Russia is one of the most expensive places that we’re visiting during our trip; a decade of rising commodity prices has benefited the large exporter. Although a pullback in the ruble’s valuation versus the US dollar has helped things for American visitors, we still had to be careful of our spending here. Excluding our visa costs, […]
Strolling Through Time in St. Petersburg
As sad as we were to leave Moscow, we were pumped for the four nights in St. Petersburg—the cultural capital of Russia—we had ahead of us. And with a spontaneous business class upgrade on S7 Airlines (we ended up taking a quick flight rather than the train between the two cities) and free champagne and […]
Moscow’s Streets and Eats
Outside of our time exploring the Kremlin and the metro system, Chris and I spent a lot of time in Moscow doing our two favorite things: walking the streets and trying the local fare. We had been expecting harsh, Soviet-era buildings before arriving in Moscow, but what we found was elegant European architecture. Grand buildings, […]
Moscow’s Magnificent Metro
Moscow’s metro was a sharp departure from the state-of-the-art subway systems we saw in Asia. The metro is celebrating it’s 80th birthday this year, and it looks like it hasn’t changed much in the interim. I mean that in a good way, actually. The stations are ornate, and many tracks still run the turquoise trains that […]
Marveling in Moscow
Most American travelers–especially of the backpacker variety–do not go to Russia. It’s hard to get into. It can be expensive. U.S./Russian relations are on the rocks. Few people speak English. And so on. Needless to say I was skeptical when Chris insisted that Russia be our first destination as we transitioned from Southeast Asia to Europe. Man, […]