Yekaterinburg in Full

Today started off with a fantastic local guide who took us on a great walking tour around Yekaterinburg. She took us to see the old wooden houses, the historic squares and houses, various important monuments etc., and specifically to the Church of Spilled Blood. This is the site where the Romanov family was murdered nearly 100 years ago.

The church was a main sight for me and it was beautiful. It was under renovations, so we weren’t able to see the recreation of the basement where the slaughter happened, but it still was a beautiful sight. I have to give our guide credit, she knew the history for both sides of the stories, and gave an unbiased story. She told us what she believed, and how her family was connected to the story, but she never forced her views on us, and really left it open for our interpretation.

[I do recommend reading up on the Romanov family, and the tragic events that happened. The guide, Valentina, really poked at my curiousness and I am now reading a book on the deaths of the family, and the controversy around the bodies.]

The other thing Yekaterinburg is known for is its military installments. There are tons. This used to be a military city locked off to outsiders, so it has a lot of history and museums attached to it. We did got by a few places and it was pretty damn impressive.

After our tour finished, and we had a fantastic lunch (Alex nails it with the food!), the girls and I went to a local craft store, then headed down the pedestrian corridor. There wasn’t much to see but we ended up at the local hockey arena, then a flea market, and walked through a beautiful park. We found a random Beatles monument and a Michael Jackson one too, lol.

We got back to the hotel, were able to get some groceries and then called it a night. I did have dinner at the hotel which was ridiculously overpriced and expensive for what I got.Read more