5 Reasons to Walk along Old Arbat Street in Moscow!

by Liudmila
(Chishinev, Republic of Moldova)

Original Text: 5 Reasons to Walk along Old Arbat Street in Moscow!

Arbat is an old street in the center of Moscow. To immerse into special atmosphere of olden times simply walk along lanes on calm weekday to communicate with people and know more about average people and Russian way of life and traditions.

People are open and friendly here .They will willingly tell you how to get to the nearest café , museum or hotel. It is kind of the Moscow Monmartr where you can order your portrait or purchase good painting. To feel more comfortable just learn Russian common phrases.
Old Arbat houses are amazing! If you love history and architecture you will discover many former aristocrats mansions with whimsical décor of baroque elements. For decidedly different picture of Moscow walk to the western end of the Arbat Street to see the imposing towers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building .
One of Stalin’s so called Seven Sisters, it has all the charm with which you associate Soviet Russia..As for me, I just enjoyed strolling through the old cobbled streets of Arbat.
But very special issue is coffee-bars of the old Arbat Street. If you got hungry visit one of them . I loved House № 9 basement. Stylish interior, refined menu, polite barmen.
I do recommend you to try delicious mushroom soup ( pohlyobka) cooked of white mushrooms or soufflé made of soodak ( kind of pike) with sauce and specific Russian seasonings – gorchitsa ( mustard) or spicy horse-radish.
If you are sweet tooth , order blinchiki (pan-cakes) with apple or ice-cream with caramel. And be sure to have a cup of ginger tea with home-made varenye ( jam).Only imagine that a few decades ago famous Russian poets Sergey Yesenin and Vladimir Mayakovski were frequent visitors of this old Arbat street café! It’s incredible!
If you are lucky, you may even watch the process of film shooting here. Once I was very surprised to discover in one of the lanes an old carriage with horses, some riders and a crowd of people dressed up in clothes of 19 century. I thought that I appeared in another epoch! In a minute I recognized that it was historical film shooting. I got unforgettable impressions!
If you feel nostalgia of your native place you may visit grill-bar Dyadya Sem- ( Uncle Sam).You will immerse into real atmosphere of American clubs of the 50-s. Order Russian, American or Mexican dishes, listen to music and relax! What anything needs a cowboy who feels tired and lost in the city jungles?
So, there are many reasons that few people can leave the Arbat street disappointed.
But keep in your mind that even Moscow taxi drivers usually don’t speak a foreign language but Russian. I do recommend you to learn Russian common phrases before your trip or at least have a card with a destination address in Cyrillic characters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Revised Text: Five Reasons To Walk Along Old Arbat Street In Moscow

Arbat is an old street in the center of Moscow. To immerse yourself in the special atmosphere of olden times, simply walk along the lane on a calm weekday to communicate with people and know more about average people and the Russian way of life and traditions.

People are open and friendly here. They will willingly tell you how to get to the nearest café, museum or hotel. It is kind of the Moscow Monmartr, where you can order your portrait or purchase a good painting. To feel more comfortable, just learn some common Russian phrases.

Old Arbat houses are amazing! If you love history and architecture, you will discover many former aristocrats' mansions with whimsical décor of baroque elements. For a decidedly different picture of Moscow, walk to the western end of Arbat Street to see the imposing towers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building. One of Stalin’s so called 'Seven Sisters', it has all the charm you associate with Soviet Russia. As for me, I just enjoyed strolling through the old cobbled streets of Arbat.

A very special attraction are the coffee-bars of old Arbat Street. If you get hungry, visit one of them. I loved House #9 Basement, its' stylish interior, refined menu and polite barmen. I recommend you try the delicious mushroom soup (pohlyobka) made with white mushrooms or the soufflé made of soodak (a kind of pike) with a sauce and the traditional Russian seasonings of gorchitsa (mustard) or spicy horse-radish.

If you have a sweet tooth, order blinchiki (pan-cakes) with apple or ice-cream with caramel. And be sure to have a cup of ginger tea with home-made varenye (jam). Only imagine that a few decades ago, the famous Russian poets Sergey Yesenin and Vladimir Mayakovski were frequent visitors of this old Arbat street café! It’s incredible!

If you are lucky, you may even watch the process of film shooting here. Once I was very surprised to discover in one of the lanes, an old carriage with horses, some riders and a crowd of people dressed up in clothes of the 19th century. I thought that had traveled to another era! In a minute I realized that it was an historical film shooting. I received unforgettable impressions!

If you feel nostalgia for your native place, you may visit the grill-bar Dyadya Sem (Uncle Sam). You will be immersed in the real atmosphere of American clubs of the 1950's. Order Russian, American or Mexican dishes, listen to music and relax! What more does a cowboy, who feels tired and lost in the city jungle, need?

So, there are many reasons that few people leave Arbat street disappointed. But keep in mind that even Moscow taxi drivers usually don’t speak a foreign language. I do recommend you learn some common Russian phrases before your trip or at least have a card with a destination address written in Cyrillic characters.

Editor:

1. Please review the text carefully to ensure your intended meaning was not mistakenly changed.

2. Before you leave this page, please take a moment to use the "Click here to post comments." link at the bottom of the page to rate the proofreading and leave a comment if you wish.

Proofreading and editing pages that receive ratings and comments are moved to the top of the list.