Please find the the first spring issue of our newsletter - update on Moscow hotels, interesting museums in St Petersburg as well as the information on first woman cosmonaut in the world.

Sincerely,
Helen Isaeva

New Hotels in Moscow

Azimut Hotel Smolenskaya 4* is a branded new AZIMUT Hotel, which will open its doors for guests in May 2017 and become a flagship hotel of the AZIMUT Hotels chain. AZIMUT Hotel Smolenskaya Moscow is a 23-storey building located in the center of Moscow, just a 3 minutes' walk from the Smolenskaya metro station and the famous Arbat street (pedestrian street) with variety of cafes, musuems and shops. The hotel has a unique architectural and historic surroundings: Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Novy Arbat streets, theatres, museums and restaurants. The distance to the Kremlin and the Red Square is 3 km.

Due to the functional approach to the ideal hotel room creation the SMART concept was designed. Every detail of interior was designed to guarantee cozy atmosphere, comfortable stay and a feeling of harmony.
Each room has:

• Comfortable bed/beds
• Large full-length mirror
• Bathroom with Rainshower
• Comfortable working desk
• LED lights with diffused light
• Multimedia phone which functions as a charger, music player and an alarm clock
• Wi-Fi and wired Internet access
• Large number of multifunctional utility hooks along one of walls of the room

StandArt Hotel 5*
A member of Design Hotels Alliance
StandArt Hotel is the first Russian member of International Community Design Hotelstm, which unites more than 280 independant hotels in 50 countries. The original retro-futuristic design, central location and a Michelin restaurant allowed StandArt Hotel to become a debut representative of the design alliance in Russia.

In Moscow StandArt Hotel is a new and unique phenomenon which combines progressive modern technology and top-class comfort. Each room has desigh futuristic interior, bed linen and bath accessories by ETRO home brand, french cosmetics by Lanvin, HD TVs Magic Mirror with Smart TV function. The rooms are very spacious.

The StandArt Hotel Moscow defines current global trends and needs of the modern audience, interacts with cultural clusters and communities of Moscow, Russia and the world, and organizes joint art activities and exhibitions.

Museums for Connoisseurs in St. Petersburg
We would like to offer you the information on the museums that are not visited often by the guests - nevertheless are very worth visiting for those who are interested to make step aside from "must to do" route.

The State Museum of Political History of Russia located in the Mansion of Matilda Kshesinskaya.

Matilda Kshesinskaya, a prima ballerina of the Imperial theatres, owned a mansion in St. Petersburg. The Revolution forced Kshesinskaya to leave her house as well as her country. Personal belongings, archival documents, and photos (many of which are shown to the public for the first time) tell visitors what happened to Matilda and the mansion afterwards.
The museum exhibits photos of young Malechka who infatuated the future Emperor Nicholas II, Little K who easily made 32 fouettes in a row, passionate Matilda, Madame 17 who enjoyed a game of roulette and finally the Duchesse Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya, faithful wife and caring mother. All these women are Matilda Kshesinskaya bestowed by a great longevity (1872-1971). Now the mansion is known as Political History museum odf Russia and has a variety of intersting documents and artifacts representing the history of the country from late 19th century to 1990s. The exhibitions here are now getting the increasig interest of the public due to the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution of 1917.

Museum of Applied Art after A. L. Stieglitz
The Stieglitz Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts ranks among the most significant museums in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The project had its beginnings in 1878 when Baron Alexander von Stieglitz (1814-84), a millionaire philanthropist, donated funds to build a museum for the benefit of students of the Central School of Engineering Design, which had been established by him earlier. The new museum was to accommodate Stieglitz's private collection of rare glassware, porcelains, tapestries, furniture, and tiled stoves.
The museum's first director, Maximilian Messmacher, based his design upon a similar museum in Vienna. Constructed between 1885 and 1896, the building is an example of the Neo-Renaissance. The ground floor with arched windows is heavily rusticated and the upper storey is turgid with ornate details and statuary. The central hall is set between two-storey Italianate arcades.

Out of 30,000 items stored in the museum at the time of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Communist authorities handed over the most precious exhibits to the Hermitage Museum. The Stieglitz Museum continued as a branch of the Hermitage until 1926, when it was abolished, only to be restored three years later as a separate institution. During the Soviet years luxurious interiors fell into disrepair, with one hall used as a gym, its walls painted over. It was until the fall of the Soviet Union and then the restoration process began.

At present, the Museum, being free from bureaucratical barriers, opens its doors wide for visitors and actively cooperates with the School graduates, painters, creative associations and other museums. The Museum scientists are engaged in the intensive research work. The Museum collections were exhibited in London, Paris, Vienna, Frankfurt-on-Main, Hanoi. It is quite realistic now, that in the nearest future this largest Russian museum of applied arts will become one of the most popular museums for St. Petersburg residents and its guests.

Valentina Tereshkova: The First Lady Cosmonaut Selebrates 80 Years Jubilee

Valentina Tereshkova was born on March 6, 1937. She is the first woman to have flown in space, having been selected from more than 400 applicants to pilot Vostok 6.

On June 16, 1963, Valentina Tereshkova took off, eventually circling the globe 48 times over the course of almost three days and cementing her place in history as the first woman to leave Earth's atmosphere. She performed a series of biological experiments on plants and animals on board; took photos, film, and notes; and monitored various devices tracking both her body and the spacecraft. She also successfully steered the spaceship to orbit the Earth instead of travel away from it, which the capsule was initially doing until Tereshkova figured her way around the glitch.

In order to join the Cosmonaut Corps, Tereshkova was honorarily inducted into the Soviet Air Force and thus she also became the first civilian to fly in space. Before her recruitment as a cosmonaut, Tereshkova was a textile-factory assembly worker and an amateur skydiver. After the flight she took very active part in political and social life of the country. She remained politically active following the collapse of the Soviet Union and is still regarded as a hero in post-Soviet Russia. Being 80, the lady now leads a very active life, being member of Russian
parliament and participating in different events related to Cosmonautics. In 2013, she said she would like to go on a one-way trip to Mars one day if the opportunity arose.