Like it or not, McDonalds and Russia have a long history. The American fast food chain actually opened its first restaurant in Moscow a couple of years before Russia was even an independent country. Here you can read the full story of McUSSR – The first McDonald’s in the Soviet Union. Nowadays there are about... Continue Reading →
Russia can undoubtedly be a wonderfully inexpensive holiday destination (see also my previous post on the price of medicine in Russia). The country's largest cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg in particular, offer a huge choice in prices for lodging and eating. For hotels it might be sometimes less than advisable to choose the cheapest option... Continue Reading →
Tea is the national beverage of Russia (ok, vodka, as well...) and tea is an important part of Russian culture, to the point that some Russian language expressions are closely tied to the hot drink. "Let's drink some tea", for instance, is a classic way of saying "we should talk..." or even, depending on the... Continue Reading →
Those of you who are most versed in Russian culture have probably recognized a little "play on words" with the Russian ptichye moloko (птичье молоко), the name of a popular candy (more on that below). Albeit not about the famous sweet, this post is also about a very heartfelt national tradition: that of feeding the birds during... Continue Reading →
So, it would seem that Russian pizza chains don't watch Dr. Sheldon Cooper's "Fun with flags" (from the TV sitcom The Big Bang Theory), but they should. Let me tell you how I came to that conclusion. A little while ago I was taking some pictures (no surprise there) around Moscow's Kremlin and the Red... Continue Reading →
Just a couple of hundred meters from the Tulskaya station of the Moscow Metro, basically where the Third Ring Road crosses the Moskva river, you can find a pretty unique place where to eat and do a little food shopping: Danilovsky market. In the past, this used to be one of Moscow's largest and most... Continue Reading →
After a 150-year-long history as a glass factory, in 2009 the complex of industrial buildings in Bolshaya Novodmitrovskaya Street in Moscow were repurposed to become a colourful urban space dedicated to the more creative ends of the business spectrum. One part of the former-factory area functions as office space for media groups, PR agencies, design bureaus, art... Continue Reading →
I have wanted to write about this for a while, but for a long time I didn't know whether finding caviar in a fast food was more of a culture shock (it certainly was!) or a travel tip (certainly worth following!). In the end I decided it was definitely both and so I put this... Continue Reading →
In a post I published a while ago about Europe's largest mall (Shopping "to dive for" in Moscow), I wrote as a travel tip that: "it is important to note that oftentimes in these malls you can also find very good, fashionable and elegant restaurant". Today I want to expand on that (as previously promised... Continue Reading →
Russia Through The Lens 