The Casket World of Moscow Streets

It's merely impossible to fancy Moscow if you've never been there before. Pictures and TV programs never give enough information.

It's not like any other city of the world with its broad avenues and enormous skyscrapers - here you won't find any. Moscow's main street - Tverskaya - it's not wide enough to avoid heavy traffic which is quite common phenomenon here. Moscow's so called Seven Sisters, though they are really tall, can't be called skyscrapers for they are too... uncommon.

The true Moscow you'll never see in coloured brochures given to a tourist in a travel agency. It is very cozily hidden in a peculiar web of narrow streets, mostly crooked. It's almost impossible to find a straight street in the centre of Moscow. While following it you'll never guess, unless you know it quite for sure, where it'll lead you.

The scent of true Moscow you can smell in old yards, where you can get through an archway and see kids playing, newly washed sheets hanging on a rope, elderly ladies sitting on a bench chattering. Peace and calm. Nothing ever gives you a hint of an enormous city roaring around you.

Unwillingly you go back to the noise of the streets and the buzz of everyday life. But this tiny world can't be lost or forgotten. It'll take its place within you and will always attract your attention by its colourful and mysterious look. Just as a small black casket with a bright picture on the top, whenever you see it, you are always eager to open it, even if you know what is inside.