Travel Notes

New Mariinsky

The international competition for the design for the new Mariinsky Theatre building in St. Petersburg was decided at the end of June in favor of Dominique Perrault.

The French architect, best known for his minimalist National Library in Paris, will offer quite an extravagant home for the new stage of the Mariinsky – a huge, angular black marble structure is covered by a giant golden cocoon of anodized aluminum, covered in turn by transparent glass.

The new 39,000 m2 theatre will be able to seat an audience of 2000 and will be built opposite Kryukov canal from the old building, the two facilities connected by a telescopic bridge. According to governmental plans, the new building will open in 2009. Because of the scale and complexity of Perrault’s project, however, the current $100 million budget may have to be increased by as much as 50%.

Survival English

This summer, Moscow’s 02 phone service (emergency police) put in place English-speaking operators, to make it easier for foreigners to report crimes. When you dial 02, an operator answers in Russian. If you then say something in English, your call will be forwarded to an English-speaking operator.

BA at Domodedovo

This summer, British Airways transferred all its flights from Moscow’s Sheremetevo airport to state-of-the art Domodedovo, which is connected to Moscow by express train. Domodedovo’s passenger flow has increased 44% since last year, with 3,614,000 passengers using the airport in the first half of this year.

Shalyapin Bronzed

A bronze monument to the famous opera bass Fyodor Shalyapin was unveiled on Moscow’s Novinsky boulevard this summer, in the courtyard of the Shalyapin house-museum. The 2.5 meter high monument shows Shalyapin sitting on a bench, surrounded by flowers, and in the same pose as the famous painting by Ilya Repin.

Shalyapin’s House Museum was opened in 1988. During the First World War, Shalyapin opened a hospital for wounded soldiers in his house and regularly sang to entertain them. After the Bolshevik Revolution, the house was nationalized. Shalyapin emigrated to Paris in 1922 and died in 1938 without ever returning to Russia. (Interfax)

Eliseyevsky restored

The famous Eliseyevsky grocery store, on Moscow’s Tverskaya street, was founded over 100 years ago by millionaire merchant Grigory Eliseev. The shop operated throughout the soviet era and was closed this summer for a long-overdue reconstruction. The renovated store is scheduled to be re-opened in September.

Kievsky at 85

Kievsky Train Station celebrated its 85th anniversary this year. Renovations at the station have been going on for several years, but were completed this summer. The station now has a chapel where believers can pray before departing on a voyage.

Easy Training

Train tickets can now be ordered by phone in St. Petersburg. By calling 067, travelers can have tickets delivered to any address within the city limits, or can be picked it up at a special window at the Petersburg Railway Agency. The per ticket booking fee is 53 rubles. Tickets are delivered within three days.

Sub Museums

Three submarines no longer fit for service, will be converted into museums starting this fall. The first will open later this year on the Moskva river, near Moscow’s Gorky Park. The other two will be opened in Vologda and Kaliningrad. (ITAR-TASS)