Moscow, Russia – Contrary to what you might think, Moscow is an amazing food city. Its cosmopolitan character is reflected in its restaurants, which run the gamut from cheap Lebanese street food to gourmet French fare. When in Moscow, we…
Moscow Zoo
Moscow, Russia – The Moscow Zoo is celebrating its 150th anniversary. In honor of this event, the entire zoo is pod remont, or “under renovation.” Okay, I’m exaggerating. Three-quarters of the zoo is under renovation. There’s nothing like spending a…
Back in the USSR
Moscow, Russia – I keep insisting on taking the family on outings to Red Square–not for fun, but for photo sessions. I mean, we can’t come all the way to Moscow without taking pictures in front of St Basil’s Cathedral.…
Circus: Moscow vs New York (Part 2)
Moscow, Russia – The day of reckoning has arrived. One month after our annual visit to the Big Apple Circus, I dragged the family out to the Moscow circus to see how it measures up. There are actually two highly…
Gorky Park
Moscow, Russia – Can I just say that you never used to be able to do this in Russia? Sure, there were fountains, but they were often turned off. And even if they were on, you certainly couldn’t splash around…
Kuklachev Cat Theater
Moscow, Russia – I admit it… the world’s only cat theater is located right here in Moscow and it has taken me more than a decade to go and see it. I realize this raises all kinds of questions about…
Victory Day
Moscow, Russia – Victory Day is the celebration of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in WWII. As in other parts of Europe–and unlike the US–Russia has living memories of this war, which saw Leningrad under siege for nearly 900…
Airbnb
Moscow, Russia – This year we have become regular users of Airbnb, a website that allows travelers to rent a room (or an apartment or a house) directly from a private individual–bypassing agencies and avoiding hotels. It was set up…
Airplanes, Babies & the Kindness of Strangers
Moscow, Russia – The last time we flew to Moscow, the twins were just shy of one year old. I carefully planned our itinerary so we would have a long overnight trip, direct from New York to Moscow with no…