Ekaterinburg (Soviet name, a much harsher “Sverdlovsk”) is a wonderful little place to spend an afternoon. Assuming you can find your hotel, that is.
After doing our little thing at the post office to try and catch up on postings, Amy and I did about the only thing we had time for: a walking tour. Fortunately, our Lonely Planet book on the Trans Siberian Railway has a walking tour laid out pretty well. It was just a matter for us to walk it.
Starting off at the river downtown (actually, the result of a dam that you don’t even realize is a dam), you head east to a traffic circle, then north to a memorial to soldiers killed in the Afghan conflict. Then you’re supposed to head a bit west and then north to find a park. Sadly, I took us north, forgetting the west. Result: we walked too far, and missed the park. Amy got us back on track, and soon were sauntering through a rather picturesque little set of trees.
On the opposite side is the site where the Russian Royal Family was murdered on 16 July 1917. The house where their brutal execution took place was actually levelled by Boris Yeltsin (then governor of the area) back in the 70s. It now sports a small iron cross, a marble cross (erected when the Romanov remains — or, more specifically, what are believed to be the remains) were sent to St. Petersburg for final burial. There is also a rather large church there, now, too (in addition to a much smaller wooden one). Supposedly, the Romanov family are considered saints. Personally, they were ignorant buffoons who didn’t see the tide coming in until it was too late…
Then it was a hasty retreat back to downtown for a bite to eat before running back to the station to catch our train to Krasnoyarsk. But you already know how that went…
