"thoroughly overwhelming" Moscow by Faracy

I spent a little time in Moscow at the end of my stint as a foreign exchange student in Russia.. I had been in Sarov, a town not even on maps, where the excitement of the week is going to a (discoteka) at the high school... Moscow was the big scary city that everyone told me it was... in a good and bad way.
There were people driving on the sidewalks, the mafia presence was REALLY obvious... yeah phone calls in the middle of the night at my hotel room for beautiful women as well. I stayed at the Rossia, the hotel you can see across from Red Square.. There´s a lot of action there, so be forewarned.
Red Square is surreal.. I felt like a reporter, I of course had to stand with St. Basils in the background for a picture. I saw Lenin, who to me looked kind of like a stuffed felt creature... very eerie.
I did all the proper tourist things in Moscow, and managed to pretty much stay out of trouble... I looked pretty local which probably helped my cause.
I would love to go back and have more time to really delve into this city.

• Pros:Magnificent buildings, drips with history, picturesque.
• Cons:Scary, dangerous, and prices are inflated for tourists
• In a nutshell:you have to go at least once.