Jaunted

Obama-Around-The-World / Presidential Travel / Barack Obama / Moscow / Russia Travel / Michelle Obama / → All Tags

More Museums For the Obamas As They Take Moscow

As President Obama continues to tour the world, we love that he's including his family and allowing them to be cultural ambassadors while he's tied up in meetings, like today's talks with Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev over arms control.

While Obama conducts business in the Kremlin, Michelle and the girls are literally down the hall with first lady Svetlana Medvedev, who took them on a tour of famous tourist sites within the palace, such as the Cathedral of the Assumption and the Amory Museum and its 190-carat Orlov diamond. The girls even took tea in the Winter Garden; we are so jealous.

According to the Russian paper Pravda and USA Today, the Obamas might however be sleeping outside of the Kremlin walls at the Ritz-Carlton, since the hotel has suspiciously blocked off reservations for July 5 thru 8. There's yet another clue as to the Obamas' hotel sleeping arrangements: "In its lobby, the Ritz-Carlton installed an over-sized, chocolate statue of an American Eagle and a Russian Bear in honor of the visit." Our jealousy sees no end.

Related Stories:
· US first lady Michelle Obama tours Moscow's Kremlin as summit talks kick off [LA Times]
· President Obama's likely hotel choice while in Moscow: The Ritz-Carlton [USA Today]
· Presidential Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Stringer / AFP / Getty ]

Events / Moscow / Film Festivals / Munich / Los Angeles / Fashion Travel / → All Tags

This Weekend In the World: Air Guitar And BYO Vodka To The Moscow Film Fest

· Los Angeles
Admit it; you've done it in your underwear, in front of the mirror, and most likely to show off for friends. Playing the air guitar is more than just a casual bit of fun for some however, and they've organized the Air Guitar Championships. This weekend sees the regional qualifying battles in both LA and San Diego, with the winners continuing onto the DC nationals before reaching for air guitar gold at the international air guitar competition in Oslo.

To exercise your rockstar abilities without actually having to play any instruments, check out the tournament information and location, and maybe scout it for next year; this a serious sport, you know, you should train.

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Worlds-Coolest-Pools / Moscow / Russia Travel / Communist Travel / → All Tags

No Need to Russian This Moscow Pool

Last one in's a rotten egg! We're finding the best places in the world to stick our toes in this summer (or next winter) for our World's Coolest Pools map. Know of any pools we must check out? Let us know.

Ah, life is short and time is fleeting! We didn't get to Moscow in time to use one of the world's largest public pools—it closed in 1990—but its traces are still readily apparent on the site. Besides, we don't know of any other pools which later became houses of worship.

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Medical Tourism / Sex / Moscow / → All Tags

Russian Rubber Tourism

Medical tourism, sex tourism, or any of a number of new kinds of tourism: for many people these days, the main purpose of travel is nothing like seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa anymore. And if you want designer, custom-made condoms--made by a qualified urologist, nonetheless--then Moscow is your destination of choice.

Dr. Pomozov found a niche market when patients complained that they couldn't get condoms that fit them properly. Now he's expanded beyond producing "sized-to-fit" condoms to any kind that customers request:

Some patriotic people ask for them with Kalashnikov guns drawn on them while there are others who want something romantic like Venetian gondolas. We do it all for them.

Just be sure to tell your friends you're heading to Moscow to see Red Square or the slowly decaying body of Lenin.

[Photo: al greer]

Related Stories:
· Russian Doctor Launches Fancy Condoms for Demanding Clients [Mosnews]
· Post-Perestroika Prophylactic [Jaunted]

Moscow / Russia / Tourist Attractions / Lenin / Death / → All Tags

Post-Perestroika Prophylactic Preservation

Visitors to Moscow usually have a few key objectives: to sneak around the Kremlin, step foot on Red Square and pay a visit to Lenin's Mausoleum. Looking at dead guys is a strange branch of tourism, but there's some morbid fascination that brings the crowds in.

Each year, Lenin takes a short break from being on view, and this year it's longer than usual. From November 10 to December 26, Lenin'll be on a prophylactic break, according to the Russian tourist board. Some special biochemical procedures will spruce up the old fellow, and they say that with the right regular treatment his body will survive at least another 100 years. A pity, though, as all he really wanted was to be buried in St Petersburg. But he's not around to change anybody's mind, and we are, so get into Moscow fast, or wait til the post-Christmas viewing to see the waxy face and maybe a new suit.

[Photo: phdstudent]

Related stories:
· Prophylaxis in Lenin's Mausoleum [Russia Info-Centre]
· Mr. Putin, it's time to Bury Lenin [International Herald Tribune]

gambling / Moscow / Russia / → All Tags

The New Beggars of Moscow

If you're traveling through Moscow soon and get the impression the city's getting poorer, it might all be part of an elaborate social campaign. Casinos are now allowed to open inside the city, and the Moscow City Council is afraid of the results when locals start to get addicted to gambling.

What to do? Of course, hire a bunch of actors to play beggars outside casinos. The idea is that these beggars should tell prospective gamblers a tale of woe: "I was a high-paid exec until I gambled, and look at me now" kind of stories. Ten points for originality, but let's wait and see how it works.

[Image via spinksy71/Flickr]

Related stories:
Actors Dress as Tramps [Ananova]

Flickr / Moscow / → All Tags

Monolithic Lithographs

We've always been fascinated by the trend towards giganticism in architecture. Make it bigger, make it monolithic, make it more meaningful--it's all the same to a certain kind of draftsman. The hope is that this trend is starting to abate, as the focus these days turns towards design as a whole, especially the interiors and how they are furnished. Perhaps this will lead to construction on a more human scale, but there's no guarantee.

Nonetheless, not even Texans can compete with some of the proposed architecture of the old Soviet Empire. Check out this photographic archive of planned structures from the 30s to the 50s, which nowadays look like some retro science-fiction illustrations, but at the time must have seemed awesome. Actually, they still seem pretty awesome; the only difference is that now we know they'll never get built, and that Tyler Brulé wouldn't approve of them.

Related Stories:
·   The Moscow that Never Was [PajamasMedia]