To buy, or not to buy.
What to buy in Russia? What souvenirs can be found with a brand "made in Russia"? That is the question. Firstly, a decent map is of vital importance here; ideally, get a single-sheet map so you can see all of central Moscow at a glance. It’ll ease your way here, so a map can be found in Anglia British Bookshop, which offers a wide range of different books in English; you won’t find anything better than this shop can advise to you; also visit their web-site Anglia BookShop.
Address& phone:
6 Vorotnikovsky per., M. Mayakovskaya
phone: (095) 299 7766
Also it is a great Afisha magazine but it is in Russian (issued once a fortnight, which costs around $2) that is a complete listing of everything happening in Moscow and is recommended for every visitor, all theatres and cinemas, restaurants & cafes, interviews and timetables are presented there. If you are interested in, come to AFISHA.
Free newspapers in English (The Moscow Times) are available from pavement bins in hotels, supermarkets (such as Ramstore, open 9am 10pm, the biggest one is in Ul. Sheremetyevskaya 60a, phone 937-2697, M: Rizhskaya) and just big shops which are also helpful as far as the press is concerned.
A great number of postcards with different sites of Moscow and Russia as a whole can be found in the bookshop "House of Book" (Novii Arbat, 8, Metro Arbatskaya) and "Moscow" (Metro Tverskaya, Tverskaya str. 8); also you come across them in Gum (near the Kremlin).
If you have time before the performances in the Bolshoi Theatre, don’t hesitate, unsure of what to do and where to go, visit its theatrical shop, where you can put on ballet clothes & shoes, colored and originally made wigs, and of course to buy audio and video tapes, books and magazines, and finally souvenirs:
Shop of the Bolshoi Theatre is located at
Petrovka st., 3
Phone: (095) 292 0494, (095) 292 6650
I strongly advise you to try flavored bars of chocolate and yummy biscuits of Red October and Bolshevichka, and others. It is the sweetest feature of the Russian national character.
Also soft beluga caviare (from the Caspian Sea) so rich with protein will whet your appetite, it''s expensive, buy it only in the supermarkets and special seafood shops.
Useful (such as cups, mugs, plates) and not so useful Khokhloma, Gorodets carving, Semenov matryoshka, Zhostovo, Don faience, ceramics, articles made of birch bark, embroidered clothes, cotton and flax articles all these souvenirs we find in Nizhegorodskiye Uzory (Nizhny Novgorod Designs)that is located in Ul. Zemlyanoy Val 52/16 (entrance from 16 Bernikovskaya Nab.), phone number 915-3360/2829, M: Taganskaya or Kurskaya. Open Monday-Friday 10 am 7 pm, Saturday till 6 pm. But if you are looking for special wooden toys from Bogorodskoye they can be found in Mir Novykh Russkikh (The world of new Russians)a high quality souvenir store, open 10am-9pm, Ul. Arbat 36, phone: 241-5729, M: Smolenskaya.