A lot of the shops here in Russia are just glass boxes with each of the products on show, but you have no access to them! You have to ask the assistant who sits inside (all day mind you) to show you or get whatever you want. Most of them only have a small opening for you to speak into which can mean confusion if your Russian pronunciation isn't up to scratch. This is why I waited a few weeks before trying out my first real Russian store - most of which are predominantly in subways and around Metro stations. I'm comfortable with them now! Unlike in the UK where you buy cigarettes practically in every shop, here in Russia you can only buy cigarettes from specially designated "табак" stores.
This is an example of one of these stores. It's a табак but they also sell snack type food and drink. There's only the little hole below the Bud sign where you speak into and inside is a person who'll go and get what you want! As you can see there is a huge variety of cigarettes available to purchase, and all extremely cheap! Only about £2 for pack. They also have a lot of brands I never knew existed - including 'West' who I only remember from Mika Hakkinen's Maclaren F1 car! From what I can see 'Kent' and 'Parliament' seem to be the 2 most popular brands.
You can also see the types of food they sell, surprisingly they use some of the same names for popular Western products like Snickers and Mars bars (thank goodness!) but they also have a lot of Russian things which I would not have a clue how to order! When you order the person inside usually just barks at you asking what size you want or for water, без газ (without bubbles) and then barks the price at you! An interesting experience.
You can also see the types of food they sell, surprisingly they use some of the same names for popular Western products like Snickers and Mars bars (thank goodness!) but they also have a lot of Russian things which I would not have a clue how to order! When you order the person inside usually just barks at you asking what size you want or for water, без газ (without bubbles) and then barks the price at you! An interesting experience.
