Understand

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Moscow is the capital of Russia, as well as being the financial and political center of the country and its biggest сity.

Moscow has a population of around 11 million, and covers an area of around 1080 km².

History
Caroline Brooke, Moscow: A Cultural History (2006: OUP Cityscapes series, ISBN: 0195309529) is a good place to start.
Moscow is the capital of Russia, its financial and political center and its biggest сity.

Geography

Moscow is located on the Moskva River, which bends its way through the southern and western parts of the city. Most of the main sites are on the northern bank of the river. The other major waterway is the Yauza River, which flows into the Moskva east of the Kremlin.

Much of Moscow's geography is defined by the numerous 'Ring Roads' that circle the city at various distances from the center. With Red Square and the Kremlin forming the very center, the innermost ring road is the Boulevard Ring, which runs from the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in south-west central Moscow, to the mouth of the Yauza in south-east central Moscow.

The next ring road is the Garden Ring, which used to be the place of Moscow's outer walls. It derives its name from the fact that landowners near the road in Tsarist times were obligated to maintain gardens to make the road attractive. In Soviet times the road was widened.

The recently constructed Third Ring is not much use for tourists but is a heavily used motorway which absorbs a bit of Moscow's traffic. The outer edge of Moscow is largely defined by the Moscow Ring Road, a motorway which encircles the entire city (similar to London's M25 and Paris' Peripherique). Finally, a Fourth Ring is due to be built between the Third Ring and the Moscow Ring Road in the next years.

Eat

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Most tourists will find eating out in Moscow quite expensive. It does not have to be that way, but the most visible options generally are. Although the restaurant scene in Moscow is a vast improvement from Soviet times, Russians still eat out infrequently and regard restaurants as a luxury.

There are a number of Western (American) franchise restaurants, such as KFC and TGI Friday's. On Old Arbat Street there is a Hard Rock Cafe that serves the same menu it does worldwide for reasonable prices. Also, they are open for breakfast at 6 am and serve traditional Western breakfasts for what works out to be about $8 USD per person. Fresh squeezed orange juice and hash browns are a highlight here. You can eat outdoors and people watch on the endlessly fascinating parade of characters that walk the street all day and all night.

Great American-style breakfasts can be had at either of the Amerikanski Bar locations, as well as thick juicy cheeseburgers.

A huge and quickly growing range of restaurants, with a matching range of prices, has developed in Moscow. The average cost per person for a middle to top class restaurant will be $30 to $200 (more...