48 hours in Moscow………………………..?

A Reuters report says for a mysterious place sandwiched between Europe and Asia with a brutal history, Moscow is surprisingly refreshing, with the Russian capital developing fast, offering great food and art buzz against the backdrop of this non-stop city.Reuters correspondents help visitors discover its charms:

FRIDAY

7pm Head straight to Red Square. This iconic spot, where Stalin gave speeches and shivering Russians ring in the new year, is enchanting in the evening light. The mammoth Soviet department store GUM, now filled with Cartier and Gucci, and colorful St Basil’s cathedral, are beautifully lit up at night.

8pm Walk up the famous Ulitsa Tverskaya. This busy street, which extends from the centre, is the main artery of Moscow and is lined with fancy boutiques and lavish hotels. Salute the father of Russian literature as you come up to Pushkin square.

9pm Have a delicious Georgian meal at either Mama Zoya (495 242 8550) which is on a boat, or Mama Nina (495 637 7743), tucked away in a quiet lane. Owned by the same people, both the Mamas are popular with Russians and tourists alike. Try the aubergine with nuts and pomegranate.

11pm Head over to bar Kult (495 917 5706) in Kitai-Gorod. A favorite with Moscow’s artist types, this underground comfy bar has a regular line up of talented funk DJs and serves affordable tasty Russian food until five in the morning. If you’re lucky you might catch a silent film screening with a live orchestra.

SATURDAY

8am Have breakfast at one of the city’s many pancake (‘bliny’) stops scattered around the city. Order a freshly made Russian crepe with sour cream and caviar, banana and chocolate or jam. They’re great with hot tea and lemon and cost around 80 roubles.

9am Get your fill of gold onion domes and wander around the Kremlin’s 500-year-old churches built for the tsars, which are a stone’s throw from president Putin’s office (open daily until 5pm Costs 300 roubles).

11am To one side of the Kremlin on Red Square lies Lenin in a marble mausoleum. Although he has shrunk over the years and is pickled with chemicals, it’s the real thing: see the founder of the USSR in a pool of red light under glass, goatee and all.

Round the back find graves of Soviet leaders, including Stalin and Brezhnev (250 roubles, every day but Monday and Friday until 1pm).

2pm Have lunch at Uzbek restaurant Kish Mish (495-290-0703). This recently established small chain features a delicious as-much-as-you-can-eat buffet of fresh salads, meat dishes and fish for 250 roubles.

4pm Do what the Muscovites do and ‘pogulyat’ – take a stroll. Walk along the elegant embankment past government buildings and neogothic Stalinist skyscrapers to Kievskaya metro and take a river cruise (300 roubles). Float along the Moscow River with a cold beer in hand, passing monasteries and parks.

8pm Eat traditional borsch soup and dumplings at Cafe Margarita. This cosy cafe, no bigger than a living room and lined with books, was founded in the Gorbachev years and has live piano and fiddle music nightly (100 rubles). It is named after Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov’s famous novel ‘Master and Margarita’.

11pm Go clubbing at one of Moscow’s many dance clubs. Don’t be deterred by the mafia image and overpriced drinks many serve, instead opt for Krizis Zhanra, where live bands play, or Propaganda, one of the city’s oldest, and find international top DJs at Gaudi Arena.

SUNDAY

10am Head out to Sparrow Hills (previously Lenin Hills) near the university for a panoramic view of the city. Grab brunch at one of the many cafes nearby.

12pm For more Soviet wonders, make your way to the “Sculpture Park” opposite Gorky Park. Abandoned marble statues of Lenin, Stalin and Karl Marx sit solemnly on this large patch of greenery.

Contemporary Russian sculptors have added to the collection, and installations of labor camps and Russian poverty make an interesting contrast with the Socialist Realism. (100 roubles).

1pm Next door lay the old and new Tretyakov Galleries, some of the largest museums in the world. Enjoy Russian icons in the old Tretyakov and over 65 rooms of modern European and Russian art in the new gallery, including Kandinsky and Chagall (250 roubles).

3pm Buy a metro ticket for 17 roubles and finish Moscow off with the world’s cheapest tour. Speed around this elegant beast that is fiercely efficient and lit by chandeliers.  Gawk at station Ploshchad Revolyutsii, where life-sized bronze Soviets point rifles, or the stained glass chambers of Novoslobdskaya. Around half the metro’s stations are palatial and eye-dazzling.

Report by Reuters and The Mole