russia: perm

Getting from Ekaterinburg to Perm was really easy, though not completely convenient. I was able to take a night train, but the ride wasn't that long, so I arrived at 0430 or so at Perm II train station. I wasn't about to go walking around at that hour, so I dozed on and off in the uncomfortable station chairs for the new few hours.

When I felt as if it was finally late enough in the morning (around 0900) to start walking, that's what I did. 

Perm II train station is on one end of a city that is stretched out along the Kama River.

During my walk I passed what I thought was a quirky monument, at least the reason for the monument was rather quirky: celebrating 250 years of the city of Perm. The monument itself was rather typically Soviet, it was a big obelisk in the middle of a traffice circle. One of the three sides had a profile of Lenin, another had the years showing 250 years of existence, and a third side had the city name.

I stopped for hot chocolate at a small shop, it cost me a lot more than I expected, and wasn't all that hot. Such a disappointment.

When I finally reached my hostel I was able to check in straightaway, yay. It was nice to warm up, and charge my electronics. Not surprisingly, I ended up staying inside longer than I'd originally intended, but oh well. It seems I do this on almost every one of my trips. I'd probably see so much more if I kept myself from wasting so much time. 

At some point while looking at things on my phone I discovered a hotel and spa named Eva. Of course I walked there to take a photo. I was tempted to splurge on a treatment or two, (because how awesome would that be?!) but I didn't have the money to do so. Sigh.

I enjoyed the street art/grafitti I saw in various places while walking around. Some was on construction barriers, and some was on the side of buildings.

I made my way to a small, central park, I wanted to see the Lenin statue. Have you been to a Russian city if you haven't seen its Lenin statue? Across the street from the park was a small marker on a building, denoting the 0km spot. This is the spot from which distances are measured, you can see this marker in some cities. This marker was pretty small, I walked past it twice, even though I was looking for it.

On the other side of the park was the opera theatre, I wish I'd been able to step inside. I kept walking, stepping into a few of the churches I passed. None of them were well lit inside and all were quite chilly. At this point I just wasn't in the mood to keep going much longer.

My last stop for the evening was during and after sunset, it was a small platz overlooking a bridge and the river. I think I could've taken a set of steps all the way down to the river, but the path down there was dark by then and I didn't feel like walking. 

The bridge was lit up, and looked nice.

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit I had fast food for dinner that night. I just couldn't be fussed to find anything 'real.'

The next morning I did a much better job of not wasting as much time, I got moving a lot earlier in the day. My first sight wasn't that far from the hostel, it was another Lenin monument. I have no idea what the reason was for having two different monuments to the man. 

Instead of the typical statue/bust, this one was a big stone with a relief of his face carved into the stone.

On a street corner I spied a mosque, which was really eye catching. I wasn't sure if it was open to visitors at the time, so I didn't go inside. It surprised me to find a mosque in the middle of European Russia, but at the same time it made sense. A block or two away from the mosque was a house that caught my eye for all the wrong reasons: its porch was leaning, a LOT.

I kept going to the next sight on my list, a monastery. Painted sea green and surrounded by tall walls, the Holy Trinity Monastery has a tall bell tower over the entrance gate. I bet the view from the top of there is quite nice. The inside of the main church was pretty, but not particularly memorable.

Soon enough I found another war memorial, this one called the monument to the heroes of the front and homefront.

It was in the city esplanade park, and was huge. I imagine this is a nice place for families and couples to go walking in warmer weather. When I saw it, no one else was around.

Further down the main street on either side of the city park was a regional library. The library itself wasn't anything worth writing home about, but I did like the wooden apple sculpture on the front lawn.

I didn't know it was made of wood until I scrambled onto it after setting the timer on my camera to take a time delayed photo. Lets just say it was not a soft landing.

I ended up walking all the way to the train station, just because I could. I did not buy more hot chocolate when I passed the cafe. In a large open area next to the train station was a HUGE sculpture that made me think of a game of Jenga. The pieces were glued in place, I couldn't move any of them.

To get back to the city center I circled around a bit, and took a different road. I ended up passing a skatepark, I watched the skaters go for a few minutes. I was cold, I imagine they were as well.

My next sight was a church, I'd seen a few photos online that looked good. When I found it I wasn't nearly as impressed as I'd expected to be. I started thinking the photos I'd seen had been somewhat edited. 

Or maybe the dark, cloudy skies were hiding the beauty of the church exterior. The inside of the church wasn't any better, much to my disappointment.

From there I walked back to the platz where I'd ended my day the day before. I looked for and finally found the entrance to the Perm State Art Gallery. It's an art museum, located in what used to be a church. Part of the exhibit is actually the old iconostasis, and as you go through the different levels of the museum you get to be quite up close and personal with the different levels of the iconostasis. 

The only drawback is that you never get the full view of the whole thing. Overall, it was a great museum, well worth a visit.After that it was dark, so I picked up snacks at the grocery store and went back to my room.

The next day I did a day trip, read another post for that.

My last day in Perm I was a bit more organized than the first two days. I made a list of the things I still wanted to see, some of them I should've seen in those first two days but moved too slowly.

The first sight was something called the Permyak Salty Ears monument. Someone from Perm is called a Permyak, and one of the former industries in the area is salt mining. Carrying sacks of salt on one's shoulder rubs salt against ears, making them bigger and red. This monument is a pair of big ears with a hole in the middle. You're supposed to put your face in the hole and have someone take a photo.

My next sight was a gondola in the middle of the city park. Very picturesque, even in the crappy weather. The park was also home to a mini amusement park, which looked kinda sad at this time of year.

I kept going, out the other side of the park. I assume it would be a nice place to wander in summer, but nothing else caught my attention during this visit. I ended up walking by Lenin again, and past him to another church. 

This church wasn't open that I could see, argh. My guidebook told me part of this church is a school, but I didn't see that either.

A block from that was the local FSB building. I followed all rules while walking past there.

My next stop was the Perm History Museum, located in the old house of Mezhkov. He used to be the owner of a steamship, and was quite wealthy, the house is big, and really nice.

Inside the museum I got to see the different areas of Perm's history. There were displays of what the home looked like when it was a residence, as well as items from daily life of the city. I got to see jewelry, and a diorama of a home during the Soviet period. There was a hallway filled with medals from the Communist period, and clothing from citizens throughout the years. Every time I see clothing from centuries ago I'm thankful for what I get to wear now, as stuff from back then looks so very uncomfortable. 

Walking down the hill brought me to the riverside station, which was across the street from Perm I train station. The riverside station looked new and modern, Perm I did not.

On the banks of the water was a big sign spelling out (in Russian of course, but I've translated to English,) 'happiness is coming.' I have no idea who it is supposed to be speaking to, or when it was put up.

I took the stairs that went over Perm I train station (as I was crossing I tried to figure out if the station is still used or not, but I couldn't tell,) and went up a hill on the other side. On the way I passed a church, and ducked inside. This one wasn't amazing, but it was warm.

I walked toward the edge of town, heading to I don't know where. I passed another war memorial, one that included cannons. I think it said something about 70 years of heroes in the city.

Eventually I looked at a map and realized I wasn't too far from a cemetery. Am I crazy for thinking that cemeteries are fascinating? One section of the cemetery was definitely memorializing something military, as everything was standardized, and looked the same. The rest of the area was a bit hodge podge, with a variety of styles of tombs and markers. There were some fake flowers, some photos, and more. 

In the middle of it all was an eye catching church. Well, it caught my eye because the outside of the church made me think of a yellow candy cane.

From there I walked back to my hostel, grabbed my bag and warmed up for an hour. Then I went back outside, and walked all the way to the train station. I arrived at the perfect time to board my train, and off I went. 

About 21.5 hours later I arrived back in Moscow.

I would definitely come back to this part of Russia, there is still so much for me to see/explore.

russia: kungur

I wanted to do at least one day trip while I was in Perm, and while reading the guidebook I came upon what seemed like the perfect idea. Kungur is about 95km from Perm, easily reachable by train.

Kungur is mostly known (for those who have heard of it at all, mostly in Russia, I assume,) for its ice caves. According to Wikipedia the town was founded in the 17^th century, and burned down 14 years later. 

Obviously, it was rebuilt, and is one of the most populated areas of the Urals. (Which isn't saying much, buuuuut.)

My train arrived in Kungur a couple hours after leaving Perm, at the main (only,) station of Kungur. I found a statue of Lenin straightaway, I couldn't have missed it. The man was in the front yard of the train station, birds seemed to enjoy standing on his head. Or maybe they didn't like standing there, based on the stains I could see. 

From the train station I had to catch a bus to get out to the caves. I got off the bus at the stop closest to the caves, but it still wasn't completely obvious where to go. I ended up cutting through the parking lot of a hotel that looked to be state run, and finding the entry to the ice cave area.

I found the ticket office, and even though I was there before 10, and the sign said there would be a tour at 10, I was told that my earliest option was available at 11. 

Not only did I have to wait an extra hour, I had to pay extra for a laser light show that took place during every other tour. I wasn't keen to see it, but didn't really have the option not to, unless I wanted to wait until noon for a tour. Sigh.

While waiting for my tour of the ice caves I ended up taking a look around the small museum nearby. It was mostly a geologic museum, since this area of the world has interesting geology. (To people who are interested in such things. I liked looking at the pretty rocks and such, but it wasn't all that interesting to me.)

When my tour finally started I noticed a small family among my tour group. They had a toddler with them, and the guide double checked with the parents that the kid could handle it. He couldn't, which isn't surprising for a toddler. He wandered all over the place, with the guide having to stop him from going places a few times. The parents were too busy taking photos of each other to pay attention to the kid. Argh.

The caves themselves were okay, but not outstanding. There wasn't a whole lot of ice, I assume it builds up throughout the winter? The biggest grotto is called Friendship Grotto, each of the grottoes had a name. All of the grottoes had lighting to show unique features, like rock formations. My favourite grottoes were those that had water, as the water was incredibly clear.

The laser light show was not all it was cracked up to be. At all. Oh well. 

The caves are part of a huge system, one that has not been fully explored. Our guide told us that they used to allow divers in one of the watered areas, but after one diver never came back, that option was closed.

After the tour I went back to the bus stop and caught the next marshrutka back into town. I rode past the train station, into a more central area of town. The town is small, at least compared to Perm. 

While walking I found a fur salon, named after me :)

I also found a samovar (Russian style teapot,) monument. Who doesn't love a quirky monument?

From there I just wandered around, trying to see the whole town. Several churches were closed, at least one of them for renovation. Several others were open, though none were mind boggling.

I found the expected WW2 memorial, this one included a tank. There was also an obelisk as part of the monument.

I found a bridge to cross the river, (the town is set on the Kungurka River,) and walked across. The other side of town wasn't any more exciting than where I started, but at least I saw it.

I walked back across the river, taking the time to enjoy the reflection of the banks on the water. 

There is something about the way things reflect on water that always catches my eye.

I found a bus stop and caught the next bus back to the train station, and from there the next train back to Perm. I did another dinner of grocery store food, and called it a night.

russia: pervouralsk and nevyansk

Ekaterinburg is the fourth largest city in Russia, and is the capital of the Sverdlovsk oblast (state.) The location was chosen because it sits near a border of the European and Asiatic contintinental plates. The train station in Ekaterinburg actually marks this border with a design over the front doors of the station.

Not surprisingly, many markers of this border are near the city, in a town called Pervouralsk. 

I wanted to see the markers, just because I could. I walked to the train station and eventually found the right desk to buy a ticket for the next trained scheduled to leave for Pervouralsk. The first desk I tried wasn't the right one, they sent me elsewhere. The second desk was the wrong one as well, and the information desk didn't know where to buy the ticket either. Argh. I went down two flights of stairs and tried another desk, finally succeeding.

This ended up being my first experience with a quirky aspect of the Russian train system. All trains run on Moscow time, no matter where the train is at any given time. I had a vague idea that this was the case, so I wasn't completely confused when the ticket lady told me that my train departed at 1100 Moscow time, which was 1300 local time. I ended up having to wait almost two hours for the train, as I'd just missed one, argh. 

It was weird to look at my watch (still set to Moscow time,) and the train station clocks (also set to Moscow time,) and see one time, but then look at my phone, which was set on local time.

The train itself was a slow train, stopping what seemed like every few minutes. I ended up getting off the train one stop earlier than I'd planned, because I'd been looking at a map app, it showed another continental border marker I hadn't known about. 

When I saw the marker out the window of the train, I dashed off straightaway.

This stop was pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, so after walking around the border marker and taking photos, I had to walk through snow in the general direction of the town of Pervouralsk. I didn't have any data on my phone, so I wasn't completely sure of where I wanted to go, and I couldn't look up any information.

I followed the tracks for a while, crossing a small creek on the way. It was snowing the whole time, thank goodness I had waterproof boots!

Once I got to town I walked along the highway to get to the main continental markers. For some reason there are two of them, both quite big. One looks as if it was built specifically for tourists, complete with a small platz in which buses can park and a small shop. The other was smaller, with less signage. 

What they had in common were clearly depicted sides of Asia and Europe.

There were also driving signs on both sides of the highway. I ran back and forth across the road in order to take selfies with those signs too.

By the time I'd seen both markers (getting from one to the other required walking a path through the woods,) it was getting dark. I found my way to the train station (the one at which I'd originally planned to disembark,) and discovered I'd have to wait a couple hours for the next train.

The ticket lady suggested the bus station, which was not far away. Thankfully a bus was scheduled to depart within 30 minutes. I was somewhat motion sick by the time we got back to Yekaterinburg, but then I had the walk from the train station to dinner to get my head right again. Yay for a nice cold walk :)

The next morning I did a better job of getting moving a bit faster, as well as checking train times so I didn't 'just miss' a train. My train left at 0905 local time, arriving in the town of Nevyansk a couple hours later.

I walked from the train station to the city center, a rather lonely walk. It wasn't too long, but I didn't see anyone else out walking, nor did I see much (if any,) traffic. While walking I did enjoy the pretty painted window shutters on many of the houses. Since the town isn't very aesthetically appealing, I guess you have to do something to make it at least a little bit better. 

My first stop in the city center was the WW2 memorial area. As I expected, there was a rather large stone with the years carved into it, as well as some fake flowers laying around. The flowers were gathered around an eternal flame. 
There was also a statue of a soldier, actually just a bust of what I'm guessing is supposed to represent an enlisted soldier. I don't know how the Russian Army shows rank on its uniforms.

Next up for me was the Saviour Transfiguration Cathedral. A really really big, bright yellow chuch. I should point out that while the outside looked really big, the inside was much smaller than I expected. 
At least, it didn't feel very big. It was not a wide open or airy church.

About 3 minutes of walking took me from the church to the so called 'Leaning Tower of Nevyansk.' 

It doesn't lean nearly as much as the much more famous tower in Italy, but you can see the lean with just a glance.

The leaning tower was originally part of the family 'house' of the ruling family of the area. It is still attached to the house, which is now a local history museum. I enjoyed the museum quite a bit (I'm sure the appearance of a single foreigner in low season was a bit confusing to the employees,) especially the depictions of local life in photos and items.

I think in better weather you can pay to climb up the tower, but I didn't think that would be a great idea in colder weather; especially since the skyline of Nevyansk didn't seem all that intriguing.

The house/museum wasn't far from a pond/lake, so I walked partway around the water, just because I felt the need to walk a bit further. There wasn't much of anything to see, but the weather was decent, so I enjoy walking.

On the way from the water back in the general direction of the train station I passed a Lenin memorial, which reminded me that cities and towns both small and big were affected by a man who is actually quite small in stature. I also found another war memorial, complete with large carvings of the heads and faces of anonymous soldiers and others involved in the war.

I walked around the rest of the city center area, but there wasn't anything happening. An area with what might've been a market was mostly empty, and there weren't many people outside at the time.

I made the walk back to the train station, fortunately I didn't have long to wait to catch the next elektrichka back to Ekaterinburg.

russia: yekaterinburg

My fall holidays ended up being very different from what I'd first imagined. My original plan had been to travel internationally, but my school didn't convert my visa from single entry to multi entry in time, so I wasn't able to leave Russia. I ended up booking a flight to the city of Ekaterinburg, and starting my holidays from there.

I'm guessing most people don't know much about the city, I didn't know anything before booking my flight. It was founded in the 18^th century, having been planned by Peter the Great and named for Catherine 1, his wife.

The flight to Ekaterinburg left a little after midnight, arriving at 0510 Ekaterinburg time, a two hour time difference. I hung out in the airport for a couple hours, it was not a pretty airport. Walking outside was a shock, it was a lot colder than I'd expected.

It was easy to catch a local bus into town, it dropped me off at the central train station. I explored inside a bit, but it wasn't a grand station, at least not like I expected. One of the waiting rooms had a nice ceiling, but that was about it. 
Maybe the grand feeling has gone away because you're checked by security every so often, I don't know. 

On another corner of the intersection in front of the train station were letters spelling out the city name, they were quite big. As the city name is quite long, the letters were stacked on each other, making for a convenient photo. As I've continued to live in Russia, I've found city name signs in many of the towns/cities I've been able to visit. 

From there it was easy to walk to the hostel at which I'd booked a bed. I'm glad they let me check in early. When I finally walked outside again it was still cold, and I still wasn't ready mentally for the weather. Oh well.

I walked, just wandering whereva struck my fancy. I passed an old mansion on the banks of the river, it still looked really nice on the outside. I didn't see an option for going inside, though I was curious.

Further down the street was a grand statue of Lenin, I took a selfie with the man. Nearby was what remained of a market, it was closing up for the day. Across the street from Lenin and the market was the local Duma building, which had a bit of interesting architecture near the door. I don't know how to describe it other than to say it was 3D in a way, making one section look as if it stretched back behind me, when it didn't.

I entered a nearby mall for a little while, mostly to warm up. While inside I enjoyed the airiness of the atrium, and the gold ceilings. I also wandered through the grocery store in the basement.

At that point it was dark outside so I started looking for a place to have dinner. I was quite excited to find a Korean option, as I miss Korean food.

After dinner I walked to the Church on Spilled Blood to see what it looked like at night. This is the church built on top of the location where the Romanov family was killed during July of 1918. 
The church is relatively new, building having started in 2000. I stepped inside only briefly, but appreciated the brilliant colour everywhere.

The next morning I walked out of my hostel to find snow on the ground. That definitely wasn't what I'd expected, though I should've checked the weather before traveling. Thank goodness I'd brought a warm coat with me, though my hands/fingers were cold for the rest of the trip.

I walked along Lenin street, and stopped at a small chapel dedicated to St Catherine. (The former Russian leader known as Catherine the Great.) It was tiny inside, and not all that exciting. Nearby was a statue of the founders of the city, a Russian and a German.

The statues and chapel were right next to a bridge that crosses the Iset river, I walked a bit closer to the river itself. There was an interesting area, with a large, green hand on display. Modern art, for sure.

Next to the water was also a spot with the former name of the city, Sverdlovsk. It's actually a bit ironic that the city was called Sverdlovsk for a little while, as he was the Bolshevik that signed the death warrant of the Tsar and his family.

I was traveling in fall of 2017, but the city was already preparing for the World Cup event to take place in late spring of 2018; I saw a RUSSIA2018 sign already on display, not too far from the big green hand.

Continuing to walk along the river I found another piece of modern art: a giant keyboard. I loved it. From there I just walked, with no particular destination in mind. I ended up finding a street with a lot of cafes, just in time to avoid heavier snow outside. Thank goodness for hot cocoa with marshmallows.

My next sight was a museum, this one displaying religious icons. Apparently there is a specific style of icons in this region, there were three rooms of them on display from the 17^th-19^th centuries. 

I don't know nearly enough about icons to have noticed a style difference, but I did appreciate the skill of the artists.

From there I walked back to the Church on Spilled Blood, also called the Church of All Saints. When I walked in I was stunned. As the church is quite new, the paint/colours are still really bright. There was a lot of gold and a lot of colour. The church sits on the site of the Ipatiev house, which is where the Romanov family was hiding in July 1918. 

The house was torn down in 1977, as the Soviet government didn't want a place of pilgrimmage to exist for monarchists; after this time the land remained empty until the beginning of the 21^st century.

By the time I walked back out of the church I could see the start of sunset. I ended up getting to see the church in profile with a beautiful sky in the background.

I spent that night as well as the next night in Yekaterinburg, but I spent the next two days in other towns, mentioned in other posts.

I would be okay with coming back to Ekaterinburg, it's a nice city. It's the fourth biggest city in the country, and a good city to use as a base to explore the area.