Travel Notes

American to Moscow

On June 2, American Airlines launched its first-ever service to Moscow, out of the airline’s Chicago hub. As part of a special promotion, the airline will, through September 4, offer 25% discounts and up to 10,000 AAdvantage® bonus miles for round-trip travel to the Russian capital. The Chicago- Moscow flights will use Boeing 777s, landing at Moscow’s Domodedovo International Airport.

Petersburg VIP Metro

Businessmen in St. Petersburg proposed reducing traffic in city center by adding a special high comfort car to every metro train. The VIP commuters are ready to invest in the production of such cars and pay up to €150 per person, per month to use them. The special cars would have cushy seats and mini-bars that serve breakfast. A representative of the St. Petersburg metro expressed doubt that the plan was technically feasible. “We cannot provide VIP persons with separate escalators,” said Yulia Shevel, a press secretary for the metro system. “Moreover, the metro has always existed for mass use, and nobody is going to change its social function,” she told Novye Izvestia newspaper.

Walking Moscow

Free walking tours will be offered in Moscow through September 14. Tourists can choose between four different routes: Red Square to the Moscow river, Alexander Garden and Manezh Square, Revolution Square to Kazan Cathedral, and Nikolskaya street to Kazan Cathedral through Kitai-Gorod. Tours will start on Saturdays and Sundays at noon and 1 pm.

White Army Museum

A Russian memorial opened in Turkey in May to commemorate the White Army soldiers who perished in Gallipoli in the 1920s. About 30,000 Russians fled to Gallipoli from the Crimea after the Russian Civil War. They lived in tents and barracks, in army regimen and on combat alert, despite food and supply shortages. Many died as they waited for the results of diplomatic talks with various European countries. Before moving on from Gallipoli in 1923, Russian émigrés each brought one stone to the military cemetery, erecting a burial mound. That memorial was destroyed by a 1949 earthquake, and reconstruction began only last year, according to Radio Svoboda. A museum displaying photographs from the “Gallipoli Encampment“ years also opened nearby.

Ranevskaya Remembered

A statue of actress Faina Ranevskaya was unveiled in Taganrog. Local authorities also promised to open a museum in Ranevskaya’s childhood home. Born Faina Feldman into a wealthy Jewish family in 1896, she was rejected by her family when she chose to become an actress, and she adopted a stage name and stayed in Russia, even as her parents emigrated. Ranevskaya was one of the most iconic of Soviet actresses, most famous for her theatrical roles and for movies like Podkidysh, Vesna, and Mechta. She is oft-quoted and inspired more one-liners than any other actress. The monument depicts her holding an umbrella, reminiscent of Mary Poppins.

St. Petersburg SOS

A tourist information center has been opened in St. Petersburg. Tourists can now call a toll-free number – (812) 300-3333 – to ask for directions, instructions for calling a taxi, to reserve a hotel room, to call an ambulance, and even to place a flower delivery order. The service is available in Russian, English, German, French, and Spanish, soon to be supplemented by other languages.

Gogol Museum

A museum will open next year in the Moscow house (Nikitsky bulvar 7a) where writer Nikolai Gogol lived the last four years of his life. The building currently houses a library, which is moving next door, while the building at 7a will return the building’s interior to the aura of the 19th century and free up space for the new museum (which was originally planned in 1909). Gogol rented two rooms in this building and worked here on the second volume of Dead Souls, which he infamously burned in his fireplace shortly before his death in 1852. The new museum will open in 2009, which is the bicentennial of the author’s birth.