Down to breakfast at 09:00, then off exploring again. Feeling very weary, all the walking in the heat and humidity yesterday took it out of us so we decided to take it easy today and would probably skip some of the sights. They were only a couple of churches and war memorials so we wouldn’t be missing much.
I realised we hadn’t had a local meal in Belarus so we’d look for somewhere that served traditional food at some stage.
Walked back to the underground supermarket, the weather a bit cooler than yesterday but still sunny, had a wander around the shopping centre then walked back to the old town. Walked down the main street, lots of huge buildings, different colours and all grand and in perfect condition. Most of the Eastern European countries we’ve visited had similar buildings but most were falling apart. Popped into the Gum department store (we’ve been to the original in Red Square in Moscow), took a photo of the interior then carried on.
Stopped off at the Grand Cafe for a coffee and juice. You need to learn about what different coffees are called in different countries; an Americano is a long black, a cappuccino is a latte, a latte (if they do it) is served in a tall glass in layers of milk and coffee. If you usually have a weak soy decaf flat white with hazelnut syrup, you’re out of luck.
Coffee and juice cost 11 roubles (7.66 AUD)
Sat in the Cafe watching the locals walk by. They seem reasonably wealthy, a lot of the women are quite stylish, lots of iphones and Samsung. Vaping is looking to be popular (ugh). We haven’t seen any homeless people, there’s lots of public transport (including a small metro), the cars look new and in good condition. We walked past a parking spot and every car was a BMW, Mercedes or Porsche (and a Renault, not sure how that got there).
Not what I’d imagined Minsk would be like.
Arrived back at the old town square and saw there was a crowd, they were watching some guys dressed in armour having mock battles. After that a medieval type band started playing and a bunch of young people in traditional dress did some traditional dancing. It’s amazing how we keep stumbling across things that are going on like the Opera building open day yesterday. It just shows that people and countries like to celebrate what they have and their traditions.
In addition to the performers there was a craft market and the stall holders were also dressed traditionally. I sat down while Song did her best to reduce the amount of local currency we had.
The market covered the main square as well as some side streets, there were more performers dotted about, singing and dancing. We were pretty lucky to be there, I suspect it’s an annual festival because there was also a stage set up with more performances, including the Cossack dances. It’s not often you get to sit in the Minsk old town centre and watch people in Belarusian national dress performing their music and dance, so I made the most of it, sat on the steps of the town hall.
Song visited every one of the 300 stalls while I watched the dancers, then we went to get some lunch.
Found a traditional restaurant, and ordered assorted dumplings, I went for a pie with potatoes and cheese and a local beer, Song had a tuna salad. I use Instagram for the food photos, so if you are interested click on the link at the right of this.
Despite being a traditional restaurant, they didn’t allow smoking, which was a pleasant surprise. There’s a lot less smoking in Belarus compared to Georgia (a pack of cigarettes in Tbilisi was about 2 AUD), and we noticed that cigarettes aren’t displayed in shops in Minsk, like Australia.
The dumplings were similar to Chinese ones, but a different shape, and were OK, not brilliant.
The potato and cheese pie was a bit bland and stodgy. At least the beer was good. You have to try the local food, and some you win, some you lose. Lunch costs 26.50 roubles – 19 AUD – 6 dumplings, a salad, beer, sparkling water, pie.
Suitably full, we walked back to the park with the Opera academy and had a stroll.
Back to the market just in case Song missed a stall, then hopped on the bus (number 38 in case you missed the 53) back to the hotel.
Overall we were very impressed with Minsk – lots of amazing buildings in perfect condition, wide streets, very clean and no graffiti. The old part was small but quaint, decent cafes and restaurants. Though not a lot to do, we stayed a day more than was really necessary, but we spent the first day recovering from the early start from Tbilisi.
We fly out tomorrow morning to Vilnius.
