Voznesensky Hotel Yekaterinburg

From Moscow to Ekaterinburg<br><br>Time passing.<br><br>The Russian trains are amazing. We have café curtains, drapes and a rug in the compartment. The corridor is similarly adorned. As well as bedding we get a bag of basic toiletries and soft mule slippers. The Provodnik keeps the whole carriage immaculate, hoovering the carpets and toilet cleaning at least a couple of times a day.<br><br>Pride in the transport system must be a Russian ...

... welcome after two nights on a train! We sat and chatted for a couple of hours in her bright kitchen and she explained the difference the end of the Soviet era has made to her life: she described her time as a young doctor when public employees endured six months without pay due to insufficient funds and she had to cross the city on foot to reach work, lacking enough for a tram fare, while pointing out that, even when she did have money in her ...

... the two places I was thinking of going, so I feel he's on the up and up. I get in the car, wondering where my guide is. Oh well, I think. This is Russia. Go with it.<br><br>Having apparently exhausted his supply of English, he tries to make small talk in Russian. "My name is Nikolai," he says. "What about yours?" We chat all the way out, and soon make to Ganina Yama. This is partly because Ganina Yama is 15 kilometres outside of the ...

... an optimist...you have to be to live this life." He falls silent and sighs. We stop at the station of Zima, which ironically means "Winter" in Russian. It is freezing and raining, and the wind is blowing pellets against the window. Waving his hand, he says, "Look! Every day on this date, it rains all across Russia. Moscow, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Yakutsk. Even Heaven is weeping." Suddenly, he turns to me again and stares at me. "How old you do think ...

... for mourners as part of the graves. Some had life-size etchings of the dead - images of casually dressed young men smoking cigarettes of clutching Mercedes car keys as a symbol of their wealth. There is a lot of respect for the dead here and even the older graves were covered in fresh flowers and tributes. While I was here I attempted to post a parcel back to the UK. I had already tried and failed in Moscow because it closed before I could explain myself, and DHL was too ...

... KGB presence. It was also were the Romanov Royal family were slaughtered in 1918 after Soviet suppression. On the grounds of their former residence now stands a very new Russian Orthodox Cathedral and shrines to the former Royal family. See photos around the city. Day 107. Trip to Urals 30/7/08 Photos 65+ "Listen very carefully, I vill say this only vonce". I'm not sure if our new guide said this jokingly, if he did, he was not smiling. Speaking for the whole 1.5 hour journey in a ...

... city, we passed into the Ganina Yama forest to an old site where logs were burnt in giant pits to make coal. The Church believes that in a specific pit at the site, the Romanov bodies were incinerated. Around this pit they have built the Monastery of the Holy Martyrs. Sitting amidst huge forest trees are seven wooden churches, one for each member of the Romanov family. Behind the church dedicated to the family sits the fateful pit. In front of the pit is a cross and ...

Yekaterinburg - will be remembered for our gimp of a honcho Marina - stunner who proceeded to boss us around like we were 12 years of age. One particular incident she insisted on bringing Jo to the toilet herself! O yeah also saw where the Romonov's were exectued and buried, got to wear some cool head scarves into the Orthodx church, stand on the ...

... while I went to see if our train was waiting at the platform. In most stations, trains generally only pull up, stay for a few minutes, then depart. This was going to be different because the #10 'Baikal' originated at Yaroslavskii. Sure enough, there it stood at platform 4, all decked out in its signature blue and white colors. We were in luck, we wouldn't have to wait in the station. We could grab our bags and board, settle in ...

... earned beer. Returning to Lidia's we never did get that key, but we also ceased to care and it is archived in the 'lessons learned' folder. Our highlight of Yekaterinburg was our day trip to the town of Nevyansk where we had an English-speaking guide and, although it has only played a tiny part in Russia's huge history, it was still intriguing. Founded in 1701 as the first iron and metal production factory town in the Urals, it was used ...