Traditions

The city is full of lovers -- you will see them holding hands, with their arms around each other, and kissing on subways, on street corners, and in the park. During the summertime they were everywhere -- I suppose it is due, in large part, to the fact that they have no private place to go. It will be interesting to see how the lovers will deal with cold winter's blasts.

Once they have found 'their true love', as part of their marriage tradition, they go to the river to place a lock on the bridge. They lock their lock together and throw the key into the river, symbolizing their trust that the marriage will endure forever. We haven't seen anyone diving into the river to retrieve the key, so we assume most marriages endure -- or possibly, it's just too much trouble.

All sizes, all shapes, some big, some small, some heart shaped, some ordinary, some expensive, some cheap -- I even saw a bicycle lock once (Not sure what it symbolized -- possibly a marriage on the go). On each lock you will find the couples names and the date of the union engraven or painted, according to their financial ability.

Russia's laws require that everyone be married by civil authority. (Our youth, marry here by civil law and then travel to the temple in another country to have the marriage sealed). After the ceremony, it's traditional to decorate the wedding procession cars and then to drive up and down the city's main streets honking horns and waving. Every Friday and Saturday Yekaterinburg is filled with a cacophony of joyous beeping.

Part of the wedding tradition is to go to the various city parks for picture taking. The bride and groom, their friends and family are found in beautiful setting all over the city, smiling and toasting to the future couple.

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The couple travels to the mountains on their 1 year anniversary in order to tie a ribbon around a tree symbolizing their love and commitment for the future. There are also many other things tied to the trees -- liqueur bottles, shoes, and hats just to name a few. I'm not sure what they symbolize.

The chicken is a symbol of Luck and Prosperity -- All in all, some very nice traditions.