Three days in Moscow between history, metro, Soviet architecture and unexpected encounters in a city that breaks all prejudices.
Day 1
Arrival in Moscow — history, controls and first sensations
✈️ Heading to Russia
Our flight left Athens heading to Moscow. As the plane descended, endless green fields appeared that inevitably make you think of everything that happened there.
Lands crossed by wars, empires and profound changes: from the Napoleonic Invasion of Russia to the Russian Revolution, passing through the Second World War and the formation of the Soviet Union.
Russia is not just another country: it is the largest territory on the planet, covering about a ninth of the land.
Its capital, Moscow, is a megacity where history, power and constant transformation coexist.
📜 Understand before you look
The history of Russia begins with the Eastern Slavs, who consolidated themselves between the 3rd and 8th centuries. Later, the Varangians – Vikings from the north – organized the territory and gave rise to Kievan Rus.
In the year 988 they adopted Orthodox Christianity, a cultural mark that is still felt.
Traveling with that minimal context changes the way you see everything. Each building, each monument, is no longer just a postcard.
The history of this country is impressive, so we will only tell the details that we find interesting to understand a little about its culture and lifestyles. When you arrive in countries like these, it is important to learn a little about their history and culture, in order to understand even more everything that your senses capture.
🛬 First contact: control, tension and welcome
We arrive at Moscow-Domodedovo International Airport, one of the city's three international airports.
Moscow is the capital and the most populous federal entity in Russia. The city is an important political, economic, cultural and scientific center of Russia and the continent. Moscow is the northernmost megacity on Earth, the second city in Europe in population after Istanbul, and the sixth in the world, to understand a little how enormous this capital city is.
We arrived in Moscow at the time of the World Cup, which made many things easier in some aspects, in any case it is a city that with a little organization you will be able to understand how to get around it
Migrations was serious, very serious. Short questions, long looks. But when everything was in order, a smile and a “welcome”.
Key fact: Argentines do not need a visa to enter Russia (up to 90 days), although it is always a good idea to check beforehand. In fact, at the Athens airport it happened to us that when we were going to board the plane they asked us for a Visa, to which we explained that the Argentines did not need it and they looked at us strangely and did the necessary research, since there are few countries that have this exception.
🧉 The mate anecdote
We thought everything was already done. But not. Despite having passed all the controls (or so we thought) after crossing the customs traffic light, we went through the green channel since we had nothing to declare. Once on the other side, almost at the airport hall, some officers stopped us and very kindly made us go to a room where they put our suitcases through an x-ray machine.
They detect “organic material.” They asked us if we had drugs, in that second you started to mentally review everything, we were in Amsterdam but… of course we said no. I thought quickly and of course one was a package of yerba that I was bringing as a gift to a Russian friend and the other didn't occur to me until I realized that the mate was made from calabash covered in leather.
When we showed it, everything relaxed. They laughed, we talked about the World Cup, Argentina, soccer. And there it is: second welcome to Russia.
🚍 Get to the city (decide at the moment)
As many times when traveling, we improvise.
Airport WiFi, exchange dollars to rubles and decide how to get to the hotel. There were two options: train + metro or bus + metro (cheaper). We choose the second. Many times we did that, we organized ourselves in the moment.
We headed where they had indicated and we found a fork and many controls (it was the world championship).
I had the offline map downloaded and with the help of the GPS to orient myself. We paid a few rubles with coins (I don't remember how many, but it was not much), we had to stand and from the voices there seemed to be other Argentines too, many locals, languages. Already launched into the adventure, we were enjoying the views and the immensity of this wonderful city, feeling that the trip had just truly begun.
Luckily the bus left us exactly at the entrance to the subway, there was no chance of getting lost, if you have a sense of direction. Once down we took a photo of the subway map, although they later gave them to you in brochures and so on throughout the city. And we were already inside the subway.
🚇 The subway: an underground museum
The Moscow metro is an experience in itself.
It has more than 230 stations and was inaugurated in 1935. In the midst of the Cold War, many stations were built at great depths, also intended as a refuge from a possible nuclear conflict.
But what surprises most is its aesthetics.
They call it the “underground palace,” and it makes sense. You go down the stairs and you find marble columns, imposing lamps, mosaics, sculptures. Some stations look like imperial halls, others museums. Also called the people's museum, especially in the Soviet era, where you can see sculptures, stained glass windows and other artistic manifestations that allude to this era.
Getting to know the metro is part of the trip.
🏨 Arrival at the hotel — Moscow more real
After combining with another line we arrived at our hotel area, which was far from the city.
If you see the map there are like two rings, the first a busy avenue and the second a combination with a highway or ring road. We were in the middle of these two.
It was not a commercial area and the hotel was simple. It was difficult to find it, but after some questions we found it. Soviet architecture, functional buildings, not very touristy. A more everyday Moscow.
Most Russians are friendly and others do not speak English or Spanish, because when in doubt about your intentions, they would not speak to you. We checked in, left our things and went out to explore, in fact we went to the fan fest first since it had started that day and we wanted to enjoy that moment, it is not every day that you are in Russia and in the middle of a World Cup.
⚽ First plan: World + city
That same day we left directly. We took the subway again and went to the area where the maps indicated the fan fest was, getting off at the Vorobyovy gory station.
We met some Argentinians and decided to go together for at least that section since we were half lost. Finally we arrived at the Vorob'yevy Gory Prirodnyy Zakaznik, a nature reserve where the fan fest was taking place, but they had already closed the tickets because the capacity was at its limit, so we resignedly decided to head elsewhere.
I admit that we were lost in a huge park, with many people and since we didn't go back the way we went, we had to accept it and enjoy what we were finding. Many people, the Russians, although they are not very fond of soccer, put on their country's shirt and really celebrated like Latinos.
🚀 Unexpected meeting
Walking along Leninskiy Avenue we find the monument to Yuri Gagarin, on Leninskiy Prospekt. A titanium colossus—a key material in the construction of Soviet spacecraft—rises on a tall silver pillar in the middle of Gagarin Square.
At its feet, a sphere represents the landing module of the Vostok ship, with which Gagarin returned to Earth after carrying out the first orbital flight in history.
The inscription says:
"On April 12, 1961, the Soviet spacecraft 'Vostok', with a human being on board, made a flight around the world. The first man to enter outer space was the USSR citizen Yuri Gagarin."
Imposing. High. Almost futuristic.
The first human being in space, represented in a structure that seems to take off at any moment. There appears another dimension of Russia: the space race, scientific development, the need to go further.
And it is inevitable to think about it in perspective. Part of that story began here, in these symbols, in these bets. Today, decades later, programs like the Artemis program once again look towards the Moon, with international participation, including Argentina.
Contexts, flags and tensions change, but there is something that remains: that drive to explore the unknown.
🌆 First approach to the heart of Moscow
Nearby we found a subway and headed towards the Kremlin area, we were already drooling to see Red Square. I don't remember exactly which station we got off at, I think it was Kitay-gorod Station, since we decided to get off earlier to explore the area before the end of the day.
👉 the Moscow Kremlin
👉 Red Square
But before that, ancient churches, modern parks such as Zaryadye Park and views of the Moscow River appeared.
There we found Tserkov’ Vsekh Svyatykh Na Kulishkakh or Church of All Saints in Kulishki. It was built in 1380, in honor of those killed in the Battle of Kulikovo, it was made of wood. The current building, in the Russian Baroque style, is one of the oldest in Moscow, dating back to 1689. The term Kulishki means “far away, in the middle of nowhere”, since at that time it was outside the city.
We took the Kitaygorodskiy Proyezd to the Moskva River, to our right was Park Zaryad'ye, a large park that was inaugurated on September 9, 2017 by Russian President Vladimir Putin, we estimate exclusively for this event. The main feature of the park is its facilities hidden under the landscape. It really has a remarkable architectural design.
Another advantage of the new park is a picturesque view of the Kremlin, which visitors can enjoy from a floating bridge over the Moskva River. It also has a Media Center, Ice Cave, Concert Hall, Amphitheater. In short, there are many things to see in this area and throughout Moscow, so there is not enough time.
We decided to enjoy the landscapes and that first encounter with the red square and views of the Kremlin and the green of the park next to the Moscova River and its views from the V-shaped bridge. And of course photos, although the day was not very good and there was a backlight effect, so I recommend going in the morning. We sat for a while on the grass where there were more people, but a guard kicked us out, it was obvious that it wasn't possible right there.
Y allí estábamos en la gran Russia, esa que tantas veces nos pintaron de color gris (en las películas estadounidenses principalmente) y a pesar de que el día se había nublado un poco, se podía apreciar por el contrario mucho color y mucha vida, obviando el mundial, y es que sólo con ver la plaza roja, el kremlin y la catedral de San Basilo, te quedás boqui abierto. Todo junto al río Moscova, a este parque hermoso y a los edificios circundantes donde se mezcla la arquitectura soviética con construcciones más modernas.
✨ The first time in Red Square
And suddenly, there we were. We arrived at the heart of the city and there we approached, the first thing we saw were those enormous red walls and the beautiful colorful bulbs of the Cathedral of Saint Basil, impossible domes, the one that we dreamed of so many times and still couldn't believe we were there. We still don't believe it. The Kremlin, the open square. All together.
Everything more alive than one imagines from afar.
Nos quedamos un rato largo, mirando, caminando, sacando fotos sin parar. No tanto por la foto en sí, sino por registrar que realmente estábamos ahí.
Fotos, fotos y más fotos, cuando llegamos detrás de la basílica. Había un móvil relatando el partido de Rusia vs Spain, donde los rusos para sorpresa de todos, ganaron. No se imaginan, eso fue una fiesta al mejor estilo latinoamericano.
Y así nos fuimos festejando con un grupo de rusos y latinos que nos sumamos al festejo, hasta la mismísima plaza roja.
Guardá este post si estás pensando en viajar a Russia.
Y si llegaste hasta acá… esto recién empieza.
➡️ Leé la Parte 2: Plaza Roja, Kremlin y el corazón histórico de Moscow.
