Winter is arriving, which we realised quickly having arrived in Yekaterinburg early on Sunday morning! Temperatures down in low single figures, the woolly hats and gloves were out!
Our train journey had been pretty good, but not as plush as the one before. It was a much older train and no meals delivered to our compartment. It was, however, more what we expected our Trans Siberian journey to be like. We made some chicken sandwiches and coffee and felt like proper travellers. The hot water vats (samovar) at the top of each carriage are a God send!
Yekaterinburg was one of the cities I was quite excited for as it is well known as the place that the Russian Imperial Royal family, the Romanovs, were imprisoned and subsequently executed by the Bolshevik party. As a child, I was fascinated by the story of the Romanov princess Anastasia, who was said to have escaped the execution and was still alive. The story, of course, was made into a Disney movie (which I never actually saw!) and there are many books about the woman who claimed to be her in America in the 1940s. I always wanted the story to be true, as the body of the princess hadn’t been found with the rest of the family; how exciting and mysterious it would have been! Some members of the Imperial Russian family did support this woman’s claim, but others did not and after multiple court cases regarding her identity, a final verdict in the Supreme Court in the 60s decided that although they could not disprove her claims, there was no positive evidence (meaning DNA). However, in more recent years, DNA testing proved her claims to be false. Also, a body believed to be that of the princess was located in Russia. There is a large Orthodox church on the site of the executions, but I must say, I felt a little underwhelmed. Perhaps, having read so many stories as a child about the Romanovs and Rasputin, I expected to feel like I was being transported back to that time of intrigue and revolution. But there was just the church, and a wooden chapel with lots of weeds outside.
Yekaterinburg is famed for being a crime capital back in the 80s and 90s, with Mafia gangsters running riot, but we didn’t see any blacked out Mercs with dodgy looking guys wearing fluffy black hats! The city now is a University city with a pretty relaxed feel. When the snow melts each spring a red line is painted on the pavement that links all the tourist attractions, making it quite easy to see all the sights of the city. Except when the line disappears and you begin to search around frantically for it again, as you have no clue where you are!
Graham went for a short run in the evening, but not for too long as it was freezing! Things then reached a low point, we had Russian pot noodle for dinner in the hostel, ‘chicken spice’ flavour! It was surprisingly good! Up next is Novosibirsk, a 22 hour journey. On our way to the station, we had our first snow storm! Welcome to Siberia 🙂
-F xx
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