Arbat is one of the oldest (and best known) Moscow streets. It began in XVth century as a kind of suburb not far from Kremlin, and there is an opinion that its name has Arabian roots meaning 'outside the town'. Though, there is another version stating that the word 'Arbat' comes from 'arba' (which in Turkic means cart) because there lived craftmen who made vehicles.
Anyway, nowadays Arbat is fully pedestrian; you can find here numerous street musicians, artists, speakers and all other kinds of public people. It's also very popular with tourists therefore dozens of dubious vendors would offer you every souvenir you dare buy.
Arbat has its charm, especially in the night when crowd leaves it for home and street lamps lead a way of occasional walker...
