Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

3. The Bulvar

Start out at Chistiye Prudiy, which means "Clean Pond" and is situated in the city's aptly named Chistiye Prudiy neighborhood. Then follow the Bulvar, the four-lane road split down the middle by a park, to the Chistiye Prudiy metro station. Continue on the Bulvar until you arrive at Pushkin Square, the very heart of Moscow. Here you'll inevitably run into hordes of people feeding the pigeons, reading the papers and checking in on the great and grand statue of Alexander Pushkin, whom Russians universally consider the father of Russian literature. (You may also hear a Russian cover band playing the Beatles' "Back in the U.S.S.R.") If you walk a bit farther down the Bulvar, you'll eventually reach Jean-Jacques, a great French-Russian restaurant that's a favorite among the city's young and beautiful.