Things to do in Ekat (when you're four years old)

[Merioneth]

Hello,

Not many posts on the Ekat pages yet, but here goes. I am moving out there this week, with family in tow. If anyone has any recommendations on nice places to take my 4-year old in and around the city it would be much appreciated.

Likes: trains, cars, anything that moves. Dislikes: (nothing discovered yet).

Thanks!

[ultimotattie]

They make an ice village in winter with slides and stuff, just in the main square in the centre beside the Lenin statue. I went twice and it was nice on both occasions, lots of people enjoying themselves and kids out making the most of the entertainment.

Plenty of ski-ing and cross country ski-ing outside of Yekaterinburg, and even though I haven't been, there appears to be a big Aqua Park...that might keep the kid occupied!

http://www.limpopo-park.ru/

I think there is a big circus in town, and I believe there is a zoo, but haven't been to either. They are both in and around the centre.

Hope that helps!

[tvadim133]

http://www.korolevstvo-7.ru/karta_korolevstva

entertaining park

http://www.ekazoo.ru/

Zoo

http://circusekb.ru/

Circus

[Merioneth]

Thanks Ultimotattie!

Yes, the ice palace in the centre is always fairly spectacular - I know the city reasonably well, but not from a child's eyes.

I have a few weeks to settle in so hopefully will have the chance for a good hunt around for things to keep him entertained. Will certainly look into the zoo.

[ReallyGreatConcerts]

There's a Children's Philharmonia which puts on concerts and entertainment programmes for kids.

There's a Museum-Village at Koptelovo (about 45 mins drive East of the city) which has old Siberian houses (you've just crossed the border with Siberia there!) decked out as they used to be, old farming equipment, sleighs, troikas etc. On holidays and in summer they have live demonstrations of some of the gear which is working.

[Merioneth]

And thanks TVadim! It looks pretty difficult not to find something to entertain him in 7 korolevtsvo! I've been to Kukolny teatr before and that was excellent, so look forward to re-visiting that too!

[Merioneth]

Koptelovo sounds really interesting! Thanks for that one. He loves that kind of thing at the moment. Sounds weird - a four year old that loves old things.... Is it an official museum (i.e. with a phone number we can call to see if it's working)?

[ReallyGreatConcerts]

Koptelovo sounds really interesting! Thanks for that one. He loves that kind of thing at the moment. Sounds weird - a four year old that loves old things.... Is it an official museum (i.e. with a phone number we can call to see if it's working)?

Yes, it's an official museum. It is a real live original working village, everything is original. Ekaterinburg Visitor Centre (their office is in the Palace Of Sport) can organise excursions with transport & a guide (English-speaking), if you like?

[Merioneth]

That's great. I had a quick look at a website advertising excursions and it looks good. Possibly more fun for adults than the young'uns, but fun nevertheless.

Think we might venture an overnight journey to Tobolsk to take a peek too - although the pictures I've seen look nicer in the winter than in the summer.

[ReallyGreatConcerts]

That's great. I had a quick look at a website advertising excursions and it looks good. Possibly more fun for adults than the young'uns, but fun nevertheless.

Think we might venture an overnight journey to Tobolsk to take a peek too - although the pictures I've seen look nicer in the winter than in the summer.

Tobol'sk isn't especially near Ekat - it's an overnight train-ride away (the train is ok but fairly utilitarian in standard). There is a charming hotel directly opposite the Kremlin, try to stay there Tobol'sk is sharply divided into the Old Town and the New Town (about 4 kms by road between them) - there is not much in the New Town that is very special, just a regular Russian metropolis. The Kremlin is quite spectacular for Siberia (it's the only Kremlin in Siberia at all) and if you are interested in the history of Siberia - Yermak and his Pirate Crew etc. Of course after the Moscow Kremlin it cannot really compare There is a souvenir factory making peculiar (and expensive!) gifts from mammoth-bone, and various animal tusks and hides... you may either enjoy a visit to their workshops or feel it's a bit ghoulish? There is a cheerfully eccentric artist who has his studios near the hotel, and he is well worth a visit [Edit - I just remembered that he has some unusual painted wooden toys for kids on sale in his shop area too - I remember the prices as being very fair at the time, and I bought some stuff for my nephews etc]. The hotel is also the best place to eat in the area - they have some "hunter's" specialiities (no use for a veggie like me though) and some other nice regional recipes too. Very nice service in there. I am not sure, however, whether there's so much for little'uns in Tobolsk - it seemed very "fact-heavy you-must-be-impressed bog-standard tourism" to me. I'm in a minority in liking all that heavy history, but far from everyone shares my tastes in all that stuff Inside the Kremlin they were building a very modern Visitor Centre (with a/v displays, multimedia presentations etc) when I went, but it wasn't finished... but that was four years ago.

Also nearby Tobolsk is the village where Rasputin was born... BUT....

.... the "Rasputin House Museum" is so bad that it's good. It's not even his house (the real one was burned down in an electric storm a century ago)... all that's on show is stuff found on the internet and printed out, and pinned to the wall... the woman who runs it is the most money-grabbing loon in Siberia... the trip costs a hundred bucks, because she cannot be bothered to open the museum for less! And if you pay extra (!) she arranges for a man dressed as Rasputin to come and meet you, and for even more (!) you can take photos... but the man is only 4'7" high!!! Although it's true he does, errr, have a beard. And she claim she has "Rasputin's chair". Go if you want a laugh and you don't mind paying $100.

By the time you've got to "Rasputin's House" you're already in the further suburbs of Tiumen', so you could continue on to there for a train back. Don't waste too much time on Tiumen', however - there is really nothing to see there at all. Despite being the "oldest city in Siberia" the entire town's been built anew on the back of oil-industry money, and nothing of the old town survives, bar a few log cabins. But it's on the main Trans-Sib rail route (Tobolsk is on a spur) so there are trains from there to Ekat every couple of hours. There's a plethora of eateries etc in Tiumen' (and a modern shopping mall with a multiplex cinema, maybe a kid's treat in the making there? Ice-cream parlours and all that stuff too in there) so it could make a nice kind of "Quincy" end to your Tobolsk adventure, in a nice cafe at the end? ) It's not at all an unpleasant town - just nothing special to do there.

[Andrei]

It would be interesting to visit the town of Verkhoturye which, as Wikepedia says "has been relatively untouched by industrialization and much of its historic appearance has been preserved. Being one of the oldest Russian settlements east of the Urals, and with forty churches in the area, Verkhoturye is considered one of the centers of Russian Christianity". Also, in summer it's good to go to the lakes in Kurgan oblast, there are really beautiful places there

[Merioneth]

Sorry, I don't check on this very often but it may be worth reviving for anyone else that is interested.

Among the other places and things we've found so far are the Aquarium (Akva Gallereia) on Radischeva, the great art museums (where the membes of staff are always happy to see a younger crowd), the butterfly park by the university (not great but not too bad) and Gallileo (a kind of science museum of optical illusions, which is great fun) in the building of the film studios.