The light-blue metro line has always been more of a source of confusion to me than anything else. It does take you to the infamous Gorbushka emporium of pirated intellectual property (at the Bagrationovskaya station), but before last month I had never used it to get to any other destination. The confusing part is that downtown, the light-blue line runs parallel to the dark-blue line, and three pairs of stops on the two lines are identically named: Arbatskaya, Smolenskaya, and Kievskaya (check out this high-res map).
The Kievskaya stations are linked by a transfer passageway (along with the ring-line station of the same name), but the other two pairs of stations are, for me, the most confusing part of the Moscow metro - stations with the same name but with entrances/exits in different places. The only distinction for that stretch of track is that the dark-blue line is much deeper underground, while the light-blue line is closer to the surface and crosses the Moskva River on a bridge. I guess I was just always bitter that I never used to be able to recall which of the two Arbatskaya stations actually got you to the Old Arbat pedestrian street, and by the time I learned the difference it was time for me to leave Moscow.
An expat's moving sale provided us with an excuse to take a trip out to the end of the line on August 13 - we wound up with a cordless phone, an iron, a bathroom scale, and a large metal pot for our trouble. Here's what we saw:
On the platform.
Statue hanging above the escalator onto the station's platform; the statue's pose is reminiscent of the Vladimir Vysotsky statue near the Petrovskie Gates, except that Vladimir Semyonovich has a guitar on his back instead of wings.
Rays of sunshine light up a partly cloudy sky.
Unexpected wildflowers.
A bird flies amidst large residential buildings.
Classic end-of-the-line graffiti - "Krylatskoe rules the world!" - on a utility shed, with residential buildings in the background.
Can you spot the kitty-cat in the balcony window?
PS - see the links on the sidebar at left for more photos from the End of the Line series.
4 comments:
I would have wanted to find that graffiti myself. It is genial.
Superb, Lyndon.
When I stayed in the Belgrad Hotel on Smolenskaya Ploschad at the end of the Starii Arbat, I struggled to determine which station would get me home. I think the Arbatskayas are at the opposite end of the Starii Arbat to Smolenskaya Ploschad, which is served by one of the Smolenskaya stations.
This is situated in a small market area off Starii Arbat, but is very difficult to find as it is not signposted from the street. If you walk down Starii Arbat with McDonalds on your right, you duck down a side street and come into a small and crowded market area, and the metro station is cleverly hidden in there.
I'm sure you know this, but I like describing it anyway.
Actually, the plot thickens.
According to the t-shirt I was wearing at the time of reading this post, one which displays the Moscow Metro map on the front, it is possible to go to a three further stations from Крылатское, using a line called Строящиеся линии. They are called Строгино, Волоколамская, and Митино.
Tim, "stroiashchiesia linii" means "lines being built," or, as some other transit systems call them, "future stations." Someday, the light-blue line will go all the way out to Mitino, but for now, Krylatskoe is definitely the end of the line.
Post a Comment