Camera is being renewed automatically every few minutes
showing different aspects of Moscow.
Moscow Metro
The Moscow Metro (Russian: Московское метро), which spans almost the entire Russian capital, is the world's second most heavily used rapid-transit system. Opened in 1935, it is well known for the ornate design of many of its stations, which contain outstanding examples of socialist realist art.
In total, the Moscow Metro has 292.2 km (181.6 miles) of route length, 12 lines and 176 stations; on a normal weekday it carries over 7 million passengers. Passenger traffic is considerably lower on weekends bringing the average daily passenger traffic during the year to 6.8 million passengers per day. The Moscow Metro is a state-owned enterprise.
Each line is identified by an alphanumeric index (usually consisting of just a number), a name, and a colour. The voice announcements refer to lines by name, while in colloquial usage they are mostly referred to by colour, except the Lyublinskaya Line (number 10) and the Kakhovskaya Line (number 11) which have been assigned shades of green similar to that of the Zamoskvoretskaya Line (number 2). Most lines run radially through the city, except the Koltsevaya Line (number 5), which is a 20-km-long ring connecting all the radial lines and a few smaller lines outside. On all lines, travellers can determine the direction of the train by the gender of the announcer: on the ring line, a male voice indicates clockwise travel, and a female voice counter-clockwise. On the radial lines, travellers heading toward the centre of Moscow will hear male-voiced announcements, and travellers heading away will hear female-voiced announcements. In addition, there is an abundance of signs showing all the stations that can be reached in a given direction.
The system was built almost entirely underground, although some lines (numbers 1, 2 and 4) cross the Moskva River, while line number 1 also crosses the Yauza River by bridge. Less than 10% of the stations are at or above the surface level. The surface sections of the Metro include the western part of Filyovskaya Line continuing as Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line between Kievskaya and Molodyozhnaya (eight surface stations), and the Butovskaya Light Metro Line (L1) with 4 elevated stations. The other surface stations are Vykhino, Izmaylovskaya and Vorobyovy Gory (the latter is unique in the world being built into a lower level of a bridge). There are several short surface stretches, including those between the stations Avtozavodskaya and Kolomenskaya (where a new station Technopark is going to be built), and between Tekstilshchiki and Ryazansky Prospekt.
The Moscow Metro is open from about 5:30 until 1:00 (the opening time may vary at different stations according to first train schedule, but all stations close for entrance simultaneously at 1:00). During peak hours, trains run roughly every 90 seconds on most lines. At other times during the day, they run about every two to three and a half minutes, and every six to ten minutes late at night. As trains are so frequent, there is no timetable available to passengers.
Currently, the cost of 1 ride is 19 roubles (0.55 Euros or 0.45 GBP) and of the 'Metro travel card' for 70 rides is 600 roubles (17.15 Euros or 14 GBP).
Accredidated people are expected to have free rides.
You can download the Moscow Metro map in PDF fomat from:
The Press Centre and the accreditation desk will be opened on Saturday, 10th May.
The status P2 accreditation has been dropped, while a new status called PF has been added to the scheme.
P-level: Press associated with a media registered at the Chamber of Commerce only (agencies, newspapers, magazines, etc.). The accreditation card procides access to the venue during open rehearsals, the press working area and the press conference area.
PF-level: Specially created for fan media, such as blogs, fan sites and fan magazines, who are not registered at the Chamber of Commerce. The accreditation card provides access to the venue during open rehearsals, a new and special fan media working area, the fan area and the press conference area.
F-level: The accreditation card provides access to the venue during open rehearsals, the fan area and the press conference area.
On Friday 29th February, the official hotels of Belgrade for Eurovision 2008, were announced.
Bookings will be done in two stages; first the delegation and EBU officials and secondly press and fan clubs.
Hotel bookings will be done through Smart4.co.yu and the list of the hotels is:
Delegations and EBU Officials
Press and Fan Clubs
Hyatt regency *****
Continental *****
Aleksandar Palace *****
Balkan ****
Best Western hotel M ****
Best Western hotel umadija ****
IN hotel ****
Holiday Inn ****
Palace ****
Srbija ***
President Kovilovo *****
Residence Kraljičini apartmani *****
Moskva ****
Slavija lux ****
Park ***
Prag ***
Forest ***
Splendid ***
Excelsior **
Prices start from 65 Euros per night and it has to be mentioned that none of the Press and Fan Club''s hotels with rooms in considerable prices has wireless or broadband Internet inside the rooms.
More information will be added here from time to time, until the Eurovision Week.
About Belgrade
Monday, 03 December 2007 08:15
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city lies at the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers in north central Serbia, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkan Peninsula. With a population of 1,576,124 (2002), Belgrade is the largest city on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and the fourth largest in Southeastern Europe, behind Istanbul, Athens and Bucharest.
Belgrade has a moderate continental climate. The year-round average temperature is +11.7 °C, while the hottest month is July, with an average temperature of +22.1 °C.
What can you see in Belgrade?
The National Museum. It houses a collection of more than 400,000 exhibits, including many foreign masterpieces and the famous Miroslavljevo Jevanđelje (Miroslav''s Gospel).
The Military Museum. Houses a wide range of more than 25,000 military exhibits dating as far back as to the Roman period, as well as parts of a F-117 stealth aircraft shot down by Yugoslav forces.
The Ethnographic Museum, established in 1901, contains more than 150,000 items showcasing the rural and urban culture of the Balkans, particularly the countries of the former Yugoslavia.
The Museum of Contemporary Art has a collection of around 8,540 works of art produced in Yugoslavia since 1900.
The Nikola Tesla Museum, founded in 1952, preserves the personal items of Nikola Tesla, the inventor after whom the Tesla unit was named. It holds around 160,000 original documents and around 5,700 other items.
The historic areas and buildings of Belgrade are among the city''s premier attractions. They include Skadarlija, the National Museum and adjacent National Theatre, Zemun, Nikola Paić Square, Terazije, Students'' Square, the Kalemegdan Fortress, Prince Michael Street, the Parliament, the Temple of Saint Sava, and the Old Palace. On top of this, there are many parks, monuments, museums, cafιs, restaurants and shops on both sides of the river. The hilltop Avala Monument offers views over the city. Josip Broz Tito''s mausoleum, called Kuća Cveća (The House of Flowers), and the nearby Topčider and Koutnjak parks are also popular, especially among visitors from the former Yugoslavia.
Transportation
Belgrade has an extensive public transport system based on buses, trams, and trolleybuses.Travel by coach is also popular, and the capital is well-served with daily connections to every town in the country. The motorway system provides for easy access to Novi Sad and Budapest, the capital of Hungary, in the north; Ni to the south; and Slavonski Brod, to the west.
Situated at the confluence of two major rivers, the Danube and the Sava, Belgrade has many bridges—the two main ones are Branko''s bridge and Gazela, both of which connect the core of the city to New Belgrade.
The Port of Belgrade is on the Danube, and allows the city to receive goods by river.
The city is also served by Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG), 12 kilometres west of the city centre, near Surčin.
\r\nWith the city''s expansion and a substantial increase in the number of vehicles, congestion has become a major problem.
Source: Wikipedia
The Belgrade Arena
Monday, 03 December 2007 06:35
The Belgrade Arena is the largest European multi functional indoor arena located in Belgrade, Serbia. It is designed as a universal hall for many sports events, including basketball, handball, volleyball, tennis, athletics, and a hall for cultural events and other programs. With the total space that covers 48,000 square metres, and a total capacity of up to 23,000 seats (for handball events; standard 20,000 seats), it is among the largest indoor arenas in Europe. Belgrade Arena will be the host venue for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.
How to get there
City buses pass in the vicinity of the Arena include: 17, 18, 67, 88, and 601. Those that stop close enough for you to take a short walk include: 16, 65, 68, 71, 75, 94, and 95. Trams that stop relatively close to the Arena are: 7, 9, and 11.
Also in the vicinity of the Belgrade Arena is the New Belgrade Beovoz station (commuter train).
The Hyatt Regency Belgrade Hotel, Sava Belgrade Hotel, and IN Hotel are the hotels near the Arena, just a few minutes
Currency
Monday, 03 December 2007 05:30
Serbian Dinar
The currency of Serbia is Dinar.
Have in mind the following:
1 EURO
Equals to (approx)
79.8431 Serbia Dinars
1 GPB
Equals to (approx)
107.443 Serbia Dinars
If you would like to estimate how much money you should take with you in Belgrade, you can use the currency converter below.
United States
Each line is identified by an alphanumeric index (usually consisting of just a number), a name, and a colour. The voice announcements refer to lines by name, while in colloquial usage they are mostly referred to by colour, except the Lyublinskaya Line (number 10) and the Kakhovskaya Line (number 11) which have been assigned shades of green similar to that of the Zamoskvoretskaya Line (number 2). Most lines run radially through the city, except the Koltsevaya Line (number 5), which is a 20-km-long ring connecting all the radial lines and a few smaller lines outside. On all lines, travellers can determine the direction of the train by the gender of the announcer: on the ring line, a male voice indicates clockwise travel, and a female voice counter-clockwise. On the radial lines, travellers heading toward the centre of Moscow will hear male-voiced announcements, and travellers heading away will hear female-voiced announcements. In addition, there is an abundance of signs showing all the stations that can be reached in a given direction.
The dates of Eurovision 2008 are:
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city lies at the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers in north central Serbia, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkan Peninsula. With a population of 1,576,124 (2002), Belgrade is the largest city on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and the fourth largest in Southeastern Europe, behind Istanbul, Athens and Bucharest.
The historic areas and buildings of Belgrade are among the city''s premier attractions. They include Skadarlija, the National Museum and adjacent National Theatre, Zemun, Nikola Paić Square, Terazije, Students'' Square, the Kalemegdan Fortress, Prince Michael Street, the Parliament, the Temple of Saint Sava, and the Old Palace. On top of this, there are many parks, monuments, museums, cafιs, restaurants and shops on both sides of the river. The hilltop Avala Monument offers views over the city. Josip Broz Tito''s mausoleum, called Kuća Cveća (The House of Flowers), and the nearby Topčider and Koutnjak parks are also popular, especially among visitors from the former Yugoslavia.
Belgrade has an extensive public transport system based on 
The Belgrade Arena is the largest European multi functional indoor arena located in Belgrade, Serbia. It is designed as a universal hall for many sports events, including basketball, handball, volleyball, tennis, athletics, and a hall for cultural events and other programs. With the total space that covers 48,000 square metres, and a total capacity of up to 23,000 seats (for handball events; standard 20,000 seats), it is among the largest indoor arenas in Europe. Belgrade Arena will be the host venue for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.
City buses pass in the vicinity of the Arena include: 17, 18, 67, 88, and 601. Those that stop close enough for you to take a short walk include: 16, 65, 68, 71, 75, 94, and 95. Trams that stop relatively close to the Arena are: 7, 9, and 11.