>>Enter nostalgic mode. <<
"Moscow Nights" is likely one of the best known Russian songs abroad. Despite being somewhat contrived, however, it possesses the right kind of sentimentality, especially when performed by our operatic badass, Dmitri Hvorostovsky:
The river is flowing, and seems still;
Everything shines silver in the moonlight;
Song is heard, and then it's silent again
On these quiet evenings.
Like this:
Of course, technically the song is about those nights that are spent outside of Moscow. Yet, at the same time, Russia's capital was smaller when it was written in the 1950s, so the error is forgivable.
Moscow is a magical city. If you look up, you just might catch a glimpse of a naked witch flying over your head as she straddles a pig. At least in literature!
But it can also be serene. After all, it rightfully is the Third Rome.
These are my recent Moscow nights:
A bit too central, but at least I lived them.