What May learned from Moscow

In 7 vragen (en antwoorden)

Moscow it would be. Stylist and serial organizer Danie Bles was excited to arrange a trip for Amayzine. A group of influential yet beautiful women, a number of nice brands wanting to participate et voilà, the beginning is there. Now just a cool location. Preferably one where most had never been before. It turned out we both had Moscow in mind. And now I’m lying here in my bed so big that the late Hugh Hefner could have easily housed all his playmates with my little laptop on my belly typing. I’ve only been here for fourteen hours but have already learned a lot. Therefore, an interview with myself in 7 questions. Ahem.

1. Is Moscow beautiful?

But really beautiful. I expected it to be a bit raw and rough. A touch of Berlin, a hint of Rotterdam with just a beautiful Kremlin and further basta. But it’s a mix of Paris and Copenhagen (because of the many colors), but also a bit of London and the metropolitan vibe of New York.

2. Not too expensive, right?

Listen, I’ve just arrived and Danie is the head of the trip so she keeps pulling out her wallet, but I find it quite reasonable. 100 rubles is 1 euro 45, so 1000 rubles is about 15 euros. We ate yesterday in a huge classic and chic restaurant and a starter there cost about 750 rubles. I find it reasonable.

3. Busy on the streets?

The streets are wide and spacious, just like the sidewalks. You cross underground, much safer and quicker, and guess what? People ride horses here. In the city. I spotted three just last night. As if it were the most normal thing in the world.

4. Is it vodka here, vodka there?

You could say that. After dinner in Italy you get a limoncello and they serve a hierbas in Ibiza, here you get a glass of pure vodka. And when we dove into a bar after dinner (very underground in an ordinary snack bar where there was a secret entrance to the café), we obviously got vodka too. Did we want a little tasting, asked Olga the waitress. I don’t know if her name was Olga, but she looked so much like an Olga that it must be. Anyway. We thought: six glasses will come and we’ll sip a bit. But a tray with thirty glasses appeared. Five flavors and types for everyone. We (that’s Lizzy van der Ligt, Kim Feenstra, Danie, her hope in troubled times Wendy, my Daniëlle and I) are not the worst, so we started. Cheers, take a breath and ad fundum. In other words: empty in one go. When Olga came back five minutes later and we had already struggled through three-quarters of the tray, she got angry. Just when she came to explain, we had already finished it. She had never experienced this before.

5. It seems to me a bit of a dirty city, doesn’t it?

Say, could you watch your words a bit? It’s spotless here. There’s not a piece of paper on the ground. Shiny sidewalks, you wouldn’t believe your eyes.

6. Poverty galore?

Okay, you clearly haven’t done your homework. Moscow has the highest concentration of billionaires in the world, followed by New York. It’s a fountain of beautiful shops here. Valentino, Gucci, Chanel, Dolce, Ralph Lauren… And there’s a complete department store that is only for children. I’ll go take a peek this afternoon.

7. And how cold is it?

Well, it’s quite chilly. It’s around freezing point, but there’s a strong wind blowing. And it’s going to snow today. Awesome!

Do you prefer warm trips: consider Valencia then.