# My Ekaburg



## Jan (Jul 24, 2002)

01. 








On Monday I pretty much had a full day to myself in Ekaterinburg and since the weather was glorious (my first days always are for some reason) I decided to check out the place. In front of the hotel in Borisa Yeltsina street is a compact but pretty park. The old lady was strolling the place in her own little pace, and sometimes she just stopped to take her time and look around or look at the trees. I think life is rather splendid like that. Makes me realize I'm usually running when I think I'm walking.

02. 








Gorodskoy Prud, or the city Pond on the left. 

03. 








Girl knitting alongside the pond.

04. 








I am not associating the symbols of communism with the political system but merely as a design style. As such I have a weak spot for this kind of modern industrial design stuff. This is the spire of the local city hall.

05. 








It's probably my Western arrogance to think that after the communistic era the people would have taken down these just like these images we were shown in Iraq, but this one is still standing tall on Prospekt Lenina near the central square, the Ploshchad' 1905 goda.

06. 








Caption of Lenin's statue, interstingly with flowers stuck on the letters.

07. 








Pagoda, or rotunda as the Russians seems to call them, where Prospekt Lenina meets the pond. Picturesque setting for a picture. 

08. 








Probably because I am used to cities in which everyone is busy and running, I found a remarkable number of people who just stand or sit around contemplating. This girl must have stood here for at least half an hour. 

09. 








Because of the park-like setting on both banks of the river Iset river, the dividing line between East and West of the city is also its central and bonding feature. In good Russian style, the squares are wide an open and contain a number of status and memorials. Here is one.

10. 








I think the Cyrillic alphabet looks rather cool, especially some of the font types make it look so.

11. 








The railing of one of the bridging spanning the Iset river is a place where people literally lock their love, at least that what it looks like judging by the shape of some of the locks and the inscriptions on them. 

12. 








The idea that the metro is a people's possession produces some fantastic stations. Comparing to these, Chicago's CTA stations are an embarrassment. Ekaterinburg may not have many a big train system but the stations look fantastic. 

13. 








Another great example of Industrial Design.

14. 








Prospekt Kosmonavtov station.

15. 








...and my personal favorite, the Uralmash station.

16. 








One comment though is that they put too many advertisements in the stations and especially the trains themselves. It seems they seem to enjoy plaster them all over.

17. 








Birdie shat your cap comrade. 

18. 








Reflection on Communism vs. Capitalism

19. 








Section of a statue next to the Antey complex, girl listening, or more like admiring, the bloke playing the guitar. I was explained the guy was famous but I forgot who it is.

20. 








It's sweet to see that many of the public seats are being occupied by couples of lovers to meet up and do some sweet-talking or whatever it is that couples do when they can spare some time together in the open. And while we're on the subject (well, sort of) let the record show that Ekaterinburg has some of the most prettiest, slender and feminine looking girls around. This place is for guys what Italy or France seems to be for woman. Typically a girl looks definitely European but with a nice Asian touch to it, and always on high heels and a 'talking' pair of pants'. This is especially striking as most of the local guys look like they take quite a casual approach when it comes to appearance and personal grooming. Even I get the looks as if I'm George frigging Clooney, which means things much be pretty desperate down here. It wasn't until a rang a good friend of mine, who is married to a Russian girl, explained to me the basic demographics saying that there appears to be quite a surplus of woman around (and I got this confirmed three times by some locals) which explains why there seems to be some stiff competition going on, some not too shy to overdo it a bit. 

21. 








Area of the Borisa Yeltsina street at the bank of the Pond. This area is designated as a tall building area with some new towers under construction.

22. 








I'm just posting this image because the autumn palette is showing nice on it, although it's interesting to see that underneath the classical plastered facade of the building is just a wall of brick.

23. 








View on the Pond from Dynamo Square. By the time you are at any Dynamo Square, you know you are in Russia. Ekaterinburg's never completed TV tower in the backdrop.

24. 








Some large building at the Pond, of which you only see how decayed it is when being up close. When you are you also see that the tallest section must be a new or renovated section. Typically this building is overloaded with design details, but I guess that's a bit of a Russian thing.

25. 








Russian graffiti.

26. 








If that was me getting married, I would change the backdrop 45 degrees clockwise. 

27. 








Panorama on the Pond seen from the bridge on Ulitsa Chelyuskintsev.

28. 








Panorama on the Pond seen from the swimming pool floor of the hotel.

29.








The next day I was rather lucky to wake up with a flaring sunrise. Hello there Ekaburg!

30. 








Same moment, image of the Church on the Blood against a blood red backdrop. 

I'll post some more tall building stuff later, cheers.


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## void0 (Oct 8, 2008)

Nice report! BTW, what was your purpose of visiting Eburg? Tourist or business?


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## Chadoh25 (Dec 28, 2007)

Great job!


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## Singidunum (Jul 25, 2004)

Nice :cheers: It seems that Ekaterinburg is one the best doing cities in Russia these days kay:

Did you move to Russia or it was just a visit?


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## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

Cool pics - looks like a nice place to visit..


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## Parisian Girl (Nov 6, 2007)

Nice tour, Jan :cheers: Indeed, from all accounts, a very interesting city. Those metro stations are just wonderful. Some of the best in the world from what I've heard.


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## JoseRodolfo (Jul 9, 2003)

Cool


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## AlekseyVT (Dec 21, 2009)

Thanks. It's always interesting to see quality photo reports with comments of Western visitors.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice photo tour from Ekaterinburg, Jan kay:


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## Elvenking (Jul 22, 2008)

Thanks for these very nice pics


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## LarisaCh (Apr 12, 2010)

Jan said:


> 05.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


When NATO hordes will invade and destroy our country, may be you can see these images.


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## Elvenking (Jul 22, 2008)

^^ :nuts:

You seriously have some problem.


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## mirrow_ak (Oct 13, 2010)

Nice photo, Jan! It's interesting to see my city from another angle of view 
Waiting for a next part 


Don't listen LarisaCh


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## paRadoX_2 (Sep 19, 2009)

Thanks for the pictures


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## AlekseyVT (Dec 21, 2009)

LarisaCh said:


> When NATO hordes will invade and destroy our country, may be you can see these images.


Larisa, what's your problem? The man did quality photosession with excellent comments. Why need your BS?


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## Andre_idol (Aug 6, 2008)

I really like when someone takes a set of great photos of a beautiful city and share them with some captions and personal opinions about it. Great thread 

I really liked the picture of the girl knitting and the "capitalism vs communism" one.


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## newbiecrftr (Apr 28, 2009)

just a little moar photos of Ekburg 
*My Ekburg 2, by Jan*
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1238647


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## JohnFlint1985 (Jun 15, 2007)

Very nice pictures.


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## groentje (Apr 15, 2006)

Russia is full of unknown gems such as these, but unfortunately, they're a bit lost in that same country. It's just to freakin' big 
Love your photos, btw.


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## newbiecrftr (Apr 28, 2009)

If someone like Jan's metro photos and share his attitude ("stations look fantastic" ) towards stations, u can feel free to check recent Gelio's photo set in livejournal 
http://translate.google.com/transla...=http://gelio-nsk.livejournal.com/124378.html (Eng, via creepy google translate)
http://gelio-nsk.livejournal.com/124378.html (Rus, direct link)
more info and photos available at "RUSSIA | Urban Transport Compilation" thread 









img source http://gelio-nsk.livejournal.com/124378.html


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