Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
190
BOWLING
Russians discovered bowling over the past decade, partly in thanks to the Coen brothers'
film
The Big Lebowski,
a cult hit among Russian audiences. The country's first bowling
alleys aimed at a decidedly different clientele from the pot-bellied, working-class crowd
in the film. Bowling started in Moscow as a sort of polo for the new rich, with the impec-
cably buffed lanes costing upward of $100 an hour, and bowlers decked out in Prada and
Versace. Today bowling has trickled down to a broader player base, with some serious
bowlers mixed in with the after-work crowd and family parties. All alleys provide “disco
bowling” at night, switching to black light and cranking up the music after 10pm or so.
The following alleys are good choices:
• Bi-Ba-Bo:
9 Karmanitsky Pereulok (in courtyard across from John Bull Pub);
&
495/937-4337;
600-1,500 rubles per hour per lane; www.bibabo.ru/home.
Metro: Smolenskaya.
• Cosmic:
6 Prospekt Vernadskovo;
&
495/644-4232.
400-1,100 rubles per hour;
www.cosmik.ru. Metro: Universitet.
• Samolyot (Airplane):
14/1 Presnensky Val;
&
495/234-1818;
1,000 rubles per hour
per lane; www.samolet-bowling.ru. Metro: Krasnopresnenskaya.
• Sport Line Club:
21 Kozhevnicheskaya Ulitsa;
&
495/959-7875;
1,000 rubles per
hour per lane; www.sportline-club.ru. Metro: Paveletskaya.
• Vysotka:
In the Stalin tower at 1 Kudrinskaya Ploshchad;
&
499/152-6337;
900
rubles per hour; www.visotka-club.ru. Metro: Barrikadnaya.
CASINOS
Forget Las Vegas. Moscow sometimes looks like the gambling capital of the world, with
slot machines available even in the airport for a quick pre-departure or post-arrival fix.
The road into town is lined with casinos' flashing lights and neon facades, and most big
hotels have a casino or at least a slots room. A post-Soviet phenomenon, it seems targeted
at foreigners and elite Russians with time and money to blow. The Kremlin has ordered
that casinos be moved out of Moscow and located in four regions across Russia, but the
gambling lobby has been resisting the initiative, and it may take years to materialize. A
glimpse at this over-the-top world can be fun, though minimum stakes are often quite
high, and dress codes are enforced. Two well-established venues, which are safe and glitzy
bets (though not cheap), are
Metelitsa-Cherry Casino,
21 Novy Arbat (
&
495/691-
1170;
noon-8am daily; metro: Smolenskaya); and
Golden Palace,
15 3rd Yamskovo
Polya (
&
499/232-1515;
daily 24 hr.; Metro: Dinamo or Belorusskaya). There is also
Shangri-La,
2 Pushkinsaya ploshad (
&
495/650-6400;
Metro: Pushkinskaya).
MOVIES
The language barrier makes moviegoing a challenge for most visitors, though the
Mos-
cow International Film Festival,
which takes place every even-numbered year in June
and July, offers an often surprising repertoire of international films in their original lan-
guages. Also, the
International Film Center
(15 Druzhinnikovskaya Ulitsa;
&
495/
255-9292;
Metro: Barrikadnaya or Krasnopresnenskaya) has a rich and varied schedule
of movies from across borders and eras; you might luck into a silent film treasure from
Sergei Eisenstein or a big-screen showing of
West Side Story
in English. Make sure
that any English-language film you're interested in is subtitled, not voiced-over, which
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