Travel Notes

Bolshoi Closes

As reported previously in Russian Life (Nov/Dec 2004), the main (historical) building of the Bolshoi Theatre will be closed for reconstruction on July 1, 2005, with work to be completed in 2008. Interfax reported that the overall cost of the reconstruction project is estimated at $1 billion. While the historical building is overhauled, Bolshoi performances will be shown on the New Stage, which opened in November 2002, and at other Moscow theatres.

Atlanta to Moscow Direct

Starting June 1, 2005, Delta Airlines will offer a direct flight between Atlanta and Moscow, travel.ru reported. During the summer, daily flights on a Boeing 767-300ER will leave Atlanta at 3:55 pm, arriving at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo at 10:25 am the next day. The return flight leaves Moscow at 12:25 pm, arriving in Atlanta at 3:50 pm.

Train to Port Baikal

A weekend train has begun running between Irkutsk and Port Baikal, travel.ru reported. Tickets cost R100-640. The train travels along the Krugobaikalskaya Railway, allowing for spectacular views of Lake Baikal.

Training in Style

Beginning in May, Afisha magazine reported, a new private passenger train, Grand-Service-Express, began offering a unique level of comfort between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Travelers will enjoy the eight-hour ride in deluxe compartments furnished with air conditioning, sofas, CD and DVD players and, best of all, a shower.

New hotel on Solovki

A new private hotel has been opened on Solovki archipelago, Arkhangelsk Region, REGNUM reported. Solovki has, since the middle ages, been the site of a venerated Orthodox monastery and hermitage. It was also the site of one of Soviet Russia’s first camps for political prisoners. The hotel is located on the lakeshore and faces the monastery. It has 20 rooms, 12 of them doubles and the rest deluxe rooms.

Delay is the Norm

About 40 percent of all Russian flights are delayed for more than 30 minutes, Kommersant-Dengi magazine reported. Aeroflot, Transaero and Krasnoyarsk Airlines were among the companies whose flights were delayed most frequently in 2004.

Planetarium Reopens

The Moscow Planetarium, which has been under reconstruction for almost a decade, will at last re-open this November, Afisha magazine reported.

Grand Hotel Sold

Britain’s Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. has acquired a majority stake in St. Petersburg’s Grand Hotel Europe, previously managed by Kempinski Hotels & Resorts, Regnum reported. Orient-Express Hotels plans to revamp the hotel and buy an adjacent building in order to expand the number of rooms.

Art on Rails

Copies of paintings by Repin, Surikov, Kustodiyev, Borisov-Musatov and other famous Russian artists can now be seen on sleeper trains connecting Moscow to Saratov, Tsentr TV reported. The art appreciation project was instigated by Volga Railways and the Saratov Radishchev Museum, one of Russia’s oldest museums, with a collection of over 20,000 works of art.

Hotel Boom

Fifteen new hotels will be completed in Yekaterinburg before the end of the year, ITAR-TASS reported. The city has launched a project called “Yekaterinburg Hotels,” through which some 35 hotels will be built in the city before 2015. The main target is traveling business people, who, the city administration said, make up two-thirds of the city’s visitors.