The setting for Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, Patriarchy Ponds has got to be one of my favourite downtown spots for a summer’s stroll (and pony ride if Annabelle has anything to do with it) In winter it transforms into a spectacular skating rink with pirouetting prima donnas and ahhh-hum….fumbling amateurs in their brand new skates.

Mikhail Bulgakov and his wife Yelena Shilovskaya lived in this area in the 1930s. Since then, the bohemian intelligentsia have been replaced by well heeled expats and Russian professionals who like the neighbourhood’s leafy streets as well as its proximity to the CBD.