The best time to visit the Russian capital is the winter when deep snows carpet its streets, facades shimmer like marzipan and there are starry, starry nights, writes Lorraine Courtney
EVERY CITY has its season; Moscow’s is winter. Deep snows carpet its streets, facades shimmer like marzipan and there are starry, starry nights. If you haven’t had a bellyful of festivities at our Christmas, you can have a second helping of pudding as Christmas Day falls on January 7th in the Russian Orthodox calendar and the “Old New Year” (as it was before the 1918 calendar reforms) is still celebrated on January 14th.
Post Communism, Christmas has experienced a major comeback. The religious go to church, everyone else enjoys a day off and unwed girls throw boots over their shoulder since where the footwear lands will indicate where their future husband is. There are also a couple of winter festivals in the city's parks, complete with horse-drawn sleigh rides and performing bears. Temperatures might hover around -15 degrees but it's all very Zhivago.
Few cities have sloughed off as much leaden history as Moscow has to reinvent herself. Just two decades ago, the Soviet Union was drawing its final breath. An anaemic rouble and erratic Yeltsin dominated the rickety new world. But now, after a fast and furious transition, the Soviet-era edifices have been purged of their pasts and Moscow is home to 30-odd billionaires. Pockets of the past still linger though. Beat-up Ladas manoeuvre the gridlocked streets and stooped babushkas peddle wares on street corners.
The architectural magnificence, built on the brutality of so many tsars, smugly poke through Moscow’s skyline like the ghosts that they are. The Kremlin’s brick walls date from the late 1400s and inside there are glitzy Fabergé eggs, an ermine-draped throne and Yeltsin’s vulgar additions. Lenin lies pickled in his oversize shoebox: the leftover icon of a vanished empire.
Each glittering dome of St Basil’s signifies a battle in Ivan’s triumphant war against the khan of Kazan. The Tretyakov Gallery is crammed with medieval icons, mosaics and sculptures amassed by a parade of emperors. Over at the Pushkin Museum the legendary Treasure of Troy artifacts from the Mycenaean period were taken from the Nazis in 1945 as part of the unofficial spoils of war.
THE METRO is a brilliant if bizarre museum of Soviet realism with statues and murals of dedicated workers, solemn soldiers and voluptuous milkmaids. For another blast from the Soviet past, visit the moody sculpture park of Art Muzeon. It began as a collection of Stalins, Lenins and Brezhnevs toppled from their pedestals post-1991 and now is an extraordinary outdoor museum with some contemporary additions to the motley crew.
Moscow's street food is delicious and ridiculously cheap so try some pirozhkion the hoof. They're tasty pies stuffed with meats and veg sold by babushkas in pinnies out of large metal containers. Or check out the filled-potato purveying carts called Kroshka Kartoshka which translates as "Pretty Little Potato". Wash it all down with a refreshing kvass: a sweet fermented black-bread drink or a can of pre-mixed screwdriver.
Just like elsewhere, boom times ensured that former industrial spaces were transformed into cutting-edge galleries. The striking 19th-century, redbrick industrial silhouette of the Red October chocolate factory has been converted into art and photo galleries. Winzavod is another good option if you’re suffering from icon-fatigue. It specialises in 20th century Russian avant-garde works.
Igor Markin, a businessman who amassed a fortune selling fridges, opened his own substantial collection of postwar Soviet and Russian art to the public: Art4.ru. The collection ranges from ultra modern Ilya Kabakov installations to paintings by Soviet non-conformists like Erik Bulatov.
If you only make one literary pilgrimage, make it the notorious opening of The Master and Margaritaset in the chestnut-tree lined Patriarch's Ponds. Nearby, the unquestioned mecca of the Bulgakov-obsessed is house No 10 on the Garden Ring. On the top floor is an apartment that Bulgakov inhabited briefly and immortalised as the "unlucky apartment" in his masterpiece.
The walls have become canvases to illustrate scenes from the novel. Large black cats alternate with Christ-like figures; naked women astride flying hogs ride through the stairwell’s permanent night. Inside, an exhibit shares the apartment with the Bulgakov Foundation.
Next, head for quirky Café Margarita where the decor was inspired by the novel. It was Moscow’s very first cooperative cafe and a lovely spot to sip home-made cherry vareniki. Trams, such as the one that decapitates Mikhail Berlioz in Bulgakov’s tale, no longer run along Yermolaevsky Pereulok, but you can hop on a trolleybus along the Garden Ring. It’s a good way to see some Soviet baroque in the seven ephemeral wedding-cake towers commissioned by Stalin in the 1940s.
The new Moscow is retail overkill. There are plenty of bling temptations in GUM on Red Square for apparel and Yeliseyevsky Magazin near the Bolshoi where you shop for foodie treats amid marble, gilt and glittering chandeliers. If your wallet can stretch, the couture houses of Valentin Yudashkin and Denis Simachev offer gorgeous Russian designs.
Tverskaya Ulitsa is Moscow’s Oxford Street where high street familiars jostle with luxury brands and shops with a more local flavour. The flea market, Izmailovo Vernisazh, is a must for kitsch souvenirs and the museums’ shops are a good bet for more upmarket gifts such as little palekh boxes, Russian icons and amber jewellery.
Moscow has a whopping 85 fur shops. So if you don't mind angering the PETA people there's loads of opportunities to pick up an inexpensive fur number à la Zhivago's Lara.
RUSSIAN FOOD used to be mean gristly beef, watery cabbage and borscht. But the latest revolution is a culinary one and Moscow is swarming with international chefs. There are Mongolian stir-fries, classical French cuisine, Asian fusion and sushi galore. There are also plenty of wonderful reinterpretations of Russian classics to be had. Traditional zakuski – a prelude to every meal – remain a delight. You can expect yummy morsels of breads and pastries, filled with meat and fish before being deep-fried, jellied carp, hefty Russian salads, gleaming slices of smoked sturgeon and mounds of violet caviar. Uzbek and central Asian dishes are a specialty at Sherbet on Sretenka Ulitsa. The portions are generous and mains cost about €8.
Café Pushkin on Tverskoy Bulvar is an absolute must if only for the pre-revolutionary feel of its pale-blue dining room and fawning waiters. If you can’t afford their exorbitant dinner prices then at least stop by for a Russian tea with something sweet from their cabinets of intricate cakes.
After dark, it’s time to whoop it up, although things have calmed down somewhat from the delirious nights of the New Russian heyday. There is, naturally, a bewildering array of vodkas to sip your way through. Drink them super cold and wait for the ice to turn to fire in your throat. Just one more reason why you must go to Moscow.
Where to stay, eat and go in Moscow
5 places to stay
1. Golden Apple Hotel. Ulitsa Malaya Dmitrovka Dom 11, 00-7-495-980-7000, goldenapple.ru. Chekhov was a one-time guest here, but he wouldn’t recognise it today after its hi-tech, Phillippe Starck-style makeover. Rooms from €280.
2. Park Hyatt. Ulitsa Neglinnaya 4, 00-7-495-783-1234, moscow.park.hyatt.com. Some of the 216 beige-on-white rooms with Armenian ethnic flourishes have Kremlin views. And since it’s Moscow 2010, there’s the mandatory sushi bar. Rooms start at €800.
3. Hotel Sretenskaya. Ulitsa Sretenskaya Dom 15, 00-7-495-933-5544, hotel-sretenskaya.ru. Boutique hotel themed like a Russian fairytale. The lobby bar has an exquisite winter garden. Rooms from €250.
4. Hotel Izmailovo. Izmailovsky Highway 71, hotelizmailovo.ru. Comfy doubles in a massive complex of interlinked hotels offer excellent value amid Moscow’s high prices. Doubles from €70.
5. Godzillas Hostel. Bolshoi Karetnyy 6, 00-7-495-699-4223, godzillashostel.com. It is set in pre-revolutionary premises and is a cheap but cosy option. Private doubles from €40.
5 places to eat
1. Café Margarita. Ulitsa Malaya Bronnaya 28, 00-7-495-699-6534, cafe-margarita.ru. Pretty literary coffee shop that attracts a bookish clientele. Evenings are lively too, with a folk or jazz soundtrack.
2. Café Pushkin. Tverskoy Bulvar 26A, 00-7-495-739-0033, cafe-pushkin.ru. Buzzes 24/7. Its pre-revolutionary decor complete with shelves of old books will make you feel like a character in a Russian novel. The menu is traditional fare.
3. Jagannath. Kuznetsky Most 11, 00-7-495-628-3580. A veggie gem where you can refuel on Georgian cheese bread or super fresh salads.
4. Sherbet. Ulitsa Petrovka 15, 00-7-495-628-1597. This is a sweet-scented reminder that Russia straddles two continents with its delish Uzbek specialities.
5. Varvary (Barbarians). Strastnoi Bulvar 8A, 00-7-495-229-2800, anatolykomm.ru. The interior is a mix of a louche nightclub and a black-lacquer jewellery box, and the food is sci-fi interpretations of classic dishes.
5 places to go
1. Red Square is possibly the most famous square in the world. Here, tsars wed, executions were performed and a fair few missiles rumbled. Today’s square is more a crazy clash of comedy and commerce.
2. State Tretyakov Gallery. Lavrushinsky Pereulok 12, 00-7-495-953-5223. In 1882, private collector Pavel Tretyakov created this gallery by presciently bequeathing his collection to the state. It contains more than 130,000 works of painting, sculpture and graphics.
3. A company called Vodnoe Taxi (Water Taxi) offers boats for private tours. 00-7-495-542-7882. It’s a more stress-free form of sightseeing and offers tantalising views of Russia’s capital.
4. Sandunovskiye Bani. Ulitsa Neglinnaya Dom 14, 00-7-495-625-4631. Russians are passionate about their steam baths and believe them to be a cure for every ailment. These 19th-century baths are a good place to experience an authentic one.
5. Art4.ru. Khlynovsky Tupik Dom 4, 00-7-495-660-1158. Igor Markin, an admirer of Pavel Tretyakov’s approach to collecting Russian art, opened his own sizeable collection of postwar Soviet and Russian art here. DJ parties are held in the evening.
Hot spot
The Bolshoi. Teatral’naya Ploschad 1, 00-7-499-250-73-17, bolshoi.ru. It always provides an enchanting ballet experience. Later on, hit Club XIII. Ulitsa Myasnitskaya Dom 13, 00-7-495-628-4747. You’ll find Moscow’s beautiful people and pricey cocktails.
Shop spot
GUM. Red Square, 00-7-495-788-4343.The one-time central Soviet store is now run by luxury importer Mikhail Kusnirovich. Browse through Armani, Cartier, Hermès and other assorted bling. Then head to Izmailovo, Izmailovskoye Shosse, a flea/ souvenir market where you can pick up Soviet medals, Turkmen carpets and lacquer boxes.
Go there
BMI (flybmi.com) flies from Dublin to Moscow via Heathrow. Lufthansa (lufthansa.com) flies from Dublin via Frankfurt.
Aeroflot (aeroflot.co.uk) flies from London Heathrow.