OT: Skyscrapers, Buildings etc.

I thought it was an amazing city, very different to what I am used to (Newcastle). It was a bit dirty, and was a lot of homeless people and stray dogs but there was a lot of things as most things are open 24/7 went to a restaurant at like 3am. I don't understand why it is/was listed as 3rd most expensive city in the world, I spent about £400 in 2 weeks there, that's with my food cost included I only stayed in the appartment for like 2 days due to illness.

Travel by tube is really cheap you sort of buy a card with a certain amount of travel allowance on it, I was situated on the red line though in Krasnolskiy (mind my spelling) which was the original tube line so I had the red square and everything just a few stops away. I wouldn't recommend any form of travel but the tube, as the roads can be hectic and there is also no guarantee that your bus will come. A Russian I met over there told me he once waited 3 hours for a bus to arrive.

They got all sorts to do there, and they also got buildings/warehouses in the major parks which people rent out for exhibitions I went to an ice art gallery thing and another one had sea animals which was a bit cruel as the tanks were pretty small for the size of the animals.

One thing I noticed is that a lot of places when charging you for food they weigh it at the till for price, so you don't know how much it actually costs till then I had 2 examples of this, one was in a park where I bought some shashlik, think I spent like 1500 roubles for 1kg of lamb and 2 salads to go with it around £35, which obviously wasn't the price I worked out in my head. Another being at a sort of pizza hut called Sbarro I think, I had my mixed salad that I put in a bowl weighed.

If you go you might want to figure out how you going to get from A to B before you leave the hotel, as I don't recall any signs being in English, but my girlfriend is a Muscovite so I had a good guide, I wouldn't wander around too much in the dark and especially avoid childrens play parks late at night, as that's where "gopniks" hang about.

Was surprisingly hot when I was there around 30 degrees C every day, one short spell of rain about 10 mins but chucked it down, but the air was a bit too sticky for me, so if you go in summer you really want a room with air con.

You may find Russians rude, but they are not, no one holds doors open for you like they do here, or atleast I do, and they won't say thanks if you do for them. It's also rare to get a smile from someone serving you as the mentality is that they are just there to work, nothing more nothing less.

 

I have a few friends from Moscow but I've never been there myself and had been told that socially it was quite similar to here. From your description it sounds like it probably has a higher crime rate than here which is in agreement with what I've heard already but otherwise yeah you've painted a similar picture with regards to late night eating, cheap pricing and weather etc.. I'm looking forward to visiting, which I'll be doing when I take the trans-siberian rail maybe some time this year.

Thanks very much for giving so much in depth info sounds like you had a good trip.

 

http://nyc-architecture.com/

Pretty cool site. Kind of tough to navigate but still some great pics of NYC.

 

Getting stuck in traffic in a cab can be quite costly.

The cab drivers are quite decent and do try to find shortcuts to avoid a lot of the jams but some things are just impossible.

 

nice amount of info,will be useful for when i go in a couple of years

What is there to do in moscow for a lad travelling on his own

Also has anyone been to israel?

 

World Cup ?

I think the best thing to do when you are alone is probably sight see, and there is a lot to look at. Maybe even go to a football match at the Luzhniki. I'll try and get back to you on this ask some Muscovites I know. Will send you it in a PM or something.


Neuschwanstein Castle

please log in to view this image

 

Wow that's amazing.

 

Ancient structures have been neglected in this topic!! so heres some

Biggest man-influence stone in the world, thousands of years old
http://mystery.bf-1.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/47.jpg


Angkor Wat, ancient, could even be as old as the pyramids
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat

Imagine if stone henge a village inside it, the most beatiful place in england of all the places ive been, could be older than stonehenge, it is often neglected hardly anyone knows about it or what the actual reason(s) was, not too many foreign tourists
http://www.microlight-flying-in-wiltshire.co.uk/img/avebury2008-2.jpg


Right next to avebury is Silbury hill, iys the largest man-made earth structure invErope, again we cannot be just how old it is
http://www.wholisticworldvision.org/pix/England/Silbury_Hill_sacredsitescom.jpg

ancient wall in cuzco, would be extremely hard to replicate todays tech, and resources
http://www.andeantravelweb.com/peru/gallery/photos_sacsayhuaman_cusco_peru/sacsayhuaman_cusco_06.jpg

The great pyramid, an enigma, still the most precise building in the world, perfectly aliged north wesr soth east, egyptions diddnt have a compass, it aligned with 1/3rd of a degree, more accurate than almost any modern building, and torch light (lack of oxygen) and daylight cant penetrate, so how did they see inside as they building it ???
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Kheops-Pyramid.jpg/300px-Kheops-Pyramid.jpg

Teotihuacan, the Aztecs said itxwas there long before from a previous cilisation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan

manmade? i dont thino they are but anythings possible
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2072/2220001011_470e25ec0d.jpg


A local delight

please log in to view this image

Bonus
http://www.freefoto.com/images/1042/03/1042_03_4---Penshaw-Monument_web.jpg

 

European castles fascinate me

please log in to view this image

Neuschwanstein

please log in to view this image

Peles Castle Sinaia

In fact as Im writing this, here is a site with loads on

http://www.offtoeurope.com/europes-top-25-castles/

 

Three mentions for Neuschwanstein Castle, it certainly does look amazing. Another good European castle in a similar looking setting:


Hunyad Castle (Transylvania, Romania)

please log in to view this image

 

please log in to view this image

 

God dammit I was just about to post the Neuschwanstien castle it looks just as good in person

 

The Burj is actually beyond ridiculous! Why did they feel the need to construct something so ****ing big!?

Would love to go to the top of it like.

 

Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, Northern Spain.

please log in to view this image

 

The Empire State Building + The Burj = Ben Nevis

 

You wouldnt have thought Ben Nevis was actually that big!

 

Osaka Castle

please log in to view this image

 

Hashima Island (abandoned city-island.)

please log in to view this image

please log in to view this image

please log in to view this image