Blogs from Yekaterinburg, Urals, Russia, Europe

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Europe » Russia » Urals » Yekaterinburg July 25th 2018

The train sped through the night and we slept pretty well. We stopped at Kirov for about 20 minutes and were able to walk along the platform. Nice to have a break and breathe the fresh air. Breakfast was fine with cereal, fruit and yoghurt and omelettes and eggs cooked to specification if wanted. The view from the window was mainly of birch tree forests with small towns containing wooden houses and unmade roads. We did go through some larger cities and our next stop was at Belezino station. Here we watched as they changed engines. The train is very comfortable. We have a cabin to ourselves but it could be a four person with two sleeping on fold down bumk beds. There are many Italian speakers in our carriage and they are all crammed in, ... read more
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Europe » Russia » Urals » Yekaterinburg June 16th 2018

Mit dem Nachtzug kam ich am Vormittag in Kazan an, einer Stadt ca. 800km östlich von Moskau, von der, ich muss es gestehen, ich vorher noch nichts gehört hatte. Direkt an der Wolga gelegen, verbindet Kazan den Kremel (Festungsanlage mit orthodoxer Kirche) und die Kul Sharif Moschee mit russischen Elementen aus der Sowjetzeit. Ein Baustil, der uns an die „guten alten“ Sowjetzeiten zurück erinnern lässt. Die gesamte Innenstadt Kazans ist durch diesen Baustil geprägt. Gleichzeitig gibt es aber auch moderne Gebäude aus heutiger Zeit und einen wunderschönen weißen Palast, der als Ministerium dient. Und natürlich gibt es, wie in jeder Stadt, die als Austragungsort dient, ein FiFa Fan Fest, welche gut organisiert und tatsächlich auch preiswert sind. Auf dem habe ich dann zusammen mit Fans aus Peru, Australien und Russland das erste Deutschland-Spiel gegen Mexiko (0:1) ... read more
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Europe » Russia » Urals » Yekaterinburg September 12th 2017

Yekaterinburg was founded in 1721 by Peter the Great as the area is rich in iron ore and, as at this time, Russia was embroiled in the Great Northern War with Sweden, Peter gave instructions for new sources of iron to be sought. He named this city after his new wife Catherine (not to be confused with Catherine the Great who came later!) Yekaterinburg is the 4thlargest city in Russia after Moscow, St Petersburg and Novosibirsk. The population is just over 2 million. Yekaterinburg is technically in Asia at the foot of the Ural mountains that is traditionally the border between Asia and Europe. The temperature in Yekaterinburg was much colder than Moscow at a fresh 6 degrees Celsius. I have decided to wear two watches to try to beat the confusion of Moscow time versus ... read more
Chris and Roisin across two continents
One of many Monastic buildings in Ganina Yama
Roisin ans Adeline ready to shoe horses

Europe » Russia » Urals » Yekaterinburg June 5th 2017

R: We awoke to hammering on our compartment door. To prevent anyone getting in at night, the door has a lock on the inside which can't be opened by anyone, even the train staff. I must have been sleeping deeper than I thought as this shook me awake. Not sure what on earth was happening, I sat up, Richard hadn't yet come around. Despite being on the top bunk I managed to get to the door and open it a crack to find the night Provodnitza (who did not speak German) getting a little bit irate and saying a lot of things in Russian which I didn't quite understand. She pushed the door wide open and then I realised the problem - our new bunkmate had arrived, at 2am, from a stop at Yekaterinburg as we ... read more
Just after the Urals - Siberia!
Omsk
Barabinsk Fish Sellers

Europe » Russia » Urals » Yekaterinburg July 18th 2016

The train A short hop of only 21 hours, which had been made a lot longer by our compartment companion who snored like a Russian bear (no not Kellie a proper Russian who shared the 4 bed compartment with us). He redeemed himself by showing Russian hospitality and offering to drive us to our accommodation. Yekaterinburg A very pleasant town which is mostly remembered as the place where Russia's last Tsar and and his family were murdered in 1918 by the Bolshevikts. The house where it happened was demolished in the 80 but a massive church has been build on the same site 15 years ago. The tsar was also made a martyr by the Russian orthodox church. Just shows that history depends on who writes it... The city itself has wide cobblestone and tram filled ... read more
downtown Yekaterinburg
apartment complex playground
what copyright infringement?

Europe » Russia » Urals » Yekaterinburg June 27th 2015

Brieven en blogposts. Voor mij dienen ze als broodkruimels op de slingerende zoektocht naar geluk, die wij ‘het leven’ noemen. Onze realiteit is een aaneenschakeling van indrukken en ervaringen. Een constante stroom van prikkels raast door onze hersenen, maar alleen de meest vitale informatie wordt opgeslagen. Ons brein is gemaakt om te vergeten; om in het moment te leven. Maar een moment vervliegt zodra je het ervaart. De persoon die jij een jaar, een dag of zelfs een seconde geleden was, die bestaat niet meer. En wat die persoon dacht en voelde, dat is nu een mysterie. Als je bladert in een oud fotoboek, reis je terug in de tijd. Je leest de verhaaltjes die je onder de foto’s krabbelde en je herleeft de momenten van toen. Als ik over twintig jaar deze verhalen bekijk, dan ... read more
(Poging tot) slapen
Zoveel hoge gebouwen!
Shanghai by night

Europe » Russia » Urals » Yekaterinburg April 1st 2014

City of Country & Guitar ... read more
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Europe » Russia » Urals » Yekaterinburg January 18th 2014

Yekaterinburg was nothing like what I expected it to be. It went above and beyond my expectations, this was made possible by my hosts Vadim and Marina. They were FANTASTIC to say the least! They made me feel very comfortable and redefined 'Home Stay' to reflect its literal meaning. We started by visiting the Europe and Asia border, surrounded by the Ural mountain ranges. There have been a few created, one just for sake of convenience, closer to the city (17 kms) so that the foreign delegates who visit Yekaterinburg can visit and check their boxes of 'visiting the Europe-Asia border'. The government had plans to build a tall structure over 100 meters to symbolise this border, however due to budget constraints and no sponsors the plan was shelved and instead they created what you see ... read more
Europe Asia Border
Fake Border
The Real Border

Europe » Russia » Urals » Yekaterinburg May 8th 2013

A short day today, as we caught the late-afternoon train on to Novosibirsk (a journey that would take the best part of 24 hours). No time to embark on a significant day of activities, so we went for a walk around Yekaterinburg's central lake. It is surrounded by roads and buildings and practically no greenery, so feels very manmade and Soviet, and lacking in any atmosphere, especially on a quiet, cold, dull Sunday morning. There were few people about, but we did see a man walking backwards over a significant distance. No idea why, we wondered if it was some kind of new age, meditational thing (he seemed otherwise sane).... read more
Vastness of the lake
Still going!

Europe » Russia » Urals » Yekaterinburg April 27th 2013

Yekaterinburg's main attraction is a bit macabre: the site of the murder of the Russian royal family in 1918 by executioners acting for the Revolution. They were shot in the cellar of a house, upon the site of which there is now an overbearing church in their honour (happily named the Church on the Spilled Blood). The royal family has become a highly political issue in Russia, and the church has become a political statement as well as a place of worship. The royal family were proclaimed saints by the Russian Orthodox church, being considered to have died in the course of their faith, so the focal point inside the church are their icons, arranged in a row, which a steady stream of Russians (including a coach party of teenagers) come to pray to and light ... read more
Afgan War memorial
Chapel




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