It sounds like a small task, easily completed; navigate across Moscow using the the Metro. Such a thing is simple in London or Paris or New York, where language, alphabet and layout are readily understandable by first-time tourists, but Moscow is different in several important ways.
The most obvious problem is the alphabet. If you're not familiar with Cyrillic characters it can be difficult to recognise the names of the stations, particularly if the directions from which you are working are written in tourist-friendly Latin characters. To prepare for this you need to know the Cyrillic name of the stations on your route and preferably you need to be able to identify them in both upper and lower case characters in a variety of scripts or fonts.
When you know where you are heading your next task is to find the right Metro line. The lines are numbered and colour coded so that, unlike the London Underground, you don't need to remember the name of the line you want to take. Unfortunately, it is not always immediately obvious which line a platform serves and if you apply your experience of the Tube it is easy to miss overhead signs and, without realising, travel along the wrong line.
Two things exacerbate this problem. Firstly there are almost no maps to be found in the stations so by the time you get to the platform you have to be sure you are in the right place because you probably won't be able check that you are still going in the right direction. Secondly, there is a strange tendency for information about several lines to be presented together as a list of stations on the wall opposite the platform; it isn't clear whether this describes the trains leaving from the platform, the lines passing through the station or something else entirely.
If you do find yourself travelling in the wrong direction or on the wrong line it can be difficult to work out what's going on because the station names generally aren't clearly displayed on the station (unlike London, where the station names are everywhere). When you do spot the station name it's often in a small font on a sign that isn't particularly clear, especially if you're suffering from Cyrillic character recognition issues.
Finally, there are the crowds. Even though the carriages and platforms are long and wide there are so many people using the system that the trains, entrances and exits get very crowded indeed. You need to allow lots of time for getting into and out of the very deep tunnels that form the system and if you don't like being crushed together in a large underground chamber with hundreds of other people you should probably consider travelling on foot.
On the plus side, the stations are magnificent, the trains are fast and regular and the tickets are cheap; if you can master the navigation, Moscow's Metro is by far the best way to move around the city.
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