Minsk! My 30-th country!

Dear friends, I am starting to write this article while in Minsk. I know that there will be no end to it, so much has happened in the 4 days of my stay there. But I want to start by explaining my choice of the country I am visiting.

BET WITH A FRIEND

In the spring of 2023, I argued with a friend that I could stay 3 months without sugar (by saying this I meant there would be no cakes, ice cream, chocolate, milkshakes, and so on)…Sugar is added almost everywhere, in all products, so the bet was special, with some points agreed in advance, including 3 days of sweet “cheatmeals”. My debater, in turn, also had some obligations to me, but I will not talk about this, since this is his personal business. In any case, we agreed that the loser would buy the winner a flight ticket (it was even more about the Airsales certificate, since we both love to travel), and as flights were not cheap, we understood that it was not about the States, Emirates, but about something closer and cheaper. It so happened that I had never been to Belarus before, and then it also happened that I counted my visited countries and I got 29 in total. I thought how wonderful it would be if I visited the 30th country. That’s how the puzzle turned out. And a friend paid for my ticket to Minsk, for which I thank him very much! It’s just a pity that the bet has come to its logical conclusion and now I eat sweets every day, especially in Minsk. I hope I will find a new motivation for myself.

I flew to beautiful Minsk on August 28, Monday morning, and returned on August 31 in the evening. That is, I was in the country for almost 4 full days and the feat was to take with me only a small backpack (1.9 kg of weight) and a handbag (500 grams). I’m really proud of this moment, because I usually take all my life with me.

My main fear was that Sberbank card (even Mir but the Russian one), would not work. Therefore, I took cash (rubles) with me to exchange it for local currency upon arrival and pay for the rent of the apartment. I had already booked a place on kvartirka ru site for 3 or 4 times and I was very happy with it. There was a large selection of accommodation, for every taste and color, a convenient booking process, but for some reason I decided to book through Ostrovok ru site that time. There were difficulties with the payment and the company (Ostrovok) helped me, though I had to talk to their support service.

Money exchange in a taxi

I planned to go by minibus or by bus from the airport. But I was a couple of minutes late, and the next one was going to be only after 40-50 min. Thus I decided to take a taxi. Firstly, I didn’t want to waste my precious time, and secondly, I only had an hour to find a currency exchange office and check-in. I was in a hurry. And I also remembered that I would have to go from the bus station looking for my final destination. And it was much easier with the taxi as the driver would drop me off where I needed to and also provide me with the necessary information. That’s what I did. Having connected to the airport’s Internet, I used the good old Yandex (Russian Uber). The problem was that for some reason the pick-up point was in the departure zone, and I was in the arrival zone (logically). Therefore the car was waiting for me, I was running around the parking lot, asking local drivers where I should go. They didn’t know either. And I didn’t want to call my driver, because of the roaming. Maybe it’s not a lot of money to pay 200 rubles for a call. But I didn’t want to without a great need for that. In general, I still called the driver and we found each other. A taxi, by the way, cost 42 local rubles. The bus cost 5 rubles, I think. If anyone is interested and who is planning a trip to Minsk.

We had a nice way to the city center while talking. The driver told me about the country, the city, his family. When he found out that I needed to change rubles (I wonder how he found out? Who is so talkative?))), he asked me to sell him rubles, as he was going to Anapa (a Russian city in the south of the country) with his family the other day. How many times have I read on the Internet “in no case do not exchange money from strangers! Only do it through the bank and official exchangers” and, of course, I agreed to help the person I saw the first time in my life. Firstly, the amount was scanty. Secondly, I felt that I was a good and kind girl. It turned out that he sold me money at the official rate of the bank, and he won a little on my kindness.

In any case, I got there well and I didn’t have to go to the currency exchange. I checked in perfectly, too.

This time I decided not to tell everything in chronological order, but I will tell it in paragraphs, blocks, so that very busy people can read only what is interesting or, for example, if someone is going to fly to Minsk, the person will be able to open my article and find the point he/ she is interested in.

CURRENCY

The exchange rate of the Belarusian ruble at the time of my arrival was such that I multiplied everything by 30 to understand how much it would cost in Russia.

I was very worried about the sanctions and the fact that my bank card would not work in Minsk. But suprisingly it worked everywhere. It was a pleasant moment.

So far, my favorite banknotes (from the countries I have been to) are Maldivian ones. But, I must say, Belarusians are also nice and bright. Here it is:

MEAL

Alas, but I really like to eat. In the spring of 2022, I managed to lose 8kg on my own and I felt great, very light. I hadn’t had such a weight for more than 10 years. Apparently, I was very motivated that time (also I was in love). Nowadays it’s no matter how much I want the figure that I like and which helps me to feel light and well, I constantly choose not a goal, but a delicious threat and a lot to eat. It’s just sad. But also fun, haha. So anyway lets talk about food.

Of course, I flew there with a dream to eat the famous Belarusian draniki.

It’s good that I still eat 2 meals a day, without dinner. At least I have some good deed for my body. Well, it’s also a saving, too. Minus a whole meal. And how easy it is to sleep when there is no food inside you.

I can say that during my stay I visited different places and my tastings were also diverse.

For example, Vasilki restaurant. I even went to two different Vasilki (in the center) and near the Academy of Sciences.

I tried a salad “straight from the garden” in the first one. I highly recommend it. Delicious, healthy, light! There were also some seeds. Well, there was everything I normally enjoy eating. I also had some draniki with chicken and bacon. It was also delicious.

And a dessert looked like cookies with chocolate and a ball of ice cream. I love sweets, so it was very good for me, but already too much.

Imagine, I didn’t drink at all having all that food at once. Because normally I drink water 20-30 minutes before or after a meal. It also comes out as a kind of savings, although I do it simply because the body is so used to it.

The second Vasilki. I had a salad with Adyghe cheese and dried tomatoes. I can’t recommend it. At least it wasn’t for my taste. More precisely, it was very salty for me. I had been living without salt in the house for 15 years, at least it seems to me. Of course, I consume it (going to cafes, visiting friends, sometimes I take sauerkraut …), but, in general, I always cook without salt. Therefore, salted cheese, salted dried tomatoes and balsamic sauce were such a strong trio for me.

Then I was served with a “potato grandmother” (that was the name of the dish). In fact, I eat potatoes very rarely, maybe once every 3 months, therefore, it seems to me that I fulfilled my annual norm for the use of this vegetable in Minsk. I took the “grandmother” only because I read on the Internet that it was also a kind of national dish and that it was necessary to try it (interestingly, if they tell me that it is necessary to try beer or celery, then I will ignore the advice, and then potatoes come… and I’m right there). In addition to the fact that the dish consists of baked grated potatoes, some pork was also added there, and bacon and fried onions on top. And all this was served with sour cream and porcini mushroom sauce with cream. I definitely could call this dish: “fat and some more fat”. It’s even scary to imagine how many calories there were.

By the way, I couldn’t finish the second course. It was too much for me. And I wouldn’t take it again.

Redakciya

This cozy, stylish cafe was located in the house next door to where I was staying. I decided to look on the Internet, I was impressed and there I took cheesecakes (syrniki if you know what I mean) with sour cream and strawberries. I love cheesecakes, I haven’t eaten them for quite a while, it seems to me. However I am not talking about a famous type of a cake. I am here talking about smth that we call “syrniki”. I am not very sure what is the proper name of it in English language. The pros of the cafe: I liked the interior, the atmosphere. Cheesecakes were airy, fresh. Negative aspects: the portion was small (the cheesecakes themselves were small, to my taste), they were cooked for a long time (again, in my opinion). I mean I had to wait for a while. Well, I was also in a hurry, as I often am. And it was very sweet for breakfast, again I drank nothing. I should have taken something sour not sweet. And there was a good selection of breakfasts and they were available there all day.

Milano cafe.

I found it in the list of cool cafes and restaurants for breakfast. There I took a sandwich of wholegrain bread, tomatoes, turkey, cheese, egg on top, and all this was baked, the cheese melted. The dish was served with thick tomato sauce with real tomatoes. That was very tasty and satisfying. Well, it was also nice that I could observe my lovely Italian language on the toilet doors : donna, uomo … and the music in the cafe was also great.

Draniki

I also visited some cheap draniki cafe, near the house where I was staying.

There I decided to try koldony (it’s a Belarussian name of the dish). If the filling was served separately with the draniki, the filling went inside here. I think I took it with chicken. And I also had a small salad. I didn’t really like it there. The dish was oily, not to compare with Vasilki. Alas, I cannot recommend it.

News cafe

That day I had to have time to eat between the cinema and my upcoming English lesson, and I found a cafe next to the cinema, went there before the film, studied the menu and decided what I would order in advance. I wouldn’t be me if I hadn’t changed my mind 50 times and returned to my choice again. As a result, after the movie, I went to a cafe straight away and ordered (as planned) – spaghetti with chanterelles and pine nuts. My choice was that only because it was the season of chanterelles, I love them very much. Thus I couldn’t resist.

Kobrin Ice Cream

Here I’m ready to serenade. It’s not just an ice cream, it’s fantastic! How glad I was that I tried it on the first day of my stay in Minsk. I was addicted to it and then bought it on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (all the days that I was there). It’s a soft cone ice cream. So what is its peculiarity and difference from the similar ones. If, for example, you take ice cream in a cone at KFC or MacDonalds, then it’s quite liquid there. There it was very thick. The feeling that you are eating sweet sour cream but very tasty. Believe me, I wouldn’t eat ice cream every day, realizing what a harm it is to my body. Every time I was passing by, I came to the queue for that special sweet treat. Once a woman was paying in front of me and she had not paid yet, decided to try what she bought and immediately said: “oh, how delicious!” , the seller and I looked at each other smiling, because we were already aware of that taste and could completely understand the lady.

I also bought pastries at Tierry bakery once. I understand it’s a popular French bakery there. I won’t say anything special, except that it was cool to read French on their branded package.

There were many other things I wanted to try, but almost everything there was not rubber (we say in Russia that if something is not endless and unlimited – it’s not rubber): my travel days, my stomach, my wallet.

Santa

This is the supermarket that I remember. I tried to change (alculate) different products into our prices and compare them, but I could hardly remember the prices of those products that I saw in front of me. The choice was good however.

WEATHER

During my stay, the weather was mostly sunny, hot, the daytime temperature was about 29C above zero. I was very surprised, but for me (a person who spent several summers in Italy, also living in India for a couple of months) Minsk seemed unbearably hot. It was very much indeed. And I love the warmth, but it was too much for me. Therefore, at the peak of the sun’s activity, I tried to be inside the building, not on the street.

BELARUSSIAN LANGUAGE

it amused me very much. Probably because it seemed to be the same (as Russian), but completely different. It was especially strange to read A everywhere when in Russian the same word is used with an O.

I even thought that if I moved to Belarus for a while or started learning the local language, my Russian would decrease dramaticaly. For sure, I would write in many words the letter A when it is not necessary.

UNDERGROUND

Unfortunately, I am writing about the subway, already more than a month after the trip and the rest of the article will be waiting for the same situation. Therefore, there are few details that I remember clearly and emotionally. How important it is to take notes about something right away, to fix it. When there are too many events per square meter or minute of time, a lot is forgotten. This is one of the reasons why I try to find time for a blog, at least to share stories of my trips and some important events, even for my own memory.

I used the underground three times, if I am not mistaken, no more. What did I remember? Basically, the subway is like an ordinary subway. But the fare was very cheap, more precisely 0.9 Belarusian rubles per trip, which, converted into Russian rubles at the exchange rate for August 2023, was about 30 rubles. It was extremely cheap, I think. And it was also very funny to hear in the subway car, at each station: “Osirozhna, dveri zaschinyayutsya.” Obviously, I understood what that meant, but it was still very unusual for the Russian ear and cute at the same time. I was ready to ride the subway at least for this phrase.

TAXI and a slightly shocking story

I was very surprised by the story of one of the Yandex taxi drivers. We talked about this and that, because the road was quite long. Yandex Taxi has an option with cashback refund? I probably should have checked the information first, conducted an experiment and read on the Internet, but in this case I preferred the easy way and just took the driver’s word for it. In general, how (according to him) Yandex cashback works. The one who has this option enabled, in most cases receives a higher cost for the trip than the one who does not have such a function. That is, a person pays an amount higher than another passenger with a regular fare and then Yandex returns cashback, just the amount that you overpaid. In general, it’s strange to me. Because it’s easy to check and it could be a big scandal. Why would such a big and good company need such a thing? On the other hand, even I (a person with pink glasses and flying unicorns) do not have total confidence in such programs. And the driver said that he and several passengers were checking a similar scheme. At the same time, they ordered a taxi from one point. Anyway, I didn’t connect to any cashbacks, I’m fine as it is but I decided to share this story here. I have a mixed feeling where I want it to be fake because I believe in good and kind people but also I want it to be true as I don’t want to give wrong information here.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART

In fact, visiting this building was not part of my plans. But it just so happened that on my arrival there was an unbearable heat and I wanted to hide somewhere from the scorching sun, and when I saw the museum on the city map and realized that I was very close to it, the puzzle came together and so I found myself in the temple of art.

I really liked the paintings presented in the museum. I will share some of them here. Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was especially impressive (I mean his works). And I can’t say that I hadn’t seen his paintings before. It’s just that, apparently, at the moment I was set up for work of this kind. And he impressed me with how fantastically plausible the forest was painted by his brush. Every blade of grass, twig, light and shadow. I wanted to immerse myself in that majestic beauty of nature. I stood near his works for quite a long time, imagining myself inside the painting, and then remembering where I was, I studied his strokes, technique, color palette.

Isaac Brodsky “In the Park” (1915)

Vladimir Beklemishev “Negress” (1901)

I was also greatly impressed by Arkhip Kuindzhi’s painting “Birch Grove,” but it is as beautiful in real life as it is ugly in the lens of my phone, so I don’t dare post it here. And it amazed me with its mystery, depth and art technique. The painting contains unusual combinations of light and color, a sharp contrast of sun and shadow, which creates the impression of very bright sunlight.

How beautiful it was inside the museum! Or simply beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes it seems that everything is beautiful for me.

MUSEUM “STRANA MINI”

I found this museum by chance on the map of the city while was looking where to go. That is, I was just walking and periodically checked with the phone, and where exactly was I going and what was interesting near me. After seeing that museum, I could not pass by, because I really love a similar museum in St. Petersburg (Russia-Grand Maket). The cost of one ticket seems to have cost me 19 Belarusian rubles (about 600 Russian rubles that time). I was given a smartphone with headphones. There was an audio about each exhibit uploaded on that smartphone. I don’t remember why, but, as often happens, I was in a hurry. Most likely, I had a lesson and I had an hour of time to visit the Mini Country. Actually that was quite enough for me. The only thing I didn’t have time to listen to about each object, but I still wouldn’t have remembered so much information, and why would I?

But something impressed me so much that I even recorded the text from the audio to share it on the blog.

“The construction of the palace was started in June 2011 and completed on October 24, 2013. The building was designed by architect Viktor Kramarenko, the creator of the National Library and the railway station in Minsk. Since this is the current residence of the president, the palace is closed to the public. Therefore, only here you can look at it from a bird’s-eye view. Even on the Internet you can’t find a photo where you can see the courtyard. It was here on February 11 and 12, 2015 that the Presidents of Ukraine and France, Russia and the German Chancellor held 15-hour talks on resolving the crisis in eastern Ukraine. The second Minsk agreement was signed. It is said that the negotiations were so tense that Vladimir Putin was given a separate room where he rested during breaks. Special attention is paid to the security of this residence. According to the plans, all entrances are equipped with six arched metal detectors and four ribbon hermeires. Another special means is a system of protection against wiretapping. When people are talking in the room, the vibrations are transmitted to the window panes. Special devices allow you to read these vibrations at a laser beam distance and, thus, listen to the room. To prevent this, Priboy speech information protection devices were purchased. The system includes 239 radiators that generate noise interference on the windows. To destroy secret documents, 5 destroyers of the 5th class of secrecy are used. They are capable of grinding not only paper, but also plastic cards and CDs. The architectors also took care of the secret arrival of the president. A special entrance is organized for him, which allows him to get into his office in the shortest possible time.” Then it was said that it was necessary to pay attention to the model, that it was a 100% copy of the building and that if one person had created the layout, it would have taken him about 30 months.

In fact, a lot of interesting things were said about each building model there. And I also realised that if Alexander Grigoryevich has such a security system, then, for sure, the presidents of more developed countries have an even cooler system, and therefore why am I surprised here? However I was still impressed and decided to share smth here. In general, I found it quite strange that such information was revealed to the general public, to museum visitors.

Imagine, I even found the meeting and dialogue between Alice and the rabbit near the palace. They were very small, but not for my eagle eye. Since there was not a word about this in the audio guide, I was very happy about this finding. I often act like a small child. That wasn’t an exception.

PARKS OF MINSK

Well, parks are my great love and weakness, so I visited several at once. I’ll tell you a bit about those that I remember well:

Yanka Kupala Park is a park of culture and recreation in the center of Minsk near Victory Square, founded in 1950. It is named after the Belarusian poet Yanka Kupala. I managed to walk there twice. It’s just a nice park, there is one or two monuments and a river.

Victory Park. I was there in the evening. That day I met an old (she is actually younger than me), good friend Masha. We worked together in the summer of 2018 in Tuscany. We hadn’t seen each other since. And so, 5 years later, I found out that Masha was living in Minsk and, of course, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to meet and chat. We walked a lot, breathed the freshest air and came to the central entrance to the park, where we took pictures with Stella and the Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War (by the way, I really wanted to visit it, but it didn’t work out for me, not this time).

Gorky Park – in fact, I visited it completely by accident. I was just walking by and came across the park. I killed two birds with one stone while going somewhere and enjoying the park on my way. There were rides, stalls with ice cream and cotton candy. Basically it was a park for children, I would say. I don’t even have a picture of it.

40th October anniversary park. I also visited it by chance. But I went around almost all of it and it made an indelible impression on me. There were a lot of weeping willows, I even took a picture with one of them and, I don’t know if I can say that – it caressed my face with twigs. I was just standing among the trees and the wind was moving the branches of the tree.

And the park was very beautiful, green, well-designed. I still remember how I walked and repeated aloud: “Thank you, thank you for this life. How happy I am! Definitely. Unconditionally. Here and now. Thanks! What an amazing life.” Probably, someone will condemn me for this. After all, there are so many troubles in the world, so much misfortune, grief, death, and I enjoy life and do it absolutely sincerely. But, as it seems to me, I will not help people and will not make the world a better place if I am in grief and worries. I will only increase the coefficient of grief and suffering in this world. And, on the contrary, perhaps a passerby will see my bright eyes, my smile filled with warmth and will feel life in this and will become happier himself. I prefer to think this way.

I started going deeply in my thoughts again, but I just wanted to say that this park touched the strings of my soul.

Botanical Garden. I visited the place on my final day in the country and was very happy with my choice. The entrance to the park at the time of my visit cost me 10 Belarusian rubles (300 Russian rubles), which was very cheap for me, considering the size of the garden.

It is one of the largest botanical gardens in Europe both in area (about 100 hectares) and in the numbers of collections (more than 10 thousand items, including 2.3 thousand of closed ground). In 1999, by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Belarus, it was given the status of a scientific object that constitutes a national treasure.

I had a funny moment there. At the beginning of my route (already being in the Botanical Garden), a man of approximately 65 years old approached me. It was a local employee. He asked me something, recommended me where to go and what to see first, asked where I was from. We said goodbye to each other and about 40-50 minutes later, when I had already passed through a fairly large area of the garden and found myself in a completely different part of it, I met this man again. It was obvious that he was in work and business, he did not follow me on purpose. It was just a funny coincidence (considering the size of the garden). And then we started talking:

He: So are you here to visit your relatives?

Me: No

He: your friends?

Me: no, by myself. I am just traveling

He: and aren’t you afraid to travel like that? What if you get stolen?

Me: Yes, so far no one has stolen (here I “felt sorry” for myself, because the man meant exactly stealing by a man because of my appearance. Apparently, he liked me. But I drove my thoughts away from myself and said to myself, “The universe, I didn’t mean that! I take my thoughts back. I don’t feel sorry and I don’t want to be stolen. No way!”)

He: well, even if you think of me, for example. I’ll take you and steal you!

Me: no, you won’t do that!

I don’t remember how our dialogue ended, but, as you can see, I write this blog, I am alive and I continue to travel around our amazing world, discovering new corners of the planet Earth.

Then I still thought about his words. About the fact that I traveled around the world a lot, in 90% of cases alone and was extremely rarely afraid of it. Usually I am open to the world and expect kindness and light, love and warmth from it, which is basically what I get.

I walked a lot in the park, enjoyed the freshness of the air and the green environment, which calmed my mind and soul. And also I even forced myself to sit on a bench, look at the local “Swan Lake” and then read a book, taking my time.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF BELARUS

The building is a rhombocuboctahedron (also called “diamond”) 73.7 m high (23 floors) and weighing 115,000 tons (not counting the books).
As of January 1, 2023, the size of the library’s collection has reached 10.5 million copies and includes printed publications, manuscripts, microcopies of documents, electronic and other materials in more than 80 languages, created both in Belarus and in foreign countries.

Obviously, I planned to visit this building.

Initially, I didn’t plan to walk around the library, but since I arrived an hour earlier than the observation deck opened, I thought that going through the reading rooms would be a great pastime. I bought a temporary reader’s ticket, giving me the right to a one-time visit and went inside.

I was lucky that at the moment there was an exhibition of national costumes and again it was possible to find an audio guide to the event on the Internet. Of course, I didn’t listen to information about each costume, but only about those that were interesting to me for their design or location (Omsk, for example, Armenia, Yekaterinburg…)

Even the way to the library toilet was through immersion in art: on the wall were panos, mosaic paintings. And they all impressed me very much. I was even glad that I wanted to visit the toilet, otherwise I would not have seen these masterpieces. So I highly recommend it.

I also noticed areas with computers, Internet and desktops.

After that, I went to the. There, on the floor below (if I remember correctly), there was a kind of cafe (I didn’t visit it. Imagine, as it turned out, I’m not always ready to eat and I don’t always want to) and again, a small exhibition of paintings by various artists. I liked it. The observation deck itself, for some reason, did not impress me much. I can’t even tell you why. Maybe I’ve already seen too much of this in my life. Or just the views were so-so. And there was a glazed fence around the perimeter. I understand that these are elementary security measures and it is very logical. But I wanted an open space, air and good visibility.

There were also several signs on the site describing the main attractions that could be seen from the height where we were standing. You could read interesting facts and immediately find the “main character” somewhere in front of you. I remember that the most beautiful (in my subjective opinion) that I saw from this site were forest plantations stretching into the distance. I love nature and trees, lots of trees.

THINGS I HAVEN’T DONE

I really wanted to go to Grodno. For various reasons, but, most importantly, by numerous recommendations of friends and acquaintances. My poor knowledge of geography allowed me to draw a picture of my visit to the city in my head. Alas, then I found out that the way there would take several hours (4-5, it seems) and realized that this was an unacceptable luxury considering my arrival and stay in Minsk for 4 days only.

I shared my sadness with Masha (my ex-colleague, whom I mentioned earlier) and she highly recommended me to visit Dudutki. This is a museum complex of ancient folk crafts, located 40 kilometers from the capital of Belarus — the city of Minsk, on the banks of the picturesque Ptich River. The museum was founded in 1994 by Evgeny Dominikovich Budinas, a Belarusian writer, journalist and entrepreneur, one and a half kilometers from the Dudichi estate. As I understood it, visitors get into the atmosphere of a provincial Belarusian estate of the XIX century. There you can get acquainted with folk customs and crafts of that time. In the pottery workshop, those who wish are invited to make household utensils, and in the bakery — to bake a real ruddy loaf. The name of the museum combines two words: the name of the local estate “Dudichi” and the traditional Belarusian instrument “duda”. The main purpose of the Dudutki Museum is to introduce guests to Belarusian ancient crafts. For this reason, much attention is paid here to craft workshops and practical classes with visitors. It’s very sad that I didn’t get there. I then thought about coming to live in Minsk for a while, or just come for a little longer. In general, even though I haven’t been there, I recommend this place to visit. And I didn’t get there… I don’t even know what was the reason. I found the information on the Internet, looked at how to get there, arrived at the central bus station, went to the ticket office, and they told me that the bus was different, I needed another station, it was also inconvenient to go to it and the bus time there was inconvenient. And, most importantly, I needed to have time to get back to the apartment before my English classes, so that there was good Internet and a calm, quiet environment. That time I preferred work and even some responsibility, because it is not in my tradition to cancel lessons a few hours before they start. Anyway, I enjoyed that day. By the way, yes! I visited the national library that day, instead of Dudutki. Of course, these are completely different things, but I was very happy with how my day went.

CINEMA

To my great surprise, I even visited a cinema in Minsk. And I didn’t just go inside to have a look, but spent more than 2 hours there, as I watched the movie “Jeanne du Barry” with Johnny Depp. I really wanted to watch this movie, but I still couldn’t find the time and definitely wouldn’t have found in Minsk, because for me it’s almost a crime to be in a new country for myself, just a few days and spend precious time on the cinema screen when I can do it anywhere else. Why Minsk? The answer is simple. It was the day after our evening promenade with Masha, and I had been walking for half a day before that.

36 871 steps for one day.

As a result, the legs just ached and moaned the next day. It was very hard for me to walk and then I decided to choose my health rather than something else. I liked the idea of sitting in a cinema without straining my legs. And I loved the movie, by the way, too. In addition to that I love Johnny Depp very much. And France. And, of course, I was burst into tears at the end of the movie and throughout, too. By the way, the film was in Russian.To be honest I almost did not hear the Belarusian language during my 4 days stay there.

TISSOT STORE

It’s probably surprising to see the name of a particular store in this article. There is a funny story connected with the store. A little bit of history (taken from the Internet): Tissot was founded in 1853 by Charles-Felicien Tissot and his son Charles-Emile in Switzerland, in the town of Le Locle. Initially, the company was a small watch workshop, where local farmers worked in the cold season, called the workshop “Charles Tissot and Son”.

It was the only shop that was visible from the window of the apartment I rented. And it took me to Europe for a moment. Of course, I remembered this red sign.

And so, on my (it seems) second day in Minsk, I was sitting in a cafe and waiting for my food order. There was only me and the waiter on the veranda and a man came up to us and asked the waiter how he could find a Tissot store somewhere nearby. Then I remembered the view from my window. The waiter (local citizen) said that, unfortunately, he did not know, even approximately. And I jumped in, saying that I’d been there for the second day and I could be wrong, but it seemed to me like he needed to go straight and then turn right. Then the man thanked me very much and added: “Well, how do you, young man, work here, live and don’t even know the area. And the girl is knows the way being in the city for the second day!” On one hand, I was very pleased. On the other hand, I was thinking (once again) how often do we make judgments without knowing all the details. In fact, it was the only store in Minsk that I could find without problems, simply because my windows looked there. What a coincidence!

So, what can I say and how to summarize my story. I liked Minsk very much (it’s time to ask a question: what didn’t I like, which cities and countries? Helsinki, I think. But then I also got into it, I found a lot of advantages and beauty there, especially when I arrived for the second or third time in August 2019). It was warm in Minsk (even very hot), delicious, informative, interesting, friendly, clean! I thought about going there for the winter, for 3 months. But still, for various reasons, the choice fell in favor of the south of Russia for the winter of 2023-2024. Perhaps I will come to Belarus again. Besides Grodno, I would really like to visit Belovezhskaya Pushcha and many other things.

Thanks a lot for being with me and seeing Minsk with my eyes. I wish you all the very very best my dear friends!

P.S. The article in Russian language is bigger and have about 30 more photos I guess so if you want to know even more (which I really doubt) you can have a look at the Russian version of this story.