Hooray for city day

Bowling in the city

There is a wide range of bowling alleys in Moscow, which vary significantly in size, price and distance from the center.

Vysotka is perhaps one of the most interesting bowling alleys in downtown Moscow as the club occupies part of the first floor in one of Stalin’s “Seven Sister” skyscrapers. A few minutes walk from Barrikadnaya metro station, the club has eight bowling lanes in a room decorated in the style of a night-time city.

In the room next door there are pool and Russian billiard tables, and meals from the restaurant can be ordered to the bowling room. One lane costs 990 rubles ($31) per hour.

Samolet (Airplane) is probably the biggest bowling club in central Moscow. The club is located in the fancy Krasnaya Presnya district and has 34 lanes, 10 of which are located in a dark room with neon lighting.

Meals from a restaurant menu can be ordered in the bowling hall and players are awarded prizes for scoring over a certain amount of strikes. Three strikes wins you a glass of coke from the bar, and a bottle of Martel cognac is said to be awarded to anyone who finishes with more than 290 points.

The cost of one lane varies from 360 rubles ($11) per hour on a weekday morning to 1200 rubles ($37) per hour on weekend evenings. Students can hire a lane for 210 ($6.50) rubles per hour from noon to 3 pm Monday to Thursday and 390 ($12) rubles from noon to 6 pm on Fridays.

Located just one minute walk away from Smolenskaya metro station is Ba-bi-bo, with seven lanes and a team of professionals trained to help newcomers learn to play. The club can be rented out for corporate holidays and birthday parties.

Prices start at 700 rubles ($27) per hour from noon till 6 pm Mondays to Fridays and reach 1600 rubles ($50) on Friday and Saturday evenings. A 50 percent student discount is available before 6pm on weekdays.

If a more varied night out is what you’re after, Sport Line at Paveletskaya has 14 bowling lanes, a karaoke bar, a night club and sports bar. The lanes in the bowling alley can be equipped with sideboards for children which prevent the ball from rolling down the side tray.

Lanes vary in cost from 480 ($15) to 1,290 ($40) rubles per hour depending on when you go and a special price of 360 rubles ($11) is offered from midnight till 6 am Sunday to Thursday. Students pay 240 rubles ($7.50) per hour before 6 pm on weekdays.

Another popular option is First Bowling club at Prospekt Mira, which has nine lanes. Prices vary from 420 rubles ($13) off peak to 1200 ($37) at weekends and evenings. The club also features pool tables, a restaurant and bar.

Discount coupons for bowling can be ordered online from a number of Russian websites, although most of the discounts are offered at clubs farther away from the center than the venues mentioned above.

A coupon can get you three hours of bowling at the Memphis club near Kuntsevskaya metro station for just 500 rubles ($16). Without discounts prices for bowling in the outskirts don’t differ much from those in the center. An hour at Pharaon club at Kuzminki will set you back from 420 – 1,080 rubles ($13-34). Student and club discounts are also available.

Hooray for city day

Moscow City Day has been shortened from the usual two days to just one this year, but that doesn’t mean that there’s less enjoyment to be had, as all the fun of the fair has been crammed into just the one Sunday.

Those who decide to join the festivities have a good choice of events to choose from. Altogether some 700 events have been scheduled for Sunday.

Red Square has become the main venue this year where a theatrical show with 2,500 musicians and actors will mark the beginning of the festival at midday.

A traditional fireworks display will brighten up the skies right after the closure of theSpasskaya Bashnya tattoo bands festival on the country’ main square. The firework show will take place near the square on Moskvoretskaya Naberezhnaya and should be visible from various locations around the city.

Other locations are also offering something special on the day.

The Boulevard Ring is to host an art-festival “Bulvar Iskusstv” from 2 pm with various open-air exhibitions, performances and concerts.

A gala concert to close the day is taking place on Rozhdestvensky Bulvar from 8 pm featuring both young and well-known Russian bands. “Chicherina,” “Bratya Grimm” and “Konets Filma” have been listed among the festival’s headliners.

Gorky Park has also prepared a special program. Visitors can shop for knickknacks from local designer at art-market Le Picnic (12-10 pm) and enjoy retro-songs from VIA Tatyana(4-7 pm) at Muzykalnaya Estrada performance area.

A laser and musical show at the lookout point at Vorobyovy Gory will use Moscow State University’s main building, one of the city’s Stalin skyscrapers, to project “an architectural video-performance” at 10 pm.

More events will be held in other Moscow parks around town such as VDNKh and Luzhniki among other venues.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 903