Ekaterinburg - First Impressions!!!

My flight for Ekaterinburg left Istanbul at 12.05 a.m. and it was a four hour flight – there is a 3 hour time difference between Istanbul and Ekaterinburg and we arrived at 7.00 .am.

The flight was packed … seemed to be full of Russian women loaded down with shopping – I guess it is a bit like the old days when kiwis headed to Oz to shop because it was cheaper and better … although I don’t remember us ever coming back with huge bags and trying to stuff them into the overhead lockers !!

I had no sleep on the plane and arrived exhausted – I think the only saving grace is that my body is still on NZ time and it was early afternoon there!

I had been warned that the people in immigration in Russia could be a bit scary/bureaucratic – but this could not have been farther from the truth.  The man on the immigration counter I went through was lovely – when I passed over my NZ passport he gave me a big smile and said “Welcome to Russia”.  He had to be the most friendly immigration official I had encountered for ages …. and that made such a good first impression.

CDC, who has organised our time in Ekaterinburg, had arranged pick ups for us and that was very easy – the airport looks brand new and it was  not that busy so  it was very easy to find the driver.

My first impressions driving from the Airport to the Hotel were:-

• It is very flat
• I have never seen such straight and tall trees – and their trunks look more like branches
• I have never seen so many dirty cars – they make my car look clean and that is saying something
• None of the signs were in English – except for an add for Lipton’s Blueberry Muffin Tea – what will they come up with next!!
• They have trolley buses here – only seen them in Wellington before

 

It took about 30 minutes to get to the hotel.  When I arrived, my initial impression was that the hotel reminded me of the hotels I stayed  in when you did my trip around Italy – functional but not intended for long term stay.  It was very different from my experience in Turkey where the hotel room was similar to what you would stay in for any business trip.  This one was more like I expected given this is not a business trip but an experience of living and working in another culture/country.    However, my room was really disappointing as it was very small and smelled very strongly of cigarette smoke – not good when you get asthma.   Also I could not turn the air conditioning or open a window to get rid of the smoke smell.   I went down to reception to get some help with the air conditioning or the window but instead they moved me and I have a much nicer room.  It is about the same size but the layout is a bit different so feels more spacious.  I am quite happy now I have unpacked and organised myself.  The bathrooms in both rooms were huge and great if you like baths as they have deep old fashioned baths!   The shower is a bit of a juggling act but once I got it working for me the pressure was OK.  The bed seems comfortable.  The staff at the hotel have also been very helpful and friendly.

Once I had unpacked and sorted myself I went out for a walk.  I walked down to the closest shopping mall to get some supplies and spent about an hour walking round sussing out the shops ….. the same as you see everywhere H&M, Next, Mothercare, Adidas, Reebok, etc …. but also lots and lots of shoe shops!!!  Serena who I was in Turkey with would be in her element here.  The other thing I noticed both on the plane and was confirmed in the mall is that Russian women obviously love lace, glitter and bright colours – unlike us kiwi women who primarily stick to black  … this is just one example of the amazing array of colours in the shops

The supermarket is great – has everything you need.  It is part of a department store and what you can’t get in the supermarket you can get elsewhere.  I needn’t have bothered bringing any toiletries as you can get everything and more than at home … and prices are about the same.

After wandering around the supermarket and not really knowing what I needed/wanted … I went and had a coffee in a nice cafe.  Once again the people were all very nice.

I have discovered why the cars are all so dirty – there seems to be a lot of grit in the air – by the time I go back to the hotel my eyes were really sore.

For the vegetarians on our trip – I think I have found an Indian vegetarian restaurant about 10 minutes walk from the hotel.  I have also found a coffee shop with free WIFI about five minutes walk from the hotel ….. and a Scottish pub!!

Here are a few photos on my walk to the mall and back.  Tomorrow I am going to head down by the river as it looked like it was quite nice down there.

 Now I am off to bed to try and get some much needed sleep but before I do I must contact the “mermaid” to see if I can get an extra pillow – I love traveling to countries where you see signs or read instructions that are written using incorrect English – they always make me giggle – this one really did!!   I am going to start a collection of them during my time in Russia and blog them all at the end of the trip