Going absolutely mad on night shifts.
Nausea and wretched sleep is making me moody. So beware, world, we've got another angry girl with opinions on opinions. Lately I’ve turned an evil eye on hipsters- a vast group of youngsters balancing between ultra-fashionable and oh-so-last-season.
I even drew a beautiful picture to illustrate my annoyance.
The funny thing is that honestly speaking I don’t even care. I mean hipsters, goths, politicians, journalists, lesbians, “nashi”- they’re all terrible as groups, although I’m sure lovely as individuals. So being incredibly selfish here, I let out some steam on the expense of trendy wannabes, by sparking an on-line debate.
So now out with the negative- in with the positive I say. Here are a few highlights of the past few weeks for me:
More Vnutri
“Sea Inside”- a roof-top café in the city center that makes you feel that you are somewhere by the sea. I swear! Such a lovely new place in Moscow. Cheap, laidback and with an interesting menu- this place really made my day after heavy partying the night before. There should be more hammocks in my life.
Wakeskating
Really, now when I do it I find it difficult to understand why I even bother spending time on other things. The sun, the wind in your face, the water, the physical struggle- the perfect combination to make up for a hard night’s work. Takes off the edge immediately. Heaps of fun awaiting you in Strogino or out of the city. In most locations equipment is available to rent, or if you can’t be bothered with boats and cable, why not try windsurfing? All here in Moscow to make your summer so much better.
Here is a list of locations to go wakeskating in Moscow.
Melochevka
So good! A brick-a-brack happening in a beautiful location at a chocolate factory next to the Moskva river. A garage sale, home-made food, nice music and lots of beautiful people. Pretty much a first for the capital. Which became evident when the men-in-grey showed up. Or is it blue? I still can’t make up my mind what color is the Militia’s attire in Russia. Anyway, all was legal, so ended in peace. But even so, we are witnessing a dramatic change for the better in Moscow
Antony Gormley
Taking place in one of my favorite art spaces- Garage this exhibition is creepy and absolutely amazing. It’s on until the 2nd of September, so if you haven’t seen it- GO! I’m upset I missed the maestro’s master class earlier this month, but well, there’s still time I suppose. A partial substitute- video material on the artist with interviews and an inside view of his work on display in the gallery for free at all times. Also don’t miss the café there. It’s ridiculously well furnished and has a great menu especially for all you vegetarians and vegans out there.
All this of course makes me very happy. I just wish I was less grumpy these days sending out angry messages on twitter. Tomorrow I promise to give you a quick peak at what I am excited to attend and see.
In with the positive!
23 October, 2009, 13:42
Fixed Gear puts the sport in bicycling. The bikes that are raced on high-banked, circle tracks are fixed gear. -- SPORTING !
08 August, 2009, 05:59
Anya,
The bicycle lanes here have only been added a few months ago, so it will take time to tell. But my opinion is that it is being handled incorrectly. There really are not that many bicyclist here. And most of those who do bicycle do so for recreation, rather than for necessity. My city has an extensive trail system which connects most of the parks and leads to smaller trails in specific neighborhoods, and I think this system is adequate for most of the bikers. Although I think the bikes should be accommodated to some degree for those who rely on them for their main mode of transportation, I still think that putting the paths on the busy roads was a mistake.
There are some bicycle groups here who like to come out once a month or so to make a spectacle of themselves. It seems to me their main goal is to interrupt traffic and to protest the fact that they can not ride with no restrictions. Honestly, I don’t think most of these people care about the bike lanes. They just want to make the cars slow down and avoid them. I think this is rude, and I don’t like it. I don’t think we should bother trying to make any accommodations for those people who will make no accommodations themselves. These people are very vocal though, and I think our Mayor bowed to pressure from them in deciding to set up these paths on the busy roads. As far as I can see, they are seldom used.
I tried, but could not find a single map which shows the entire trail. This site, however, contains links to many individual segments of the trail system in or near my city. It really is quite an extensive network.
http://www.bikely.com/listpaths/country/254/region/136/city/8381
I typed in “Moscow bike trails” for a Google search and came up with nothing but Moscow, Idaho. Do you have even have off road bike trails there? I did, however, find this YouTube clip which appears to be the bike ride you described. I certainly hope you are wearing a helmet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hK9lnnGVCk
01 August, 2009, 05:46
A bike without brakes sounds like suicide to me ;-) I prefer my U.S.-made Cruiser - big, comfy, fast, and eye-catching. Love it when I fly past a bunch of kids who exclaim "wooow, look at that bike!" Bikes are only good for the warm seasons, though, and the "fresh" air in Moscow leaves much to be desired. Like to be at least 50 miles away, looking out across endless fields and forests... It's dacha time! =))
30 July, 2009, 12:47
phip, so true! I can already see the smiley "aw, a girl on a bicycle- cute" attitude turning into the annoyed "the side-walk is for WALKING, hence the name, silly goose". Yet it is no way near the amount of aggression one gets on a daily basis whilst driving in Moscow. Maybe it's a question of time in your city for the drivers to get used to cyclists on the road? Is anything being done to improve the situation?
28 July, 2009, 23:36
My city, and several others in the region, have started to react to the growing number of bicyclists by adding specified bike lanes on certain streets. But I see a lot of problems with how they are going about it. First of all, the bike paths are usually on some of the heaviest traveled roads. Although, technically speaking, the bicyclist has the right of way, who's going to argue with an object that weighs a ton. It would seem smarter to me that they should move the bike paths onto lesser traveled roads to begin with. Also, they have not widened the roads or reduced the number of lanes. They simply shave a foot off each lane which makes it dangerous for everybody (bikes and cars) there.
And remember to be careful what you wish for. If the pedestrians riot, they know the cars are too big for them to attack without getting hurt. Therefore, they will turn their attention to the lighter wheeled vehicles that get in their way.