NOVEMBER 2008 www.passportmagazine.ru The Travel Issue Wish You Were Here Contents THE TRAVEL ISSUE 4 Calendar and Editor’s Choice What’s doing in Moscow in November 8 November in Russian History 16 10 Film of the FSU 12 Books, Music, Shopping 14 Art History Leonid Berlin 24 16 On Track: The Railway Section Museum of the History of Railway Technology Anton Lange’s Photos from a Train Window The Trans-Siberian Express Russia’s Time Zones 24 Goa by Motorcycle 28 28 Scuba Diving in Palau 30 Viva Las Vegas! 34 Down Mexico Way 38 Business 30 Sky Express: Russia’s First Budget Airline 42 Wine & Dine Restaurant Review: Casta Diva Hospitality News Wine & Dine Listing 50 Columns 34 54 Out & About 56 The Last Word Passport Poll 38 Letter from the Publisher It’s November in Moscow, and we all know that can mean only one thing. No, not newly bare trees and rainy weather that leaves mud spattered all over the cuff s of your trousers, not signifi cantly shorter days and a chill in the air. OK, so November in Moscow can mean a number of things. One of them is Passport’s Travel Issue! Yes, Passport’s November issue is all about travel, from motorcycling in Goa (page 24) to scuba diving in Palau (page 28) to strolling down the Las Vegas Strip (page 30). Russian TV personality Eva Lanska will help you get packed (page 13), and Neil McGowan will help you reset your watch (Russian time zones, page 23). In “On Track,” a special section devoted to rail travel, take the Trans-Siberian Railway clear across Russia (page 20). Of course, those more pressed for time can settle for a visit to Moscow’s Museum of the History of Railway Technology (page 16). Read about what to download onto your iPod before you hit the road (page 12), dinner in Italy (via a new Moscow restaurant, review on page 42), and the culture of the marshrutka (page 52). For the armchair traveler, we recommend a celluloid itinerary: fi lms of the Former Soviet Union (page 10). Art lovers can read about sculptor Leonid Berlin (page 14). John Ortega Plus our regular columns, Th is Month in History, and the Passport Poll. So fasten your seatbelts, return your seat to its upright position, and turn off any electronic Owner and Publisher devices (except, of course, if you are reading this online). It’s Passport’s Travel Issue! Passport mourns the recent passing of longtime friend and supporter David Self. David came to Russia in 1996 to jointly manage Hanscomb, which he helped to grow into a very success- ful company before leaving to form Savant with several partners in 2003. Along with his col- leagues, David spearheaded the construction consultancy’s activities in Russia, overseeing its tremendous growth and leading Savant to become one of the largest service providers in Rus- sia. David was well known for his kindness, humor, wise counsel, and friendship both inside and outside the office. He will be sadly missed by his wife and three children as well as by his friends and colleagues in Moscow’s business community. Passport is hiring a full-time designer. Candidates should be creative, hard-working team-players. Knowledge of Quark or InDesign essential, English language not required. Send resume to [email protected] Owner and Publisher Arts Editor Webmaster John Ortega, +7 (985) 784-2834 Alevtina Kashitsina Alexey Timokhin [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Managing Director Advertising Manager Accounting and Legal Services George Voloshin Simon Connolly Vista Foreign Business Support [email protected] [email protected] Trubnaya St. 25/1, Moscow +7 (495) 933-7822 Editor Designer Contributors Isabelle Hale Andrey Vodenikov Charles Borden, Anne Coombes, Piers Gladstone, [email protected] [email protected] Ross Hunter, Daniel Klein, Vladimir Kozlov, Linda Lippner, Deputy Editor Photographers Claire Marsden, Neil McGowan, Olga Slobodkina-von Anna Kulyagina Ben Berghaus, Sergei Koshkin Brømmsen, Boris Sorokoumov, Jillian Thomas [email protected] Editorial Address: Published by OOO Passport Magazine. All rights reserved. Passport occasionally uses material we believe has been 42 Volgogradsky Prospekt, Bldg. 23 This publication is registered by the Press Ministry No. 77- placed in the public domain. Sometimes it is not possible Office 013, 1st floor 18639. 08.10.04 to identify and contact the copyright owner. If you claim 109316 Moscow, Russia Printed by Mozhaysky Poligrafichesky Kombinat ownership of something we have published, we will be 93 Mir Street, 143200 Mozhaysk, Russia pleased to make a proper acknowledgment. Tel. +7 (495) 978-2012 Fax +7 (495) 620-0888 www.passportmagazine.ru 2 November 2008 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Th ursday Friday The American The International The American SAVE THE DATE! Women’s Women’s Club (IWC) Women’s International Women’s Club To include an event Organization (AWO) General Meeting Organization (AWO) of Moscow in our calendar, Winter Bazaar 2008 15th annual Russian craft fair Saturday, November 22 holds regular coff ee mornings Saturday, Dec. 6, 10:00-16:00 please email information to Thursday, November 13, 2008 10:00 am to 12:00 pm 1st and 3rd Wednesday Radisson SAS Slavyanskaya Hotel [email protected] 10am to 4pm European Union Delegation of each month For more information, call Park Place Children’s art exhibition from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm 7 (916) 259-1565 or email or call 113/1 Leninsky Prospect and auction! Hard Rock Cafe [email protected] (495) 978-2012 Metro Yugo-Zapadnaya (red line), For more information, Stary (Old) Arbat, d. 44, fi rst wagon from the center, then visit www.iwcmoscow.ru. tel.: 205-8335 by the 15th of the month trolleybus No. 62 or 84 Metro Smolenskaya prior to the event. For more information visit Admission fee: 100 rubles http://awomoscow.blogspot.com. All proceeds benefi t local charity. Please join us! Tarja Turunen B1 Maximum, 20:30 Fool’s Garden (rock) B1 Maximum, 21:00 Songs of Russian Immigration Slipknot (alternative rock) Art House Th eater, 19:00 Nogu Svelo (Russian rock) Olimpiysky Sports Complex, 20:00 16 Tonn Club, 21:00 34567Protest the Hero (rock) Legendary Melodies of the 20th Century Th e Casualties (punk) Tochka Club, 20:00 Traditional Blues Nights Golden Ring Th eater, 19:00 Tochka Club, 19:00 International House of Music, 19:00 Future Sound of Russia Festival ABBA Show Mir Concert Hall, 20:00 Ethno Fest (Russian folk) 16 Tonn Club, 21:00 Yuta (vocal, Rus) Also November 4 16 Tons Club, 21:00 Tochka Club, 23:30 Anatoly Tekuchev Quartet (jazz) Svetlana Kovalenko and Gureev Noize MC (hip-hop) Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 21:00 Trio Elinte (jazz) Ensemble (jazz) Mariam and Miraif Band (jazz) Tochka Club, 19:00 Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 21:00 Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 21:00 Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 21:00 Garry Grodberg (organ) Alexander F Sklyar (Russian rock) Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Small Hall, Vasily Dolinsky (organ) Bach soloists (classical) Pratum Integrum (religious music) 16 Tonn Club, 21:00 19:00 Roman Catholic Cathedral, 19:30 St. Andrew’s Church, 19:30 Roman Catholic Cathedral, 20:00 The International Club de Damas Latinas Okean Elzi (rock, Ukraine) Women’s Club (IWC) Monthly Meeting, 11:00-14:00 B1 Maximum, 21:00 Newcomers’ Coff ee 10:00 - 12:00 Centro Espanol, 18/7 Kuznetsky An Evening of Early Vocal Music Le Pain Quotidien, Novinsky Blvd., Most, Tel. 921-7394 St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, 19:30 Grigory Leps (vocal, Russia) bldg. 7, M. Smolenskaya, RSVPs For information, contact Patricia State Kremlin Palace, 19:00 10 11 12Martinez-Christie, 7 (905) 708-9242 13Chuck Berry (blues) 14Also November 15 required. For more information, visit www.iwcmoscow.ru. or [email protected] B1 Maximum, 20:30 Shaherezada. Bolero. Polovetskiye Spyro Gyra Viktor Zinchuk (guitar) Plyaski (balllet show) R’n’B Festival Moscow House of Music, 19:00 State Kremlin Palace, 19:00 New Opera Th eatre, 19:00 Olimpiysky Sports Complex, 19:00 Michael Bolton (soft rock) State Kremlin Palace, 19:00 Bravo band Tcheboza (Russian rock) From Monument to Masses (rock, US) Rap Party 25th anniversary concert 16 Tonn Club, 21:00 16 Tonn Club, 22:00 Tochka Club, 18:30 Uliana Lopatkina and Roland Petit State Kremlin Palace, 19:00 (ballet show) Mikhail Grinn Invites (jazz) Mus Energo Festival (jazz) Jazz Dance Orchestra Moscow Operetta Th eatre, 19:00 Black Coff ee and Jazz (fantasy with bass) Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 20:00 Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 20:00 Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 21:00 Also November 12 Amadei Th eater, 19:00 Also November 27 Also November 16 Carmen (ballet) Bolshoi Th eater, 19:00 Surganova and Orchestra Also November 21, 22, 23 (Russian rock) B1 Maximum, 20:00 Velvet (Russian rock) 16 Tonn Club, 21:00 Ara Martirosyan the Fift h Element 17 18 19 20 21 (vocal, piano) Gregory Fain Band (jazz) Mir Concert Hall, 20:00 Soyuz Kompozitorov Club, 21:00 Amatory (rock) Poker House, 19:00 – 1:00 SDK MAI, 20:00 1st Annual Charity Poker Tournament Also November 22 Jean-Michel Jarre Get to Tochka Festival To benefi t KidSave State Kremlin Palace, 19:00 Tochka Club, 18:30 Alarm Will Sound (jazz) Sports Club Okean Tequilajazz (fusion) Also November 21 Th rough November 20 International House of Music, 19:00 Prospekt Mira, dom 91, bld. 3 16 Tonn Club, 21:00 M. Alekseevskaya Madball (hard rock) Quintet of Alexander Oseitchuk (jazz) Jazz Th eater of Alexander Rostotsky For more information visit Eteri Beriashvili (vocal jazz) Tochka Club, 19:00 Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 21:00 Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 21:00 www.kidsave.org Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 21:00 Sonata Arctica (rock) Solnishko Children’s Choir MAI SDK, 20:00 St.