Straight out of 007: Bodyguards to die for

by Jerry Guo on

From the land of the world’s craziest game show (a real-life version of the video game Grand Theft Auto), I bring you another Russia delight: a corp of sexy female bodyguards-for-hire.

Run out of Moscow, the bodyguard agency provides sultry female bodyguards–many trained by the Soviet-era spy service, the KGB–to “give discreet protection to Moscow’s billionaires and their wives and mistresses.”

Here’s what the owner and top bodyguard of the corp, Anna Loginova (picture to your left), said about her service. “A normal man gets sick and tired of male bodyguards around him all the time. In addition, many restaurants now do not allow a guard inside. They can come in and check everything but then they are asked to wait in the lobby. In contrast, you can take female bodyguards inside, she will sit down at the table and nobody would guess that she’s a weapon herself – and can react appropriately in any dangerous situation.”

But this story doesn’t have a happy ending. 29-year old Loginova died this week while fighting off carjackers who were trying to make off with her Porsche.

Top seven forgotten Soviet-era attractions

by Jerry Guo on

I’ve recently written about urban ruins in Detroit (it’s almost the “perfect” city for visiting abandoned structures, if you think about it). But for something a little more exotic and even sinister, you’ll have to fly to Russia. Here are the top seven “abandoned wonders” of the Soviet Union, courtesy of the good folks at the all things urban blog WebUrbanist.

  • Promyshlennyi, an entire abandoned city–very gloomy feeling
  • A once-secret military submarine base–feels straight out of James Bond’s Goldeneye
  • A gulag–looks less scary without the guards who will shoot you on sight
  • New (but abandoned) buildings–this can only happen in Russia
  • Former missile silo–may be the only decommissioned missile silo open to tourists.
  • Oceanside fortress–comes with miles of secret tunnels, free of charge
  • Your generic giant satellites, mining scoopers, and other heavy machinery–the satellite is the size of a soccer field just to give you some perspective

The craziest game show in the world (and guess from where!)

by Jerry Guo on

With the writer’s strike in the US, television has quickly deteriorated as all the networks switch to an overdose of reality-TV shows. But here’s one I wouldn’t mind watching. It’s hands-down the most insane game show you’ll ever read about.

Set in Moscow (where else), the show is essentially a real-life version of Grand Theft Auto, the video game in which you’re a professional carjacker. In the television version, contestants have a chance to win an actual car. The catch is they have to outrun the police for more than 35 minutes in a live car chase. There’s also another catch–the police have a GPS tracker on your stolen car. And did I mention that they think you stole the car?

It was huge in Russia before getting nixed, garnering twice the number of fans as American Idol on its most successful night. And why not. Did I already say that the episodes sound ridiculous? For instance, in one, an ingenious thief drives his car onto a moving train and in another, the thief drives it onto a raft which floats into the middle of a lake.

For other insane game shows from around the world, check this out.

Diggers of the Underground Planet: Exploring the mysteries beneath Moscow

by Neil Woodburn on

Far below the city streets, in the very bowels of Moscow, a ragtag group of modern-day troglodytes oversee the countless, eerie miles of subterranean tunnels and caves which crisscross their way through the Russian capital.

Most tourists are only aware of Moscow’s phenomenal metro system and limit their time underground to short trips between various stations. The metro, however, is just the tip of the iceberg, as they say.

Vadim Mikhailov (above) knows this because he heads up a group called the Diggers of the Underground Planet. The members don’t technically dig, but they do spend a great deal of their time with flashlight in hand, exploring the six to twelve layers of underground Moscow. Since organizing into a group in 1990, the Diggers have been mapping out the abandoned subway tunnels, sewer systems, drainage tunnels, bunkers, riverbeds, waterfalls, lakes, laboratories, torture chambers, mass graves and more. This 850-year old city has lots to hide.

Perhaps the most infamous underground secret is the private subway Stalin had built which reportedly runs to a number of locations including the Kremlin and even to the suburbs outside of Moscow where Stalin had his dacha. This metro is apparently still in operation and therefore a wise Mikhailov never comments on it.
Even more legendary is the 15th century library of Ivan the Terrible. The underground location of this invaluable collection of Byzantium books and scrolls has been lost to history and treasure seekers have been looking for it ever since. As you might imagine, this is the holy grail of Moscow’s underground and the Diggers are constantly searching for it.

Unfortunately, the Diggers do not conduct tours of the tunnels, although there have been reports of them considering this for the future. In the meantime, it’s probably not a good idea to explore the dark underground on your own. In addition to rats, mutated animals, human waste, corpses, and even discarded radioactive material, the Diggers have also come across satanic cults, armed men in uniforms, and members of the criminal underworld living and doing business underground. This is certainly not a place for amateurs.

The most expensive delicacies in Moscow and where to find them

by Neil Woodburn on

At some point over the last decade, Moscow magically transformed from a city of terrible restaurants and horrific food to a gourmet capital rivaling Paris and New York for pure culinary opulence and high-end extravagance.

In fact, just over ten years ago, there were only one or two “ethnic” restaurant in the entire city. Today, every food imaginable is served here, including some of the most expensive delicacies in the world.

If you don’t believe it, pop on over to the Moscow Times where Stas Shectman’s Taste of Luxury takes us on a culinary adventure to the city’s top restaurants where near-fabled foodstuffs are carefully doled out to the Muscovite elitny.

Shectman gives us the scoop on where we can order blowfish, truffles, caviar, saffron, bluefin toro, aged balsamic vinegar, Jamon Iberico, and Kobe beef–providing, of course, you have rubles to burn and enough bodyguards to watch the entrance while you chow down. Do me a favor though, and let me know how that $100 bluefish sashimi is at Opium Restaurant. I’ve been dying to know.