A Red Line Around a Red City

A man setting up camp to go ice fishing on the lake 

Although Yekaterinburg was not Russia’s answer to Paris it was good to see the country outside of its more touristy areas.  Having so far seen the nation’s two major cities which are apparently the most western in their outlook Yekaterinburg lies just across the geographical border separating Asia and Europe.  Having arrived late at night we initially checked into a dorm inside the train station to avoid the cold and taxi drivers but soon left the next morning and checked into a very nice hotel (it was 50% off) to recover from the last few days travelling.  Discovering they offered free laundry (but not for ‘private’ items) the crestfallen cleaner was promptly handed 2 full bags of ripe clothes.  The hotel was clearly for businessmen and we had to expand the hotels list of items it would wash (it only had shirts, blouses and suit jackets, none of which I own) but not wanting to appear cheeky we stopped short of using the free ironing service.  The hotel on their behalf were clearly unfazed by our slightly dishevelled appearance and seemed delighted to have two native Brits.  They asked us to be filmed for their new website describing why we picked the hotel (we omitted that it was because it was cheaper than the rest) and we enjoyed a nice change from sleeping on the train for a few nights.  Much to my delight we also got to see another ice hockey match as well!

To our shock the line was real!

Despite the weather being -24 (when factoring in wind chill) we braved a walk around the city having read that there was a red line marked on the pavement that tourists could follow to see all the main city sights.  Russians might be good at a number of things but the red line proved about as useful as a fish with tits.  The main problem was that the 4 inches of snow covering the ground and the inch thick ice on the pavements made seeing the line a little difficult.  As snow can lie in Yekaterinburg for nearly half the year the red line will not be featuring on Tomorrow’s World any time soon.  The other problem was that some of the highlights that the line took in included the Central Post Office, a boy’s gymnasium and the Head Mining Directors House.  Awestruck at the city’s splendour we sat down at one of Russia’s fantastic self-service restaurants to warm up before heading off to discover more new and inspiring sights in the city.  Thankfully Yekaterinburg did have a number of more interesting sights and we enjoyed walking through the snow covered parks and across the frozen lakes that cover lots of the city. We sat and watched the locals drilling holes through the ice to fish and children running amok in the parks with some fantastic sledges .  

Site of the exucutions

The city also marks the scene of Nicholas II (the last Tsar of Russia) and his family’s murder by the Red Army.  The basement where they were executed has since been destroyed and now a huge church stands on top of the spot that marked the end of the Romanov dynasty.  Having seen the splendour of other sites linked to the former royal family Yekaterinburg seemed an ignoble setting to meet their end and the church now sits next to a large main road with little fanfare to highlight the importance of the area.

The end of the rally

One of the most interesting things about the city was the clear ties it has with its Soviet past.  As the principle mining town in Russia Yekaterinburg unsurprisingly was a heartland for Bolshevik support. As we walked down Lenin Street towards the huge statue of the leader of the revolution a small rally was being held in support of the Communist Party.   Men walked around with Lenin, Marx, Engels and Stalin on their clothes whilst people collected copies of a propaganda newspaper which displayed the hammer and sickle proudly on its cover.  The city also boasted an Engels and a Marx street (although we have seen this is most towns since Yekaterinburg) and on each kiosk the shutters still showed communist propaganda images from before the collapse of the Soviet Union.  I even saw car bumper stickers supporting the Soviet Union around the city.  I was not entirely surprised at this as the Communist Party is still the second largest in Russia behind Putin’s United Russia and the people seem very proud and nationalistic rather than hiding from their recent past.  Although not necessarily a beautiful stop Yekaterinburg was a world away from Moscow and St Petersburg where far more statues and street names have been changed (and that of the city in St Petersburg’s case) and showed us a different perspective of modern Russia.