[QUOTE=Priceguy]
Moscow. I was there three years ago, and apparently the place has become rather less pleasant since (the whole burgeoning dictatorship thing seems to put people off), but it’s the most beautiful, most impressive city I’ve seen. The language thing is going to be a bitch, but I think it’s worth it.
Architecture? Check. See the one good thing that can be said about totalitarianism: fucking impressive buildings and statues.
Museums? Check. Spend a few days in the Pushkin Museum, but be sure to get there early. Russians like their culture.
New cuisines? Check. Restaurants from every part of the world. Eat Ukrainian, Belarussian, Siberian, Romanian, Hungarian, and that’s just the entrées.
Warm? Well… no. Not even close. Really flipping, arsicle-building, breath-solidifying cold, actually.
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I would say anywhere but Moscow. It’s an interesting city and there are some wonderful people there, but it’s not going to be a relaxing place for a vacation.
It’s become increasingly polluted. In Jan/ Feb - unless you get lucky and have a real cold snap - it’s going to be covered in dirty slush over an unvenly packed layer of slick ice. The air quality on some days in some districts is enough to make you vomit.
The restaurants vary from pretty good (and over-priced, often with indifferent service) to pretty gross (with actively hostile service). No consistency - you may go to a place, have near perfect shishkebab, go back the same day and find its transmogrified into a place serving half cooked, gristly lumps of mystery meat.
Hotel accommodation anywhere vaguely central suffers from ridiculously high prices, thanks to the Mayor’s delusions of grandeur and his practice of pulling down anywhere affordable in order to replace in with a five star hotel.
Some of the architecture is still pretty impressive, and there are some lovely parks but if it’s freezing cold/ the city has turned into a huge slush-pit, you’re not going to want to spend that much time outside.
Getting around - if you’re with someone who’s not physically active or has mobility problems, that’s going to mean you’re pretty much confined to taxis. Which means ordering them from the hotel front desk, where they’ll charge you an arm and a leg.
In short, don’t even think about it. I’ve spent six winters in Moscow. I know (more or less) whereof I speak.
Go to Spain instead. You’ll have a much better time.
