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.