A Gentleman in Moscow

A Gentleman in Moscow....and although George fits the bill, I'm not talking about him! talking about the wonderful novel by Amor Towles A Gentleman in Moscow. The story is fiction but it is set in the very real Hotel Metropol.  

When we visited Moscow I was determined to go and see the setting for one of my favorite novels of the year.  I'd looked it up on google maps thinking that George and I would have to venture out on our own to find it.  Turns out, the tour group walked right past it to get to our bus.  Easy!  And it was only a short walk from our hotel!  Perfect!  

My favorite quote from the book "And when that celestial chime sounds, perhaps a mirror will suddenly serve its truer purpose-revealing to a man not who he imagines himself to be, but who he has become."

Trust me on this and read this great book!  You won't regret it

The Hotel Metropol takes up most of a city block. Right now the entry is on the right but I suspect that after a renovation the entry will be just behind that blue bus. 

When I look up at the windows on the top I imagine that as the count's attic rooms. 

The ornate lobby reminded me of this quote from the book:

“After all, what can a first impression tell us about someone we’ve just met for a minute in the lobby of a hotel? For that matter, what can a first impression tell us about anyone? Why, no more than a chord can tell us about Beethoven, or a brushstroke about Botticelli. By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration—and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour.”

Staff only....

Entryway stairs.  It is all quite grand.

George and I just walked in there like we belonged....and no one questioned us.  That might have been because the security guards didn't seem to speak English! 

Sofia's piano - at least in my mind it was! 

"Looking back, it seems to me that there are people who play an essential role at every turn.....as if Life itself has summoned them once again to help fulfill its purpose. Well, since the day I was born, Sofia, there was only one time when Life needed me to be in a particular place at a particular time, and that was when your mother brought you to the lobby of the Metropol."

With my new book loving friend Marla.