LIVING IN MOSCOW IN THE ’00s TURNED ME INTO CITY-GUIDE GIRL, for better or for worse. It was due to pity, basically. If there’s any destination more forbidding or user-unfriendly than Russia, I have yet to find it.

Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Moscow this weekend, and his travel agenda was less than inspiring.

California Governor rode the Moscow metro today. We have to say, Mr. Schwarzenegger is becoming one of the most popular politicians in Russia -- the blogosphere here is filled with “Arnie for Moscow Mayor” slogans and suggestions of metro stops worth visiting.

Nice, a southern French resort town, once popular among Russian intelligentsia and aristocracy, is getting a regular train service to Moscow again, almost a 100 years since it’s been shut down by the Soviet government (apparently, there was not much travel between Moscow and Nice in those days).

A turbulent economy and soaring real estate prices that transformed Moscow into one of the most exciting cities in the world, failed to reach for Kasimov, a small town a mere 150 miles East of Russian capital. Russia! continues its apparently doomed search for a decent breakfast in the provincia.

The heat wave in Moscow breaks all temperature records possible. All air conditioners are sold out, the government is taking emergency measures to help farmers amid the worst draught in 130 years, people are drowning while trying to cool off, and the Kremlin guard regiment has been cancelled due to danger of heat exhaustion.

Russia! introduces a series of reports from towns small and large around Moscow. This week, it’s Dubna and Kymri, situated on the banks of Volga river, 120 kilometers south of the Russian capital.

INFORMATION DESIGNER ERIC FISCHER created a geo-tagged world atlas, where color density on the maps of world's largest cities represents the number of photos uploaded by Flickr users.

DHL, one of the top companies shipping to Russia from the US and Europe, banned non-letter shipment to this country, sighting recent changes in customs regulations and clearance delays.

If you decide to go around Moscow with $1 Million in your bag, here is an advice: Don't. It sounds like a silly advice, doesn't it? But it is not.