On the Train Again

Day 488
My alarm went off early and I packed up the last of my things. There was a Finish couple who had an airport taxi at the same time. There was some confusion but we eventually sorted it out.Once on the train I fell asleep quickly.

The toilets on the train aren't so bad. It's just that they empty out onto the tracks. Due to this the doors are locked just before, during, and just after each station. I had the misfortune of waking up just as we were pulling into a stop really needing to pee. It ended up being one of the longer stops where you can get out and buy stuff from people selling things on the platform. I ended up lying on my bed just counting the minutes. Finally the train started. About 10 minutes later I went to stand by the toilet door. Five minutes later I was still there. I then decided to just ask the provodnista to open the door. I said toilet, which in Russian is pronounced to-a-let. My teeth were really floating at this point. She didn't understand. I pulled out my guide and pointed to it in Russian, still no comprehension. The provodnista then had me follow her to see if the provodnista one wagon over could understand me. They then both started asking to see my ticket. I had reached panic mode. Luckily someone who spoke English walked by and was able to explain to the provodnista what I needed. Finally!

I passed the day sleeping and reading. At one of the stops they were selling stuffed animals that talked. I hate these things, they give me the heeby jeebies . A few years ago an old boyfriend of mine gave me a white bear that begged for hugs and had light up cheeks for Valentines Day. I had to hide it in the closet. For unknown reasons loads of people bought these dumb things and were playing with them for about 30 minutes. I had to hide in my iPod! Eventually it grew dark and I fell asleep for the night.

Continuing the Theme

Day 487

After a late breakfast I headed out with the Irish couple. I was continuing the Romanov theme by heading to Ganina Yama. As the anniversary of the murders is close and it was as Sunday the bus was packed and we had to stand for most of the ride.

After the Romanovs were shot their bodies were dumped in the middle of the forest. All but two of the remains were found in 1976 and the dug up and reburied in 1991. The last two children were found in 2007. Over the decades several people came forward saying that they were the missing Romanov’s. Despite DNA tests some Russians still hold out hope that somehow there is still a Romanov heir out there somewhere. Ganina Yamma is going to be a large monastery complex when completed on the site that bones were found. We only had about 40 minutes and spent most of it looking at Romanov family photos. We had a few moments to pop into one of the buildings before heading back. At the entrance we left our grossly stained borrowed skirts that women must wear.

Once back in Yekaterinburg we had lunch and then went our separate ways. I headed to the hostel to chat with some friends and to work on the blog. I eventually ran to the supermarket to pick up food for my long train ride the next day. Back at the hostel I cooked dinner, including frying cucumbers. I had really thought it was a zucchini when I bought it. Everyone was laughing at me. I tried to sleep early, but was nervous about missing my very early train so I hardly slept.

Getting Old

Day 486

I had originally planned on spending 2 days in Yekaterinburg. I had built in several mistake days and had assumed that every train ride would take an entire day. As you can tell things have gone pretty smoothly leaving me with extra time. I decided to take Yekateringburg slowly. I also wanted to stay put for a few days after moving around so much.

After sleeping in and chatting with Katia over breakfast she went with me to the nearby train ticket office. It was nice to actually know what I was getting for once. Katia also took my passport and immigration card to register me. In Russia tourists must register in any city that they spend more than three days in. Katia is kind enough to register people for free. Most hostels charge from 100 - 900 rubles ($9 - $18) for this. Suddenly passportless I took at very nice walk, the weather was perfect, to the Church of the Blood.

On July 16, 1918 Tsar Nicholas II along with his wife and children were murdered in the basement of a home by the Bolsheviks. The Romanov's weren't buried here, but there is a huge church here now. The onion domes shone and it was really very nice. A statue depicted each of the murdered Romanov's. Oddly, lots of people were taking wedding photo's by the statue.

I covered my head with a borrowed scarf to check out the basement of the church. There was a memorial to each of the Romanov's and some nice icons. It didn't take long to check it all out.

After some lunch at a cafeteria I headed back to the hostel. I was the only one at the hostel and I figured that I would take advantage of having the computer to myself. This idea was dashed when I plugged in my camera and accidentally told it to restart when a window popped up and I just said yes, it was a restart the computer question. As I didn't know the password I couldn't use the internet. Instead I passed the time reading until Katia came back. Then I got down to work.

Once I had made some dinner and read some more I waited again for Katia. She was coming back take everyone out to some clubs. I had planned on a late night but once we got there I was really just falling asleep in my beer so I said that I would walk back. Everyone protested and a couple of Katia's friends drove me back so that I wouldn't have to walk alone.

Back at the hostel I met a nice Irish couple who gave me their left over Moscow metro tickets before falling asleep.

A Fine Day

Day 485
I slept in a bit but was still up before everyone else. Once I had showered and eaten I headed out.

My first stop was the very nice Fine Arts Museum. I'm a bit of a dummie though and circled the place twice before realizing that the entrance was from the basement. The collection was quite nice and began with cast iron statues. liked the part on icons the best. I don't know what it is about the Orthodox artwork, but I really love it. Maybe it's all the cold and vibrant colors. There was also a small section with more contemporary Russian art.

After the museum I wandered along side the river for a bit and then around town. I even found another Lenin statue. A long pedestrian shopping street had a lot of weird statues on it including a man feeding his horse and a cuddling couple.

At this point I headed back to the hostel and met my new English roommates. After dinner we bought beer and played a few drinking games. I couldn't decide if I was too old or if it didn't matter because I was having fun. I was the first person to call it a night though!

A Return

Day 484
The two other people in my room were from Italy and they invited me to go with them to the boarder of Asia and Europe. They were leaving that night and I waited while the packed up their things. Soon we headed out in a cab that Katia had called for us.

The site was sorta like a state line in the US. The city of Yekateringburg (Y-burg from now on), is technically in Asia. This was my first step in Europe in almost 8 months. It is also a rather corny tourist site. On top of the gift shop there was a chicken and a dragon representing Europe and Asia, respectively. I thought the chicken was funny but later found out from Katia that there was some sort of art exhibit around town that had chickens and that the owner just took one. After several funny pictures we headed back into the city.

We were all pretty famished at this point and got some sushi. Russians must love it as there are places for it every where! By the time we were done it had started raining and we decided to just go back to the hostel. It wasn't long before the Italian girls had to leave and we said our goodbyes.

That evening I hung out in the hostel and chatted with the other people staying there, including 3 guys from Dresden, before calling it a night.

Train Time

Day 483
I slept late, what else is there to do on a long train ride? I read for a while before falling asleep again. A few of the people around me tried to chat with me, but no one spoke much English so that didn't last long.

When I went to the restaurant car for a cold drink I tried to find some where to charge my ipod. I found a free plug in a wagon that wasn't mine. After a few minutes the provodnitsa came and yelled at me and said that the plugs were for phones. I would have happily given it up, but there were others around that were free too, no one needed it. I told her that she was really mean several times before heading back to my car where I did find a free and functioning plug and no one yelled at me.

It was 11 pm when my train arrived at Yekaterinburg but still light out. Public transport had stopped so I had arranged with my hostel, Meeting Place, to have a cab. It was there waiting for me and in a few minutes I was at the hostel. Meeting Place was run by Katia in her grandmothers old apartment. She was super friendly and I knew right away that I would really like staying there. Most of the other guests had gone out so after some internet time I fell asleep.