Filed under: Moscow
The first thing I did when I arrived at Paveletskaya station on Saturday morning was buy a Metro card with twenty rides on it. It was only my second purchase in Russia and it went rather smoothly. I said dvatsat beelyet (twenty ticket) and the woman wrote on the paper that it would cost me 250 roubles. I’ve been told since that it was the beelyet bit that gave me away as a tourist. A local would have just said ‘Twenty.’
It’s probably been the best thing I’ve bought in Moscow. Not only is it cheap – a ride any where on the system cost me 12.5 roubles (that’s 20p) – it’s convenient and a constant source of entertainment. So far I’ve been stared down by a Babushka who was convinced I was a terrorist, watched a demonstration for a stain removal product go horribly wrong and given my seat up to a war veteran wearing so many medals he was in danger of toppling over.
The Metro stations themselves are also amazing. Most are decked out in marble, fitted with chandeliers and covered in art work celebrating the glories of the revolution. I’ve posted a few of my favourite photos below.
They certainly make the crappy mosaics in the floor tiles at Town Hall in Sydney look pretty lame in comparison.
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Fantastic pics Peter!
Comment by Nick May 11, 2007 @ 4:56 pmAnd not a grotty advert for JDs or insurance in sight. Certainly puts the Tube into perspective.
I’m a massive fan of the Moscow metro myself… I can’t think what all the Muscovites thought when at every station I would pull out my camera!
St Pete’s is great too, the advantage that you get to go even further below ground before getting there (it’s one of the deepest in the world)
Comment by Claire May 16, 2007 @ 6:31 pmHey Claire - I had the same thing. Got a few weird looks but only at the stations that were a bit further out. I thought I might get hassled by one of the babushkas in the booths at the bottom of the escalators. They had a bank of TVs with CCTV feeds from the platforms but the couldn’t care less.
Comment by Peter May 16, 2007 @ 7:03 pm