My first impressions of Yekaterinburg are that it’s big, very big. This is a big city for sure, but also very modern. No soviet era tower blocks, just plenty of glass fronted new style skyscrapers. A lot of the signage is in Roman text rather than Cryllic, giving the place a very European feel. As Russia’s 4th largest city, it would be worth spending a week here.

This is a place rich with history, grand old churches and temples standing side by side with modern architecture. The “cathedral on blood ” is where the Romanov family, the last Tsars of Russia, were executed. (Not in the picture). I counted no less than 4 museums between where I parked my bike and the Traveller’s Coffee Shop, a place that appealed to me for some reason!

Unfortunately, the European feel also brought European pricing. Coffee and cake was over 300RUB (about $10).

I got a real buzz from the place and would have liked to have stayed longer. I found a very reasonably priced hostel in the university, or rather I DIDN’T find it! It looked good on Google, but I was defeated by one way roads and a lack of information. With the traffic building I’d had enough, so I skipped bail and headed for the state line. (The border actually, more on that later!).