08/08/2019: Tsar, Yeltsin, and Europe

We are still in Asia, but 40 km to the west, Europe begins. We visited the demarcation line (60th meridian) between Asia and Europe today. Tomorrow, we will finally enter the home continent.

Before that, we had a glimpse into the city's history. (Yekaterinburg was the first city in Siberia.) Magnificent buildings from the 18th century owned by wealthy merchants, the cult site of the last royal family's murder (Church of the Holy Blood), and the Yeltsin Museum (Boris was born here). The Russian leaders seem to love personality cult. Both the "worship of the tsars" in the church, which was built on the spot where the last royal family was murdered in 1918, and the Yeltsin halls of fame leave us with a rather bitter taste.

The evening ended with a meal at the restaurant on the 51st floor of the Visotsky Tower. Great view of the city at night. Some memories of the skyscrapers in China flash by.

Today, we experienced "Siberian temperatures" for the first time at 15 degrees.