Autor: Tim Jäkel

This is the second post in a series on swimming pools in Moscow. The Aqua complex on Lyzhniki’s huge olympic sport area Moskva offers a high-quality outdoor pool. The pool has eight 50 meters lanes. There are no starting blocks on either side of the pool. The admission fee for a 90-minutes session is 800 roubles. In contrast to most public pools admission does not require a medical certificate!

The pool is locate just next to Воробьевы горы (Sparrow Hills) metro station on the famous red line (pictured below). An alternative is to exit Moscow’s new rapid transports system’s (МЦК, Moscow Central Circle) Lyzhniki station.

Unless there are ugly and silly things to report (economic turnturn, election fraud, etc.) German mainstream media routinely tends to ignore any information about Russia at all. Reporting is biased towards unethical behaviors and perceived negative deviations from Continental European moral standards. Handelsblatt, HB, a reputable daily business newspaper, now breaks the ice, reporting that Russias economy will growth a mere 1.5 per cent; not brilliant, but better than nothing, as HB put it. German companies hibernated the EU’s sanctions; exports from Germany have increased by 26.3 per cent (to 12.7 bn Euro) in the 1nd and 2nd quarter of 2017. HB forecasts more social policy spending ahead of the 2018 presidential elections; but predicts an ongoing lack of structural reforms. As the essential problem they identify the lack of a clear strategy in economic policy making. I only wonder why the author uses the term Socialism 2.0 to describe Russias economic policy outlook.

Reference: Matthias Brüggemann, Handelsblatt, 11.09.2017, „Sozialismus 2.0“, page 12

I am still thinking about it; with no artist indicated but seen near Moscow’s Technical university (у. и. Баумана)

Moscovites will choose their local representatives soon, local election are scheduled for September 10. Pictured below is a campaigning poster from political party Яаблоко, Apple, for вернадский district in the southwest of Moscow, one of the 120 administrative districts in the capital.

Осень прешла – autumn has arrived in Moscow.

Moscow’s Трубная metro station hosts a pitoresque mural of middle-age Moscow. On the 9, 9 is for line no. Nine, the gray line, and simply refers to Jennifer Lopez‘ longplayer in the late 90ies or early 2000ies, on the six (th line, in New York).

As every year, young Moscovites as well as their parents have been celebrating Day of Knowledge on 1st of September. 1st of September is also traditional first day for newbies in school. Pictured below a poster near Moscow’s Leninskiy avenue. Also at Higher School of Economics a new academic season started and I recognized a lot of new faces. Welcome on board, freshmen and women!

Moscow will celebrate its 870th anniversary from 1-10 September. An outdoor exhibition at Clean ponds metro station displays wonderful photos from the 1930ies to 1970ies. The exhibition is entitled ‚Moscow is inventing‘ (Москва изобретает). Watching these wonderful photos really made me proud of being a guest in this marvellous and exciting city.

Heading back to work this piece of street art also grabbed my attention.

At times Moscow is a large construction site. You will hardly find a major crossroad, metro station exit, or city center side-street which does not experience a major renovation. You will have to watch your step even more carefully when hastling to office right now, but Moscow will look brighter in 2018 for sure. Moscovites are used to eternal potholes anyway, so what. Polishing of public sidewalks comes along as FIFA’s 2018 world cup is approaching.

But this is more than Potemkin’s villages. Moscow is in fact the only city I know in the western hemisphere which is expanding his public transportation infrastructure, in a systematic and sensemaking manner. A second circle line is under construction. Picture above gives a glimpse of one of the new stations near existing Kalushska station.

While German policy makers keep on talking weird talk about driverless cars, I say: a driverless car is what we used to call public transportation. If you want to read the newspaper while going to work, take a ride on the metro.