Posts Tagged ‘russia’

Free Attraction – The First Human in Space

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first Human Being in Outer Space in the Vostok 1. He With this being the 50th anniversary of the first human to orbit the Earth, one of the best places to go to see what Russian Space Travel was like back then is at the Memorial Museum of Space Exploration under Monument to the Conquerors of Space in Moscow. Although there are more artifacts at the Star City Cosmonaut Training Facility just outside Moscow, the Memorial Museum of Space Exploration is very convenient to get to, open to the public and very Cheap.

The Memorial Museum of Space Exploration is under the huge statue dedicated to flight in Cosmonaut Alley. Cosmonaut Alley was constructed in 1964. To celebrate the Soviet Union’s achievments in space. Here you will find Statues to several Causmonats as well as a statue of the “Chief Designer,” Sergey Korolyov who remained nameless until after his death. The centerpiece is a Vostok Roket on top of a 100 meter titanium exhaust plume. The gigantic base has a mural carved into it depicting all of the contributions made by the Soviet people comulating with Yuri Gagarin Stepping into his spacecraft. Enterence to the park is free and it is one of several Free Attractions in Moscow. To see more free attractions in Moscow, go to http://www.nonrevwebsite.com/cheapeurope/Moscow.html#Attractions  .

The Memorial Museum of Space Exploration is an awesome underground complex with the complete history of Russian Space exploration, The museum has a large collection of rockets, capsules, satalites, rovers, space stations, even Lika, the first dog in space. It goes back to the beginings in the 1900s when Konstantin Tsiolkovsky mathematically described how to escape gravity and use multi-stage rockets fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen to travel to the stars before the Write Brothers Flew an Airplane. This museum is very new, reopened in 2009, and is very reasonable, around $3. You will not be disappointed by its 85,000 objects at this attraction. To see more information on the Russian Space Museum and other attractions in Mocscow, go to http://www.nonrevwebsite.com/cheapeurope/Moscow.html#Attractions  .

So celebrate the first human in space by going to the Memorial Museum of Space Exploration. With so much to see and do, you could make a whole day of it. And while you are in Moscow, you can see the other Free Attactions.

Ripped Off in Russia

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

After our flight was cancelled, we had an extra day in Moscow so we decided to go to Lenin’s Tomb. It is open Tuesday to Thursday and Saturday and Sunday, 10 to 1 and is free to enter. After getting our brief on when we would leave the next day, we headed of to the Metro to start our journey. We got to the entrance 15 minutes before it ‘closes’ only to have the guards tell us no more visitors for the day. We asked them about the time and they just shrugged their shoulders. The tour guides were circling around us like sharks.

The first one came up informing us that for 500 rubles each he can get us in. Apparently there is an agreement that when no more visitors are allowed in for free but before the tomb closed, tour guides could get us in. We said no to his offer and he puts on the pressure like a good con-man saying I hope you can come back tomorrow. When we leave and look for another way in, we are approached by anther saying we are very late but for 1200 rubles he can get us in and give us. I tell him the other guy would do it for 500. He said his price includes a tour of all the other 4 graves including Yuri Gagarin, Stalin, and Brezhnev. This is interesting because we have 10 minutes until it closes and this tour seems longer than 20, yet the guards won’t let us in just to see Lenin. I start to see the scam.

Next he says for 700 Rubles he can let both of us just see Lenin and we agree and he sets the hook. As we get closer, the guide looks at his watch and the starts running this is to see how bad we want to get in. As he runs, he says we are very late and tries to bid the price up saying historical facts along the way. He then says for 900 rubles we can get more information. We say no then he passes another guide and they exchange words. We go a little farther and he says we cannot get in because we are too late.

So if you are going to Lenin’s Tomb make sure you get there at least 30 minutes before it closes. Otherwise you will be charged 1200 Rubles, around $40, to see something that is for free. Also, be careful of the guides and know some are ‘hyper-capitalistic.”

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Great Deals on Food In Moscow

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Even though Moscow is not the most expensive city in the world, it fell to number 3, finding reasonable prices for food is difficult. Finding cheap food in Moscow is almost impossible, except for those who look very, very hard, or read my posts.

Several people told me about Yolki Polki so I made a mental note to find it and looked for other cheap restaurants. Unfortunately I did not find many others. The good news is it is a chain and has several locations in Moscow. What’s even better was this is traditional food, not fast food with no culture.

First we ordered Broche, or beet soup. I have to admit, it was the best I had ever had. (Stand by on that, I have another layover and I am up to the challenge to find a better one.) Next was the meat and cabbage pie. Not bad but a great value for the price. Finally we had the chicken scures. To wash it down, we had a Russian beer. Again, I have to admit, the beer was very good.

The final price came to 600 Rubles which is around $20. We could have kept that under $15 very easily, but we were hungry and had a very persuasive waitress. Would I recommend this to friends? Yes, and I am. Enjoy this great restaurant as you save money on food in Moscow!

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