After a few boring hours on the plane, we finally arrived at the International Airport Minsk. It is the major international airport of Belarus. It is really amazing! The Minsk airport is approximately 50 kilometers from the city Minsk itself. The airport was equipped with all modern conveniences such as restaurants, bars, a post office, a bank and exchange office, a nursery, a taxi service and much more. Seeing all those bars, made us very thirsty. So accordingly, we took a ten-minute break to drink a glass on our first trip around the world.
The capital Minsk is easy to reach, there a three options: take a bus (price: 1), take a taxi (price: 20) or rent a car. We choose the cheapest solution: the bus. Busses depart every hour from 7 am till 10.30 pm. After a 40 minutes drive on the bus, we arrived in Minsk, next to the Central Rail Terminal. We then unloaded our luggage and were ready for adventure: the search for our hotel. Our greatest problem was navigation! It was a hard nut to crack because the actual street names were in Cyrillic alphabet which we had to decipher.It caused excitement because we didn't know for sure where we went most of the time, let alone that I knew which way I was taking. We wandered about for a few hours till someone had the bright idea to ask someone the way. It wasn't that easy because tourism isn't a priority in Minsk, as a consequence, English is spoken rarely.
We finally arrived the hotel!
After unpacking, we went into the city for more exploration. Minsk is the capital of Belarus and one of the oldest cities in Europe. The city was almost destroyed during the Second World War, something I once learnt in secondary school. I really expected a desolate and dirtiness but nothing was further from the truth. Minsk was surprisingly clean and beautiful, with grand buildings, well manicured parks throughout the city and artistic statues along the main boulevards. Even the Soviet Era apartment blocks in the outer suburbs were freshly painted and well maintained.
What about the cuisine in Minsk?
The eating habits aren't that different from other Eastern European cultures. The modern Belarusian cuisine exists of a wide range of potatoes and red meat. Belarusians spend a lot of their free time in the woods searching for many kinds of mushrooms. The most beloved Belarusian dish is draniki or potato pancake. Dairy products such as sour cream, butter and milk are served with the pancakes. Draniki is also very popular in other countries such as Russia, Ukraine and Israel. A favorite drink is black tea and coffee in general.
Darkness then fell and we decided to explore the nightlife in Minsk. The city at night is really quiet and we felt us very safe. One of the main reasons of the dead silence at night in Minsk is that persons under 18 years are forbidden to be on the streets after 11 pm without being accompanied with an adult. The policies of their government are really strict. Firstly, it is forbidden to drink alcohol (included beer!) in public places such as the local streets, parks,... It is only possible in places such as restaurants, bars, pubs or of course at home. Secondly, smoking is forbidden in public spaces and in the centre of Minsk. Another rule is to protect the city against dust and dirt. Accordingly, Minsk is one of the most clean cities in the world.
