Moscow is huge. I do not have the statistics but I will seek them out for later.
At its centre is the Kremlin (which simply means 'fort' - many old towns have their kremlin)
The old part of the city sits around the Kremlin. It is mostly of 18th and 19th century with small corners of much older buildings. One of the reasons that you find so few ancient remains is that the buildings were mostly of wood, and fires and wars kept setting back developments!
There are 4 significant ring roads: the closest to the centre is the 'Boulevard' ring - an 18th19th century tree lined road: then the 'Garden' ring, a wide (8 lane) 20th century road that once skirted round the gardens of the old palaces; then the 'Third' ring, a recently completed outer ring road made up from older sections of road connected by fly-overs and tunnels. Last is the 'Moscow Ring', Moscow's equivalent of the M25!
Within the Moscow Ring the city is well wooded and there are many parks. The Moscow river winds through the city and there many are canals, lakes and one or two smaller rivers. The city is well served by water. The Moscow river is about the size of the Thames at London as it passes the Kremlin and travels on to eventually swell the waters of the Volga..
Most of the population live in apartment tower blocks; there are very few houses. The huge area between the Ring road and the Third ring is filled with row upon row of apartment blocks. They are the most enduring image of the city. Interspersed are industrial areas, parks, woods and lakes.
Geography lesson finished!
We have an 8th floor apartment just outside the Third ring. The windows look down on a spacious, tree dotted 'courtyard' with other blocks surrounding. There is a mixture of scruffy older blocks and post communist smarter blocks - guess which sort we are in :-( There are playgrounds, cars parked and a central services building, with shops on the 'outsides' of the blocks. This typical arrangement is repeated throughout the residential areas.
Today the ground is covered in a sprinkling of fresh snow overlying a treacherous layer of ice from a compacted previous snowfall. The roads though are kept clear. The public services are well prepared for this predictable state of affairs.
Do Svedanya
Graham
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1 comment:
You're right, damn it.
Backs against the wall and all that, eh? :-)
How are your new Russian neighbours? We've got a lot of Russians where I work. They remind me of my times as a soldier with their "work hard, play hard" ethic.
They seem to possess a tomorrow doesn't count attitude to life that we in the west lose as we grow older.
And their parties... water glasses of Vodka, drunk neat, crazy! I'm afraid they're in a different class of drinking to me and I can hold my own in any pub, lol.
Whatever, thanks for your comment, keep writing and all the best.
Reg.
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