At 2.30AM (!) Vadim and his driver took us the Yekaterinburg Station with our hotel breakfast packed in plastic shopping bags. While Ken minded our luggage Vadim took three of us upstairs to the waiting rooms where a number of people were sleeping before our train arrived, presumably to avoid hotel fees.
There were large paintings on the wall/ceiling of important events in the life of the city. One depicted the massacre of the Romanoffs and another showed Gary Powers, the American U2 pilot who was shot down while on a spy plane mission near the town.
His plane had Russian markings, he wore a Russian uniform and he was carrying Russian money. He fooled the local military until they realised he could not speak any Russian! The Air Force was pretty upset with him because while they were shooting at him they hit one of their own planes and killed the pilot. He was held for a couple of years and eventually swapped for a Russian held by the U.S.. Anyone remember that story? There was yet another monument dividing Europe and Asia, so we are definitely in Asia from now on. The train labelled ROSSIYA arrived on time and it was officially Number 02 on the timetable making it with 01 the top two Russian trains. Our program stated it had shared showers in First Class. Wrong. Oh, well, we bought a big packet of Wet Ones in Helsinki. It was still a very good train and almost identical to No. 60 but lacking a few minor points. The breakfast kept us going most of the day, supplemented by food from our reserve supply. There was plenty in the restaurant car and on the stations if we wanted to buy some. As we looked at the scenery we found mainly forests with leaves turning yellow as autumn arrived. In the cleared areas there were many "dachas" or country shacks which were often painted bright colours.
The country was mainly flat now that we were past the Ural Mountains. The trains across Russia have all been electric powered since 2002 and we saw frequent substations. There were many freight trains passing us carrying coal and oil and the lines here are actually busier than any in Australia.
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| THIS CHANDELIER AND COLOURED WINDOW WERE TYPICAL DECORATIONS IN THE STATION |
There were large paintings on the wall/ceiling of important events in the life of the city. One depicted the massacre of the Romanoffs and another showed Gary Powers, the American U2 pilot who was shot down while on a spy plane mission near the town.
His plane had Russian markings, he wore a Russian uniform and he was carrying Russian money. He fooled the local military until they realised he could not speak any Russian! The Air Force was pretty upset with him because while they were shooting at him they hit one of their own planes and killed the pilot. He was held for a couple of years and eventually swapped for a Russian held by the U.S.. Anyone remember that story? There was yet another monument dividing Europe and Asia, so we are definitely in Asia from now on. The train labelled ROSSIYA arrived on time and it was officially Number 02 on the timetable making it with 01 the top two Russian trains. Our program stated it had shared showers in First Class. Wrong. Oh, well, we bought a big packet of Wet Ones in Helsinki. It was still a very good train and almost identical to No. 60 but lacking a few minor points. The breakfast kept us going most of the day, supplemented by food from our reserve supply. There was plenty in the restaurant car and on the stations if we wanted to buy some. As we looked at the scenery we found mainly forests with leaves turning yellow as autumn arrived. In the cleared areas there were many "dachas" or country shacks which were often painted bright colours.
The country was mainly flat now that we were past the Ural Mountains. The trains across Russia have all been electric powered since 2002 and we saw frequent substations. There were many freight trains passing us carrying coal and oil and the lines here are actually busier than any in Australia.
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