Michael and I arrived in Yekaterinburg Thursday evening, and got the metro to our hostel (another converted Soviet flat). Friday we visited the Church of the Blood, built and dedicated to the murdered last Tsar family, the Romanovs. It was an enourmous, impressive church with lots of rich icons and pictures, including a huge Jesus fresco on the ceiling.
For lunch I ordered a Russian soup, but was disappointed to discover it was served cold (as outside was below zero and a hearty hot soup would've been just the ticket). We wandered around, taking photos and being pretty cold. Dinner was more successful, as the menu of the microbrewery we visited was in English (yay!), and the beef strogonoff was yummy.
We liked Yekaterinburg: the cobbled streets, the trams, the variety of bars and restaurants, the river and churches. It was our favourite Russian stopoff yet, and I would definitely recommend travellers to stop there.
