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        <title>Been there | Tips</title>
        
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            Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love,
            live in or have just visited - are what make this guide.
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                <title>Trans-Siberian</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33435</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[A journey through the hidden beauties of the Russian and Mongolian countryside, witness the harsh lives of smugglers and vagrants, taste simple cuisine, listen to stories around you from the rich and poor alike, yet create your own tale as you travel through a compelling experience.]]></description>
                
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                <title>Taking a trip with Moscow Greeter</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30486</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA["Moscow Greater" is one of the best think I have faced in my trips. To be sincere I was a little doubting in asking for the help of "Moscow Greater" and when I applied online I didn't took it seriously, but I really appreciated your being correct and interesting in showing us Mockba :) <br><br>Instead of specially trained guides, it’s the inhabitants of the Russian capital themselves who operate the walking tours of the “other” Moscow’s lanes and alleys. They show guests their personal Moscow, the one they know and love… the one that no guide book, even the most detailed, can reveal to tourists.<br><br>For sure I'll recommend your "Moscow Greater" to all my friends, because you are Great :)<br><br>Thank you and hope to meet again.<br><br>Best regards, Orieta]]></description>
                
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                <title>Moscow House of Photography (Moskovskii Dom Fotografii)</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/29914</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[Photo Museum/gallery in one of the loveliest bits of Moscow. Inside I've never seen a boring photo. Sometimes a little subversive, always entertaining, so well composed it's like Eisenstein himself curates. Often they have photos showing what it's like outside Moscow, which show the awesome beauty, and often desolation of the country. There's always a couple of exhibitions, generally a historical or landscape alongside a celeb-focused or art shoot. In a small-ish space, a lot of variety.  Cheap to get in too! Price varies, but generally around £5 mark.]]></description>
                
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                <title>Cruise on the MS Volga Dream</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/27084</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[The MS Volga Dream is a luxury cruise boat that sails between Moscow and St Petersburg. The experience onboard is genuinely luxurious with amazing food, spacious cabins and beautiful decor. This is a great way to discover the beauty of the Russian countryside along with some ancient villages and islands, which you visit along the way. The cruise takes six days but you should really combine it with a couple of days in both Moscow and St Petersburg.]]></description>
                
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                <title>Real Russia</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/25678</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[These guys are fantastic at sorting out visas, trains, planes - anything to do with visiting Russia and all online with super friendly phone backup.<br><br>We did the Trans-Siberian last year and they sorted out all our tickets and hotels so we could concentrate on enjoying Russia. Wow, what a place - don't hold back just go. It will really blow your mind!]]></description>
                
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                <title>moscow-on-the-line</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24349</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[A relatively new blog from someone who is based in Moscow and has a great 'take' on the city.]]></description>
                
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                <title>Mayakovskiy Museum</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24140</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[Moscow's oddest museum, in a hollowed-out apartment block. Miles away from artefacts in glass cases, the chaotic, agitprop presentation attempts to tell the story of the poet's life while simultaneously create the experience of walking around Mayakovkiy's head in full creative flow.]]></description>
                
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                <title>Dzhagannat</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24038</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[It is a vegetarian restaurant and health food store in the heart of Moscow. Hidden on Kutznetsky Mostly it provides a hippy breathing space from the glitz and glamour of Tverskaya's high street cuisine. Last time I visited it, there were two options: crusty cafe or refined restaurant dining. Preference is determined by price. I went for the crusty and it was good. Although after spending a year living out in Moscow and missing the chickpeas, any place like this would seem Heaven on Earth. It is well worth checking out though.]]></description>
                
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                <title>Patriarshy Dom Tours</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24033</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[This is a local tour company who provide everything from walks around the Kremlin to weekends away at the 'Golden Ring' towns. The guides are knowledgable, English speaking locals and it's a very friendly and reasonably priced service.]]></description>
                
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                <title>Moscow Stations</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24032</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[Venedikt Yerofeev's brilliant novel weaves drunkenly around Moscow's environs.]]></description>
                
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                <title>Peter's Walks</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24024</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[Peters walking tours in St Petersburg are fantastic - tour  guides are knowledgeable and friendly. They take you off the usual tourist  trail, visiting places that aren't in your guide book, visit local  cafes and use public transport to get about. These things all add to the  experience and give you something that most Brisitsh tourists wouldn't be able  to achieve for themselves. The tour guides tailor make the tour to suit  customers and give lots of historical and political information as well as  answering questions]]></description>
                
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                <title>Comrade hostel</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24023</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[I stayed at the Comrade hostel in Moscow last  April. It's a tiny hostel, but most of them are. I'm led to believe that hostels  need to pay fees to the Mafia, so people run really small places that look like  apartments with no signs outside. This is no exception and doesn't have a sign  outside, just a tiny hostelworld/bookers sticker on the door.  <br>The guy who runs the  place is incredibly helpful, however, and booked our train tickets for us - a  difficult feat for people who don't speak Russian and was happy to give advice.  He even took some of the other guests out for lunch and on a train journey day  trip. The place is clean, but basic, the real draw are the staff (really just  one guy - terribly I can't remember his name).<br>The location is  fantastic - about five minutes walk from Red Square.]]></description>
                
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                <title>Business lunch</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/23990</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[It's offered by lots of restaurants in Russia now and it has no Russian translation - they use the English phrase 'business lunch'. You get three courses - salad, soup and main - served up in less than half an hour. There will be a few choices for each course, so for the main you might choose chicken or beef or fish with rice or potatoes. It's speedy, fresh, light and a new-ish Russian institution.]]></description>
                
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                <title>Getting train tickets</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/23969</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[You can check the Russian rail timetables and book tickets online now. Nice to see some progress - getting tickets used to be a nightmare!<br><br>I used this site for my Trans Siberian tickets. You can book any tickets for travel inside Russia or to neighbouring countries.]]></description>
                
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                <title>Dom Zhur</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/23959</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[A restaurant at the central house of journalists. Cosy surroundings, attentive staff and a great menu of food from Russia and CIS with what has got to be a truly delicious dessert: strekoza.]]></description>
                
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                <title>Petrovka Loft</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/22737</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[Boutique hostel right in the centre of Moscow. Walking distance from all the main sites. In a city with crazy hotel prices, this is a great little option. It's in a converted communal apartment (but with all mod cons) so you feel like you're staying in the 'real' Moscow rather than a soulless chain hotel. V friendly and helpful staff complete the homely experience.]]></description>
                
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                <title>Don't take the Moscow - St Petersburg sleeper train</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/21616</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[It sounds like a romantic way to cross the vast open spaces of Russia, leaving Moscow one evening and awaking to the Romanov's splendid Baroque capital. However the beds are cramped and uncomfortable, the train rattles far too much to get much sleep, and the toilets are disgusting. There was a certain charm to watching snow-covered fields and forests pass by in the half-light, but I suspect the view (particularly of a vast lake at one point) would have been all the more stunning during the day, and I wouldn't have felt like a zombie the day after.]]></description>
                
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                <title>Starlite Diner</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/21613</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[All-American diner in the heart of Moscow (several locations). Great value breakfasts with unlimited coffee, free English-language papers and CNN.]]></description>
                
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                <title>GULAG Museum</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/21401</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[This small museum houses a massively worthwhile exhibition. Though it's virtually all in Russian, I would also encourage non Russian-speakers to visit. If you know something about GULAG already, you'll find the artefacts and artworks fascinating. If you are visiting Moscow and don't know anything about GULAG; you need to learn. I was made to feel very welcome and given a personal guided tour.]]></description>
                
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