Jekaterinburg - Yekaterinburg

At 3:15 a.m., our alarm clock rang. We took a taxi to the train station, where our train to Yekaterinburg was supposed to depart at 4:50 a.m. It was our first long journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway with a sleeping car. When we found our compartment at 4:30 a.m., we were greeted by no one. We were initially alone. When we woke up the next morning/noon, we had company from Vladim and Iwan. Both were not particularly communicative. The conversation was interrupted with a grunt after we introduced ourselves and asked Vladim his name. Iwan didn't even give us the opportunity to start a conversation. In the Russian manner, they slept, drank, remained silent, and smoked (only on the platform). We found out the names of both from a digital list of compartment passengers that the conductor held out to us for inventory check. The compartment, on the other hand, was very cozy. The bed was soft but not long, there was air conditioning and power outlets. Additionally, each wagon had its own guard and there was a boiler with boiling water to make tea or pour ready meals, which represented our sustenance.

The next morning, we arrived at 3:50 a.m. - the best time to wake up if you ask me! Unfortunately, the early arrival became a problem not only due to extreme fatigue but also because we were not allowed to check in at our accommodation until 12:00 p.m. So we spent 7.5 hours at Burger King and enjoyed some specialties of the house to stay awake - a delight!

When it was finally 12:00 p.m., we stood in front of our accommodation, which we had only found through an exterior shot of the building (one of the Airbnb listing photos) and the 3D function of Google Earth, as the address could not be processed correctly by any map app. When Irina, our landlady, finally let us check in, we found ourselves in a room in a high-rise complex that reminded us of Steilshoop in beautiful.

Yekaterinburg is much nicer than Nizhny Novgorod. Here, there are some newer buildings, even if they don't always look like it (e.g. "The Church of Blood," a church that was built in the Russian Orthodox style in 2005 at the place where the last Tsar Nicholas Romanov and his family were murdered), which are also architecturally quite interesting.

In the city center, we followed a red line that wound its way through the city on the ground and led to all the sights of the city. After less than a tourist day, we had seen almost everything in the city and got a good overview of the city.

Finally, we visited the Yeltsin Center, a very modern complex consisting of a shopping center with individually designed fashion and jewelry boutiques, an art gallery, and the Yeltsin Museum. We visited the Yeltsin Museum, which portrayed the entire Russian history, with a focus on the reign of Russian President Yeltsin, which is particularly associated with the path to Russian freedom. Although Yeltsin was sometimes attributed a slightly exaggerated, almost divine, role here, Tom and I were really impressed by how the visitor was brought closer to Russian history through incredible details, animations, and good staging. Although I sometimes catch myself stumbling through a museum bored, I have to say that this one excited and captivated me and is perhaps the best museum I have ever had the privilege to visit.

Last but not least, on the last evening in Yekaterinburg, we enjoyed the view from the 20th floor of the city's nighttime lights.