-known clothing brands. However, I would say they're slightly expensive, so unless there's something you really like, I wouldn't advise to buy there.

As far as I know, it's much cheaper to buy clothes in Europe and US than in Moscow, especially if you're talking about known brands. I don't know the exact reason of such pricing difference, but facts are facts. So, while it's sure nice to look at the glamorous storefronts, you should mostly buy in other places such as numerous clothing markets and mini-malls spread across the city.

However, even though buying clothes is not the best option, there's still a good way to pass your time. Namely, restaurants and cafes. God I love those!

There are so much of them around I don't know where to start! Of course, there are plenty of Russian fast-food chains present, like "Kroshka - Kartoshka" with their delicious potato dishes, "Pelmeshkina and Cheburekos" that serve Russian pelmeni, and "Rostik's", which is basically a Russian version of McDonalds, although not a very successful one.

If you have enough time, I suggest you go for the real restaurants, like "Il-Patio" with their delicious Italian pizzas, and my personal favorite "TGI Fridays". Ahh, I can talk about this one forever! After all, that restaurant is the ultimate incarnation of everything unhealthy!

Each time we go there, my wife tells me I will have to work out for at least a weak after the meal, because the place is just swarming with calories. Heck, you can get fat by nearly breathing the air there, but that's simply the best restaurant I've ever attended! Ahh, the burgers, the fries, the ice-cream....why, oh why wasn't I born an American??

If you're a sweet-tooth like me, there's also "Shokoladnica" restaurant on the premises. It serves probably the tastiest chocolate pancakes in Russia that will leave you begging for more. Definitely worthy to check out!

There's also a very nice cafe on the ground floor, right by the fountain. See? Right there, near the lift, in front of the entrance. The waiters are slow at times, but it serves great cappuccino and cheese-cakes. If you've had a busy day, and don't have time to walk around – just have a sit at that comfortable spot, and have some quality time!

I could talk about Moscow Atrium a lot, but I believe you have to see it for yourself. So, hop on the metro train, take a ride to "Kurskaya" – and have a pleasant evening. Oh, and if you like to stay up late – the mall is open till 11PM.

Enjoy!

There’s that joke we have in Russian “he’s so old he remembers Lenin”. Well, Kievskaya doesn’t remember neither Lenin nor Stalin, but she came online right after Nikita Khruschev rose to power. Don’t worry, though – although Stalin was already dead, the station was built strictly according to the old Soviet standards, which mean a lot of space, great design – and artwork.Lots of artwork!

Yes, the station was built with the art in mind – there are many mosaics and fretwork that even the most demanding passenger will like. No wonder, as there originally were more than 40 design projects submitted for the review! This number is truly huge, even by the Soviet scale, so there had to be a good reason for such government attention.Well, in fact there was one.

You see, Nikita Khruschev was born in Ukraine. Despite he was a true Soviet patriot, he never forgot his “minor motherland”, as we call it. In fact, he loved Ukraine so much he was wearing the national shirt called “Kosovorotka” under the suit! It may not be the best outfit for a leader, but Khruschev was known to be a very eccentric man who yet knew very well what he was doing.

Remember his promise to show the West where “Kuzma’s mother” lived? When he was banging his shoe on the table right in the UN? I used to think he was nuts, but now I’m pretty sure all of this was planned in advance. I think he wanted to intimidate, to show the world how unreasonable and bloodthirsty he was. Well, I may be wrong, but back then he succeeded.

Anyways, when Nikita became the Secretary General of the USSR, he thought that Ukrainian contribution to the creation of the Soviet state was not properly captured. In order to solve that problem, he decided to build a whole metro station dedicated to his people’s fight for the better tomorrow.

And so, “Kievskaya” project was started.As I said, there were more than 40 design versions submitted for the review, so the competition was pretty fierce. Eventually the commission managed to find a winner, and it happened to be a Kiev-based team. Protection? Coincidence? Go figure, but personally I think politics were involved in the final decision.

On the other hand, it may be just reasonable to let Ukrainians design something dedicated to Ukraine. After all, who else knows their country better? Who can share the story of Ukrainian participation in the struggle of the Soviet people better than Ukrainians themselves?

So, as I said – comrade Khruschev knew pretty well what he was doing… If you get down to Kievskaya and look at all those mosaics the architects carefully laid out, you will see that Ukrainian theme runs through all of them. Nearly all of them are dedicated to the October Revolution of 1917 and the following civil war.

All those soldiers you’ll see are actually wearing the uniform of those times, and in fact are fighting their own kind! Yes, the civil war was horrible. Brother turned against brother, the entire families were split across the front lines…

Those nice little mosaics may be nice, but there’s a real tragedy pictured on them. If you’ve never thought about it, that’s OK, because frankly – many Russians do not remember that gloomy part of our country’s history. Maybe one day things will change…

On the other hand – whatever dark pages Russian history may have, we still have to know about all of them. Sure, the pictures in Moscow metro built by communists are not the most objective source of information, but they’re still enough to make you ask questions. And make no mistake – Ukrainian people paid a terrible price for making the Soviet revolution happen.

However, even if you put the history lessons aside, there’s much to see in Kievskaya. Those elegant hallways, this broad space that’s enough even for today’s Moscow metro crowds… all of this was planned and built by the Soviet architects who left us a message throughout the years.

See, I like to think about Moscow metro stations as “time bombs” – they were put deep into the ground by our ancestors to form a deep historic bondage between the generations.

These days, we may very well laugh at them. The Communism has fallen, the Soviet leaders of the past are dead – and even USSR itself is no more. In short – our grandpas and grandmas made a whole lot of mistakes that we pay for up until this day.

However, even provided all that, I can’t help but marvel at their legacy. Moscow subway was built by volunteers, and volunteers alone. The Soviet state simply could not afford to pay for those tremendous construction works, and so the people gave it to their country for free.

An economist will say that nothing is free and that the metro has cost Soviet economy this way or another, but you know what? I don’t care about those eggheads. Let them deal with the financial meltdown they caused, and leave the history of my city to me!

The economists will never understand the ideals our grandfathers fought for. They will never understand what a tremendous accomplishment it was for the volunteers to build those marvelous underground palaces. They weren't paid nearly enough for their job, often starved, and yet all they were concerned with was how to donate more to their country.

We don't see that today that often, and you know what? Despite all the bad things, I miss that idealism. Today, when everything has a set price, people mostly care about their own profit. Some say it's good, and it's hard to disagree, but I doubt that we'll ever make the world a better place if we only think in terms of return on investment.

Sure, the USSR was not nearly a paradise, but look at our world now...do you really like what you see? I'd say a little idealism wouldn't hurt, don't you agree?

Alright, alright, I'm done with the preaching We talked enough about the past of Kievskaya, but what about the present? Well, it's no less interesting! First of all, the station links straight to "Kievskiy" rail terminal, one of Moscow's major traffic hubs.

From there, you can easily get to Moscow's southwestern outskirts by riding the electric commuter train ("elektrichka"), or go as far as Ukraine if you wish. "Kievskiy" rail terminal is also used by service taxis as a gathering point, so if you wish to get to, say, "Kuntsevo" district, you can ride one from there.

The square of "Kievskiy" rail terminal (or "Kievskiy vokzal") is nowadays a work of art. I believe it was designed by the French artisans, but in any case it's definitely something to take a look at!

I remember the days when the square was a one big mess of people and cars. Back then, I hated passing through it, as you could easily get yourself run over. Plus, there were huge construction works nearby, which worsened the situation even more. What a huge difference from today!

By the way, those construction works were actually the building of "Evropeiskiy" shopping mall. Once you're done with taking the pictures of Kievskaya and the rail terminal, you absolutely *must* pay it a visit!

Why? Because that's probably the biggest store in Moscow – and easily the most gorgeous one! Ahh, those shops, cafes, cinemas...the stunning design... the choice... In short, "European shopping mall" is the cathedral of consumption, and if you miss some of you country's luxury - this is the answer to your prayers!

Kievskaya Moscow metro station is a place that's definitely worth your time. Take the pictures of mosaics and artwork, breathe the air of Soviet history – and get upstairs to see for yourself how Moscow has changed after the fall of Communism...

...and to have a cup of dellicious coffee in "Evropeiskiy"

By the way, if anyone asks, the answer is "Gavriil Popov". He was the first Moscow mayor from 1991 to middle of 1992. The reason for his quick resignation was simple – he was too inexperienced to deal with city's problems. No wonder, since not many knew how to handle the communist legacy, and frankly – Moscow was a one big bunch of problems back then!

So, right after Popov resigned, Yuri Luzhkov was elected as the city mayor. I think people would be surprised to know that Luzhkov will be around for that long, especially considering the problems he would have to face!

As I said, Moscow was very, very problematic. The Communism was over, but the mere change of economic system didn't solve the old problems. Plus, Moscow was caught completely off-guard by the new times, as its infrastructure was not built for the upcoming overload.

Think for yourself – during USSR times, Moscow was sort of a "restricted area". It meant that you couldn't just move in and settle – you either had to be invited by the government or marry a Muscovite. Then, and only then you would get your "propiska" (registration), and become one of the "elite".

All of that means that Moscow was designed and built to sustain a certain amount of population – about 6 million people at most, plus the Soviet architects planned nothing more than a small, gradual population increase over years. Needless to say, they couldn't even dream about the population boom that happened after the fall of the commies!

Right after the regime fell, hundreds of thousands of people decided to move to Moscow. First of all, because living there was a dream of every Soviet citizen. However, dreams were not the only reason, because life in Moscow provided lots of significant advantages.

Since Moscow has always been a center of everything, Muscovites enjoyed better education, better healthcare, better career opportunities – and even better food, as our capital's shops were always full of things that people from Russian province couldn't even dream about!

The communist regime would solve the problem by imposing restrictions on its citizens, but when Luzhkov rose to power he obviously couldn't do that anymore. Therefore, Moscow mayor had to deal with thousands of new Moscow residents using the infrastructure that was simply not built to handle the load!

Not only that, but Moscow didn't really have backup resources, like territories, electricity and water supply. The Soviet government was so sure of itself it didn't even want to bother with contingency plans. Therefore, Moscow was alway to remain a city with artificially limited amount of population and according infrastructure. Well, times have changed nevertheless, and people who wrote those plans are history now...

In addition to all being said, Moscow was pretty much neglected. Yes yes, despite all the super-centralization the city was not at its best shape when Perestroika came. After all, USSR was suffering from tremendous lack of funds during its latest years, and Moscow was not an exception.

For example, even during the best Soviet times, Moscow ring-road (MKAD) was called "the road of death". Why? Because it was poorly lighted, not properly marked and was too narrow at some points. Needless to say, the amount of accidents was huge even when there weren't that many cars around. However, when Moscow's population grew – MKAD became a living hell...

In addition to road network problems, Moscow metro was not developed enough to take on all the new passengers. However, if the roads can be expanded relatively quickly, adding new lines and stations to Moscow subway is extremely expensive even with modern technologies. However, something had to be done immediately because the metro was facing a full-scale collapse.

Roads were deteriorating, buildings required immediate attention - and don't forget that Moscow is probably the most technologically complex city in the entire Russia, which means there are countless more things the mayor has to worry about.

As you see, Yuri Luzhkov inherited Moscow when it was not at its best shape. People were arriving while city's ability to host them was constantly deteriorating, and there was not nearly enough money to fix all those issues. Plus, Muscovites were quite tired with all the rough times, so they demanded immediate solutions. Well, one thing for sure – Yuri Luzhkov was the man for the job!

When I'm looking at today's Moscow, it's hard for me to believe it's actually the same city that's shown in the old Soviet movies. Now by "old" I don't means 1930's, but movies that were shot at seventies and eighties, pretty recent when you're talking about city's history.

Back in those times, Moscow was big, but that's about it. Not much to look at, to be honest, except for Kremlin and the Red Square. In fact, the city was quite dull, with grayish buildings, roads full of Soviet cars – and a couple of shops here and there that were supposed to serve as Western supermarkets but failed miserably.

However, today's Moscow is a true, Western-like megalopolis, with loads of shopping malls, casinos, office buildings and banks. All of that was achieved during the rule of mayor Yuri Luzhkov. How? The answer is simple – he just did that.

Luzhkov was the one who brought to Moscow all the things people are so used to in the West. Heck, even a shopping mall was very new to us just a decade ago! However, in addition to malls, Luzhkov built casinos, made order in the city's food markets – in short, he gave Moscow a far more civilized looks.

In addition to that, Moscow mayor has also begun extensive road works – he finally fixed MKAD, and added another Moscow ring road called "the Third Ring". Right now, the construction of the Fourth Ring is underway, but it's unclear when it's going to be finished.

Needless to say, all these improvements helped Moscow regain its status as one of the world's capitals, and make sure Muscovites won't have to blush each time their foreign friends come to visit.

Yes, Moscow has changed – thanks to mayor Luzhkov... But – if you think I'm a strong proponent of him – think again, because there are just as many things about him that I don't like.

Luzhkov has unofficial nickname "starik Baturin" ("Old man Baturin"). He earned it because of his wife, Yelena Baturina, who is currently one of Russia's biggest building tycoons. Guess what – most of her projects are located in Moscow, where she always gets the biggest slice of the pie. Hmm, I wonder...

In fact, Yuri Luzhkov's name has been around nearly all biggest corruption scandals in Moscow. Do you remember I spoke about the Fourth Ring Road? Well, guess what – one kilometer of that road costs about the same as one kilometer of The Large Hadron Collider that's located probably a mile beneath the Swiss mountains! Can you imagine that?

We basically suffer huge traffic jams because of the terrible corruption of Moscow authorities. First of all, it takes a lot of time and money to build all those fancy ring roads, and second – they don't really solve anything.

Instead of adding more and more of in-city traffic interchanges, it would be much more efficient to fine-tune the existing road network. However, in that case the corrupt officials will not be able to earn anything, because such fine-tuning is long, tedious and doesn't require huge budgets.

So, it is much better to just add another ring road and a couple of huge traffic junctions that make the situation even worse, and hope for the best. Well, this approach just doesn't work - just like in many other cases.

Luzhkov is also known for his infamous sayings, like when he called the gay pride parade "satanic". I can't say I'm a strong supporter of gay parades, but I think that our mayor really hurts Moscow's reputation with all these phrases, so he'd better watch his language.

But, as another joke goes - "how do you say "Moscow" in English? -Luzhkov-city". I guess for the time being, Moscow is all about Luzhkov, and Luzhkov is all about Moscow, and this isn't going to change in the near future...

As you see, Yuri Luzhkov is an extremely controversial person. He's done a lot for Moscow, but he's also got too much "stains" on the reputation. I would say that right now these stains outweigh his good deeds. What does it mean?

...you do the math!

Sometimes I like to fantasize about how Moscow would look like if the architects would take the early metro style and apply it to the entire city. In fact, there are several buildings that look exactly like this, we call them “the Seven Sisters”. If you want to check it out – get to Arbat, and have a look at Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.

This is how Moscow was supposed to be built if Stalin lived a little longer. Remember all those old movies about the future? Well, Moscow would look like that exactly. Huge buildings, railways that connect them – add to that a couple of zeppelins, and you’ll get the picture.

In short, you can call this style "imperial" – kind of like the one you'd see in London. All those buildings have one main purpose – to make you feel small and insignificant and to underline the importance of the State over a regular man.

After all, USSR planned to become an empire – there are no doubts about that. In fact, Russia has always been an empire, and Stalin only wanted to restore that status. I think this man truly believed that USSR will rule over the world one day, and that Moscow will be a global capital of victorious Communism.

According to that plan, Moscow metro was to become the first milestone in the transformation. Its magnificent stations would remind Muscovites that they are living in the most powerful and richest country in the world. Since nearly all of Moscow population uses metro, people would undergo this little propaganda session for at least couple of times daily.

Some say that Russians are still suffering from post-Imperial syndrome, trying to act as if the USSR is still there. There are lots of explanations to that, but I think they should literally "dig deeper", and seek the answers to our strange behavior in the architecture of Moscow metro stations.

Even today, when USSR is long gone, people continue to be bombarded with the symbols of the Soviet past. I believe that all the artwork people see in subway actually implants the idea that they're still living in an empire that spans for 1/6 of the world's landmass. Sounds reasonable, I think.

If my theory is right, Kurskaya is one of the focal points of that system. It was one of the first Moscow metro stations around, and the designers did all they could to make the people feel proud for their country. Huge spaces, artworks and mosaics, quotes from Stalin – even if you're a 100% anti-communist like me, you can't help feeling proud for the Soviet achievements!

Kurskaya metro station was supposed to be a part of a larger ring line. Back then, the architects planned to build two of those. One was actually finished, and that's the good old "Kolcevaya" you well know, while another, smaller line that would connect the stations under Moscow boulevard ring remained only on paper. It's hard to say why the construction works were never started, but I guess the main reason was the War.

It's really a pity, because even though the central stations are well interconnected, I feel that the smaller ring would help us save quite a lot of time every day. Well, as they say – tough luck!

It's always easy to speculate, but I guess that if the War had not started, our metro would be much bigger, with nearly all of its stations built in early-Soviet style. But – since we can't change the history, we'll enjoy whatever there is.

Just look at the pictures. With all the ornaments and pictures on the ceiling, Kurskaya looks more like a palace than a metro station!

Once you get off the train, you'll be amazed by what the station has got to offer. Indeed, if Moscow metro was supposed to be a nuclear shelter one day, then people would at least live in beautiful surroundings. Can't say I would be really happy, but still, still...

By the way, did you know that entire Moscow metro was supposed to be a giant nuclear shelter? All of the older stations lie deep enough to sustain a nuclear blast, so you're pretty safe when you're riding those trains

However, even if you don't consider World War 3, it's still much better to go to work every day seeing all those paintings than to look at faceless, grey walls and passages!

Unfortunately, lots of newer subway stations have virtually no design at all – thanks to budget cuts after Stalin death. Their mere purpose is to absorb people waiting for trains, and to let out those who has arrived. Period.

You may not get it now, but trust me, once you've traveled from Kurskaya to, say, "Vodniy Stadion" – the difference will strike you! After all, there aren't that many things to see when you're underground, and that's why I'm a strong proponent of the old approach – but only in station design, of course!

Psychology means an awful lot down there, by the way. When you’re walking at the broad daylight, you don’t care that much about how the street looks or what signs are written around. However, when underground, you begin to care a lot about the most insignificant details!

For example, a research conducted by psychologists discovered that “No exit” signs can actually cause depression among Moscow metro passengers. People see them a lot, and their subconscious actually accepts that as a default psychological “modus operandi”. So, in order to minimize that impact, it was decided to put all kinds of posters that would improve people’s mood.

You will see many of them around – they mostly consist of pictures of flowers and life-asserting quotes. However, if look careful enough, you will see a poster with a smiling young woman in metro uniform, saying “There is an exit!”

I don’t know if there’s any real value to that, but one thing is for certain – it does improve *my* mood very well!

By the way, Kurskaya was renewed recently. Yes, no matter how beautiful the station is, the truth is it was slightly neglected due to lack of budget at Perestroika period. The colors slightly dimmed, the mosaics weren’t in a very good shape…in short, there had to be a major cleanup. And finally – it came!

In fact, the renewal was so thorough it brought up a scandal. You see, the architects wanted to restore the looks of the 1938 design to the finest detail, and that included quotes from old Soviet hymn that praised Stalin.

So, the quote was put in place, but that caused a major uproar among famous human rights defenders. They claimed that praising Stalin in a country that suffered so much from the Stalinist regime is like praising Hitler in Germany. Can’t say I disagree with that!

Finally, the quote was removed and the things got much calmer. People can now enjoy the old décor without seeing too much resemblance with the Soviet past, and I must that if you put Stalin’s name aside –the renewed design is well worth seeing…

By the way, don’t just go to Kurskaya to take pictures of the station itself! There’s a great place above where you can easily spend the entire day – and have a lot of fun. I’m talking about “Atrium” shopping mall, with loads of fast-food restaurants, cafés, shops and even a very decent cinema! This place rocks, and if you have a couple of free hours – why don’t you spend them there?

After all, travelling in Moscow metro can be quite exhausting, so if you feel you need a rest – “Atrium” is open 24x7! You can even buy supplies there, in “Sed’moy Continent” supermarket that’s located at the ground floor, and if you have a couple of dollars to spend – there’s a casino as well. In short, “Atrium” is definitely worth visiting, so you’d better allocate some time to it as well.

See you on Kurskaya!

We couldn’t even dream about getting on international flight then. Common Russian folks like my mom and dad could neither afford the ticket – nor get all the permissions. Did you know we had a thing called “departure visa”?

It was basically a permit to leave the country of victorious Communism (that’s how Soviet Union was called in the newspapers) for the sake of distant, foreign lands. In fact, one had to get this visa even to visit other Communist countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia or Estonia.

There was a whole procedure to get it – first, you had to have a really good reason, like if you were a famous scientist attending international symposium. Second, you had to go through thorough checks by the KGB before you were granted the permit, so now you get the idea how unreliable we were in the eyes of the state. Needless to say, some of your close relatives had to stay in USSR as hostages in case you were planning to defect.

Phew. Let’s just say I’m glad those times are gone…

Anyways, Sheremetyevo airport was designed to look like a modern, futuristic building that would differ drastically from the general Soviet architecture. Well, maybe it was – but frankly it’s not much right now.

Yes, times have changed. The old idols have fallen, and this days Sheremetyevo 2 airport doesn’t look that well compared to, say, Domodedovo. It’s sure is big, but it’s also really outdated, both in terms of design and comfort. Plus, the place is heavily overloaded, and often it’s really hard to find a place to sit, which is a pain if your flight was delayed for a couple of hours.

Frankly, I don’t understand why it's such a big problem to add a couple more benches – there’s enough space for sure. I guess the management doesn’t care that much when there are so many commercial stands you can squeeze in!

Another lack of Sheremetyevo airport is absence of decent parking. Unlike in Domodedovo, where parking lots are always a plenty, Sheremetyevo parking is not that well-organized. However, despite its low quality, the parking will still cost you – and that, frankly, is outrageous.

Yeah, yeah, I know that Sheremetyevo official site tells you about multiple parking spots around the airport, but in reality you will park a mile away and will have to walk through dirt, snow and car jams for quite a while. Plus,if you're carrying a couple of heavy bags, well...you get the idea!

Even if you only have to drop someone off, or if you know for sure the person is already waiting at the exit – the process is going to be painful. As I said before, Sheremetyevo airport was not built to handle lots of cars and people – and that's exactly what it's going through now.

Once you approach the terminal entrance, you will be stuck in a one big mess of cars and people. I'm not trying to say it's impossible to make your way there at all, but be ready for a tough ride.

Again, if you're picking someone up right from the terminal – make sure the person is waiting for you already. Otherwise you will get stuck in a narrow passage with dozens of enraged Moscow drivers on your tail. The thing is you almost won't have a chance to park aside and let the other cars through, so you will either have to delay everyone for a moment – or just go with the flow.

Thanks God there's another solution now that's called "AeroExpress". These are nice, comfortable trains that run between the airport and "Belorussky" train station every 30-40 minutes. This idea was adopted from "Domodedovo" airport that was the first to introduce such service, and boy was it missed in Sheremetyevo!

Before, you could only get to Sheremetyevo airport by car (and get into all the parking and driving mess), or you had to ride a terribly uncomfortable bus all the way from "Aeroport" metro station.

Now, all you have to do is get to "Belorussky", buy a ticket – and enjoy the ride! Plus, you can even check in your luggage before you get on the train, and we all know what a big pain the bags can be! Once you've got rid of them, you can enjoy all the duty free shops you can find (although there aren't that many in the airport).

I wouldn't advise you to shop there, because the prices are through the roof. You should only shop in Sheremetyevo airport duty free when you didn't have the chance to buy gifts in Moscow, otherwise you'll just waste money.

By the way, did you know that Russian goods in duty free stores are actually MORE expensive than in Moscow? It seems really weird, but the thing is – since the goods had to pass customs, additional fees are applied. Technically, you're buying exported stuff, but the whole thing still doesn't seem right. Is it the same in your country as well?

However, even if you aren't planning to buy anything and just want a cup of coffee, get ready to pay a lot! I remember a couple of years ago me and my wife were flying through SVO and were too hungry to wait for the lunch on board. So, we sat down at some cafe.

We only ordered a tea, a coffee and a couple of small sandwiches. Guess what – the entire thing cost us around 1,000 rubles! For that money, we could've ordered four times more if we were in Moscow – and note that when the entire thing happened, the prices weren't as high as they are today!

Speaking of airport cafes, here comes another invaluable piece of advice. When in Sheremetyevo, avoid using your credit card to pay for anything, especially in restaurants. I've heard several stories of people credit card numbers being stolen, and the traces always led to the airport. Note there aren't such stories about, say, Domodedovo. Think for yourself...

OK, so I guess you've heard enough about Sheremetyevo. Bad service, too many people – not a very nice place to visit. Recently, however, there was a slight improvement, as a new "Terminal C" was opened that we unofficially call "Sheremetyevo 3". Well, as they say in the movies – "now we're talkin'!"

Terminal C is much more comfortable than the old Sheremetyevo 2. Built by the latest standards, it's well-equipped to deal with large amounts of people and luggage. Or is it?

People usually have mixed feelings. Sure, the terminal is clean and tidy, but on the other hand you can easily wait there for many hours if you're on the charter flight. Not long after the terminal was opened, people reported not being able to get their luggage fast, not being able to use the elevators – and many others "not being able to...".

The situation improved recently, but it's still far from perfect. For example, lack of good conditioning can easily bring the temperature inside up to 30 degrees in Summer. Plus, despite all the new shops and boutiques around, the prices are still way too high. Again – avoid using your credit card there, because you'll probably be dealing with the same staff.

In my opinion, you should choose Domodedovo if you can. Sheremetyevo airport is problematic, and if you add to that its ongoing conflict with "Aeroflot" personnel that's far from being over, well...

...you do the math.

You see, before Domodedovo, every Moscow (and Russian) airport was basically a mess. Built in Soviet times, they were not accommodated to handle lots of international flights, plus passengers comfort was the last thing considered by their architects.

Sure, we heard of some renewal going on in the airport, but we didn't really believe things were going to change - and we were soooo wrong!

I remember we couldn't believe our eyes when we got there, because instead of a half-ruined runway with a couple of threadbare Soviet buildings we were looking at a modern, European airport!

The similarity grew even stronger when we got inside - now we couldn't tell for sure if we still were in Moscow - or have already arrived at our destination! It was really hard to grasp that such places can exist in Russia, because all the fancy Moscow shopping malls were yet to come. Boy did we enjoy ourselves back then!

Moscow airport Domodedovo grew bigger ever since. Every time I was paying it a visit, I saw new buildings added and old structures improved. In fact, I have an impression the building just never stops there - and that one day Domodedovo will simply cover the entire Moscow!

I'm joking, of course, but seriously - this place constantly evolves, just like Moscow itself. In some way, it can even serve as a symbol of our city - deeply "Soviet" in the past - and thriving these days. Jeez, I might just as well become a poet, don't you think?

Anyways, if you ask me which airport to choose - I would advise DVO. I know that since then all of Moscow airports underwent reconstruction, but I guess the sweet memories will always make me prefer Domodedovo airport. However, it may not be only memories, because I would say that the airport outruns its competition in nearly everything.

It's got better parking, more shops, more *working* passport control booths - and overall better infrastructure. This may be due to the fact that Domodedovo is privately owned, while other airports more or less belong to the state.

If you ask me, Domodedovo should always be your number one choice. Of course, you don't always have the opportunity to pick your airport of arrival, but you'll be surprised to know how often you're able to. However, apart from my general sympathy for the airport, there are some other reasons to make that choice.

First of all, Moscow airport Domodedovo has a very neat and spacious parking. You will be sure to find a spot when you drop off or pick up your friends in the airport. The parking isn’t free, of course, but the rates are more than acceptable.

Unfortunately, since the airport is constantly being expanded, you can expect to get stuck in a little jam before you’re able to enter the parking area, but that’s nothing serious. Plus, there’s no need to enter the parking if you only need to drop someone off – just stop by the entrance, and wave your friends goodbye. Jeez, that sounded evil!

When you need to pick someone up, there’s another trick that’ll help you save the parking costs, especially if your flight is delayed. Instead of going to the airport and paying for a couple of parking hours, you can wait at the side of the road. Yes, yes, not long before you approach Domodedovo, you’ll see a long line of cars passing their time on the wayside.

I must warn you though that recently the airport authorities have been trying to force all the “waiters” to use the airport parking area instead. What they do is send over a snow cleaning vehicle (the one that has yellow signal lights on the roof and kinda looks like police) to put some pressure on you.

Don’t be afraid - they can’t really do anything, it’s only a matter of psychology. When a big truck with signal lights stands right behind you and begins to horn – the first thing you’ll want is just to get out of here. However, if you just ignore them – you will see that in a couple of minutes they will leave you alone.

By the way, if you’re coming to Russia and don’t have anyone to pick you up, you can use airport’s official taxi service. The rates are quite low, and you can rest assured you won’t get charged a triple price for a trip to the city. Take my advice – ignore all those guys offering you a ride right in the arrival hall, they are no good!

If I you don’t want to mess with all the driving and parking (and sometimes Moscow roads can be really exhausting) – there’s another great way to get into airport, namely – “AeroExpress” trains.

“AeroExpress” are basically trains that go between Moscow airport Domodedovo and “Paveletsky” train depot about every 40-50 minutes. All you need to do is get to “Paveletsky” either by car or by metro (although by car is better), buy a ticket – et voila, in 40 minutes you’ll be in Domodedovo. No traffic jams, no plans ruined – everything works like a charm.

Before you get on the train, you can even check in your luggage! Instead of dragging all the heavy bags around, you’ll arrive at the airport carrying only your handbag, and be sure to see the rest of your stuff only after you land.

And that means more opportunities to enjoy yourself!

Speaking of which, Domodedovo has gathered probably all the things Moscow can offer! Seriously, you’ll be amazed to see how many duty-free shops there are! You’ll be able to buy pretty much everything, apart from cars and yachts, and that’s only because they are too big to fit inside.

Perfume, jewelry, watches, chocolate, spirits both from Russia and abroad (including the most exotic places) – everything is offered to you for very decent prices. Fan of reading? There’re a couple of places you can buy the latest English books, magazines – and even newspapers. Sure, you’re probably used to that, but keep in mind you wouldn’t have all that service just several years ago.

Hungry? There’re several restaurants and even an Irish pub, where you can grab yourself a free copy of “The Moscow times” – a great English-language newspaper that’s all about Moscow and Russia.

Walked through all the shops? Seen everything? Alright, enough is enough I guess. Just be seated near your gate, and watch those comfortable information screens. Once your plane is ready, you’ll immediately see an according message.

About to board? A little patience and you’ll be taken straight to the plane through the air bridge, without having to get squeezed in those horrible buses. Just show the nice lady your ticket – and you’re ready to go.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say that Moscow airport Domodedovo is heaven on Earth. Sure it’s got small problems here and there, but overall this airport is still the best one in Moscow – or at least that’s what I believe.

Don’t get disappointed if something was not quite as you expected. Remember, Domodedovo is constantly improving, and judging by the progress it’s made in just several years – soon you’ll be saying that JFK and Heathrow are nothing compared to Moscow airports