Sokolniki Park, Moscow

On my recent layover to Moscow, myself and one of the other business class crew, Raluca, decided to get a bit of fresh air and explore the area. Our crew hotel has changed so I haven’t been around the area we stay in before, and we started the day off with a coffee at Starbucks in the mall opposite the hotel.

After a browse around the shops (and some very interesting Russian fashion!) we headed outside. Within a few minutes walk there was a beautiful park, which we later found out is called Sokolniki Park.

On the way we passed by a lovely church, painted in gorgeous turquoise blue colours. If the sky wasn’t going to be blue, at least the church could show us some colour!

As we walked through the entrance to the park, we could feel a few drops of rain.

We wandered around, not sure how big the park is (turns out it’s rather large – 6 square km!) and just enjoyed being out in the fresh air surrounded by trees!

Of course we couldn’t resist having a little photo-op on these fun four-wheeled bikes!

As we wandered around those few drops of rain gradually got a bit stronger and all of a sudden we were caught in a downpour! We ran for shelter under some big trees and stayed there for a while until the rain passed.

It wasn’t actually too cold, and I did bring a coat to Moscow but would have been far too warm if I’d worn it. Luckily my thick scarf did a great job as a rain-protector!

As we strolled through all of the small pathways, we found plenty of little stalls selling chips, croissants, corn-on-the-cob, and all sorts of Russian pastries. The park actually has a small funfair inside, which seemed to be closed for the winter. I think they even set up an outdoor ice-skating rink when it gets a bit colder.

Slowly but surely the sun started to shine through the clouds, which made a nice change from the on-and-off downpours!

The park has signposts dotted throughout, which were very helpful as they were in English as well as Russian! We followed signs for the rose garden however due to the cold weather and rain there were no roses left!

As we continued walking we did spot a couple of lovely little pavilions, and some beautiful purple flowers.

The next turn around the corner took us to a gorgeous pond, with plenty of ducks and even one lonely swan swimming about. With the sun out in full force it was the perfect spot to stumble upon!

Raluca and I passed by an apple tree which had lots of fallen fruit so we couldn’t resist trying some Russian apples – although slightly sour they were quite tasty! A delightful little treat to end our walk in the park, which turned out to be over 2 hours of walking!

P.s. Follow me on Instagram & Twitter for more day-to-day updates of where I am in the world!