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Published: April 26th 2006
We arrive in Exaterinburg during the evening and are met by no less than three people who take us and Matt to our hotel, the Bolshoy, which is massive and feels more like a block of flats. The seemingly oppulent lobby gives way to basic but functional rooms.
We venture our to find a bar. Gordon's (the Irish bar next to the hotel) has very high prices by Russian standards, wo we reject this and go in search of a local bar. We locate one and chat over a couple of vodkas (the measures are much bigger here).
The next morning we are met by our guide Marianna and our driver Igor. Exaterinburg is a city born of the Soviet times, it primarily existed to build tanks and other weaponry for the massive army. As a result it has a predominantly industrial and repressed feel. Our impressions of it are not helped by the thawing ice, which manages to therefore be slippy and slushy at the same time. There is a key piece of history attached to Exaterinburg, which is that the Romanovs were murdered here in 1918 following the revolution. Nicholas II, his wife and children were all
Us and Andrei...
...our cabinmate between Moscow and Exaterinburg.shot in the basement of their house, following which their bodies were buried in the forest. The bulding in which this happened no longer exists, it was bull dozed by Yeltsin (who was mayor of Exaterinburg at the time) in the seventies on order of the Kremlin. In it's place there is now a church dedicated to the Romanovs. It is a sombre place, especially as ethereal choir music is piped through.
The next day, we had previously arranged to go for a hike in the Ural mountains. However the local guides said that the weather was too bad for this and that although they would be happy to take us, we probably wouldn't enjoy it. Matt (who was on a slightly different itinery to us) had a list of optional activities, included on which was horse riding. As neither he nor Brendan had previously ridden and I wouldn't miss an opportunity, we decided to do that. We had an early start and wrapped up in as many layers as we could find, topped off with our ski clothes. We set off into the base of the Urals where about an hour and a half later, we came upon
Approaching the Urals
The hitherto flat scenery changes as we approach the Ural mountains, which run along the border between Europe and Asia. a yard in a forest clearing. We waited about 20 minutes whilst a lunge-lesson in the snow-covered menage was completed. We are given nice looking horses according to our weight and experience. We have a lovely ride through the forest, mainly at walk as the horses pick their way along narrow paths through quite deep snow and sometimes ice. The forest is very dense and it is great seeing 'up close' the terrain that we have seen the edge of for that past 1,000 miles or so from the train. There are little small holdings in the clearings, and everything is covered in thick bright white snow. I take quite a few photos (surprise surprise) and try to do so without letting my horse get too close to Matt's horse in front who bears her teeth and bends her neck quite threateningly and impressively whenever I get within 10 feet. When we get back to the yard, we follow the grooms into the stable block (a long American style barn) with our horses and are impressed to see that the stables are well heated with a huge boiler. The horses therefore wear no rugs. I don't think that they have
Exaterinburg war memorial
This memorial is a sombre dedication to all the soldiers from Exaterinburg who have died in conflicts while serving in the armed forces.
Each soldier is named on the arms that rise up like protective ribs around the poignant central image of a forlorn soldier with his rifle.
been clipped for the winter (unless they are all fully clipped out), I think that the heated environment suppresses their thick winter coat. We reluctantly leave to go back to Ekaterinburg having had a great morning.
In the afternoon we have a mammoth trek across the city to a huge western-style supermarket where we are delighted to find (amongst other things) Pampers baby wipes which are invaluable for the train journeys.
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Alec
non-member comment
Re-reading, fresh discoveries
While waiting for the next instalment I decided to start at the beginning again - and found I had missed all sorts of details. To be honest, I don't remember reading about the horse ride in the snow at all, which must have been a bit of a strange initiation for Brendan to the equine delights. And to think that the ger experience is still ahead.... The memorial is moving - missed the detail in that too