Russia

In July, we traveled to Russia, native land of the ice slides that evolved into the modern roller coaster.  It’s where it all began: the place without which there would be no credit whores, no feelings of sheer euphoria that come with finding that truly special ride, no playground fights… [Continue Reading]

We flew into Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and took the airport express train into the city, passing plenty of what can only be described as “Soviet era” apartment buildings along the way (i.e., uninspired, old, graffiti-covered, gray ugliness).  That was one of the first things I noticed about Moscow—there isn’t really… [Continue Reading]

Okay, so it would have been just Attrapark if we hadn’t found another park of the same name later in the day.  I included its metro stop location—it’s within what translates as the “All Russian Exhibition Center” —to differentiate.  Actually, if we’re really going to be specific, it would be… [Continue Reading]

Attractionmania had fewer rides than its neighbor but what it did have seemed to cater more toward thrill seekers.  Granted, it contained a duo of Pax coasters, so it wouldn’t take much else to label this the more extreme of the two—like, Attractionmania could have contained only the Pax rides… [Continue Reading]

Sokolniki Park would contain the first of many “parks within a park” we’d visit.  Moscow boasts many enormous municipal parks that offer small funfairs as one of countless recreational activities, which run the gamut from skateboard ramps to sidewalk cafes to paddleboats to concert venues—really, the range of entertainment options… [Continue Reading]

We originally believed Attrapark the Second was called Luna Park, but upon arrival we quickly learned otherwise.  This particular funfair is one of two located within Izmaylovski Park, an absolutely massive municipal park located northeast of the city center.  It was much quieter than Sokolniki had been, which, combined with… [Continue Reading]

We knew there was another rides area buried somewhere in Izmaylovski Park, so armed with what we hoped was an accurate map, we set off to find it.  It was quite a hike—thirty minutes at least—but it took us down a pleasantly shady, tree-lined path.  Unfortunately, by this point in… [Continue Reading]

We had Tal’s eagle eye to thank for this one.  He spotted it on Google Maps a few weeks before the trip, so armed only with possible coordinates and walking directions we hoped were accurate (we didn’t even know the name of the park yet), we emerged from the metro… [Continue Reading]

The next morning began by taking the metro all the way to the end of the purple line to the Planernaya stop.  Park Severnoye Tushino is located on the very northwestern outskirts of the city, about a 25 minute walk from the subway through a residential area densely packed with… [Continue Reading]

The weather so far that morning had been cooler with a few raindrops here and there, enough so that I had been concerned during the walk to Park Severnoye Tushino that I’d neglected to bring a jacket.  The long walk had sufficiently warmed me up though, so I hardly gave… [Continue Reading]

It was a long metro ride to our next park, during which I blocked from my mind the thought of another session standing in the rain next to closed rides. Moscow is a large city, but I didn’t realize just how large until the train emerged briefly from underground and… [Continue Reading]

Luna Park Happyland is another small collection of children’s rides found within a small park in the Maryino municipal district, which is located southeast of the city by the river.  Supposedly this is one of the most populated parts of Moscow, although the walk from the metro station to the… [Continue Reading]

This time, we emerged from the metro to see the monuments adorning the Square of Victors tinged with gold as the evening sun dropped westward.  The breeze was warm, my tummy was full and the spring in my step was not due to trying to outrun goosebumps.  There was hope. … [Continue Reading]

As far as we could tell, there were no roller coasters remaining at Gorky Park.  Previously, it was home to quite a few credits; RCDB lists nine now defunct coasters, including what was once the largest portable coaster in the world, the inverted Eurostar.  Our reason for visiting was twofold;… [Continue Reading]

St. Basil’s Cathedral/Red Square/Kremlin  I would be remiss if I did not include the compulsory culture stops one makes when in Moscow.  That, and I’m an anthropology nerd and I enjoy stuff like this anyway, so it hardly feels like an obligatory chore.  Admittedly, Russian history is not my thing. … [Continue Reading]

After sightseeing, we went back to the hotel for a non-Russian lunch (you want to know how hungry I was by this point?  I don’t really care for bacon, and I ordered penne carbonara.  I ate the whole thing).  Then it was off to the train station for the journey… [Continue Reading]

“You’re going to Saint Petersburg?  Oh, you HAVE to go to the Hermitage!” “Ohhhhhh, definitely go to the Hermitage when you’re in Saint Petersburg.  It’s magnificent!” “We loved the Hermitage.  It’s the best thing to see in Saint Petersburg.  We just absolutely loved it!” “You’re only spending a day in… [Continue Reading]

When I was in the midst of wondering just how many bottles of Windex it would take to clean all those windows in the Winter Palace, I actually took a second to glance outside one of them. The sight briefly interrupted my blue-dyed, ammonia tinged musings. There were a few… [Continue Reading]

I read an article a while ago in which the author called PHL a “shame spiral.”  I giggled and was pleased to find such a concise, yet accurate articulation of a place where it routinely rains inside, where security lines snake all the way out to the train station and… [Continue Reading]