18/01/20 "Do I go bar hopping or raving this eve? I'd have to go sober and alone. Imagine. Maybe I'll just get smashed at the hotel rooftop bar. But then the bill at the end...and I've already spent the amount it would take to get me binned on Toblerones."
The working title for this post was My Mad Minsk Weekender, but that would have been somewhat misleading, given that the maddest decision I made was ordering overpriced room service and snacking on the mini bar a few too many times. I'm sure the staff think I have a Toblerone addiction as I have managed to eat a whole one every night and before I can blink, I find the stock has been replenished by the next afternoon. Enough is enough. I'm going to buy them for a quarter of the price in the shop round the corner and just accept that if I don't have the self-restraint to stop eating them all together, I should at least indulge for cheaper. What a dreadful habit.
My memory of Wednesday to Friday is blurred in a mess of grey matter, which is exactly how the sky ended up looking as the week progressed. It started off bright blue and by Saturday was filled with stubborn clouds and thick mists. That said, Wednesday had an unforgettably harsh start. I woke up with a dead leg, so dead that when I put pressure on it to get up, it immediately collapsed and I found the sharp metal/wooden/glass bedside table breaking my limb-flailing fall, leaving me with quite a large bruise the shape of central America down my leg. Hump day? Certainly. Bump day? Apparently. Trump day? Surprisingly. In lessons, Tanya and I discussed the events happening in Iran and the possible outbreak of WWIII. It was all a bit much before 10am. Despite stuffing myself at dinner the night before, I still had it in me to have a plate of draniki again for lunch at Vasilki, a chain serving traditional Belarusian cuisine.
Tanya and I have now slotted into a daily rhythm. I have my usual breakfast of eggs benedict and sirniki (traditional small, round, thick pancakes), then we meet in the reception at 08:58am, Tanya walks a stride behind me from the hotel to the conference room, we take the same seats that we took on day one as our rightful places at the long table, at 12 Tanya ums and ahs over which of the limited restaurants to choose for lunch (she usually goes for Gan Bei), afterwards she insists we walk to the ice cream parlour to check if they have her favourite flavour and they never do (she is yet to buy an ice cream for pudding), at 1, in a post-lunch lull, we resume afternoon lessons and, at 3, I walk her to the taxi and she waves goodbye til tomorrow.
My afternoons are precious. I spent the sunny ones roaming through the city and became obsessed with getting as many photos of babushkas, brutalist buildings and metro stations as my cold hands could capture.
It was only on my first day off on Saturday that I realised how exhausted I was. I slept until 1 and finally at 3 I ventured through the wind and fog to have 'linner' at Cimes, an israeli street food café, much like my beloved Bekitzer (see Saint Petersburg page for more info). I was approached by a smiley waiter who introduced himself as Artyusha, the diminutive of the name Artyom, and he asked where I was from. When I said London, his eyes lit up in wonderment as he explained how I was such a rarity and he would love an English friend. He asked if I would like a tour of the city on Sunday and I accepted the offer. He left his number on some receipt paper for me and wrote Artyom, but I'm going to call him by his softer nickname. Someone to speak Russian with ! Someone just to speak with at all !! Bozhe moy !!! (omg). After that, I power-walked through more mist until I reached a café for a sweet treat and a place to warm up before getting back to the hotel for yoga and room service. In spite of perusing facebook events and clicking "interested" in a number of them, it was an eventual "no" to techno. I'll save a Minsk night out for another time.
~ Subscribe if you want the full story of my walking tour with Artyusha ~
Food...
Vasilki - The bullyon (chicken broth) was served with homemade meat pies to dip in. A very traditional option that is not to everyone's taste, but, accompanied by the tasty draniki meant I was filled up perfectly to get through Monday afternoon lessons
Cimes - I didn't know whether to get babaganoush, falafel or hummus so I took Artyusha's advice and got it all on their set dish consisting of a little of everything. It was delicious and the perfect size for lunch. I didn't get to try their shawarma but there's still time for me to return and maybe get a cheeky discount from Artyusha...
Tiden - This was the perfect Saturday eve pit stop to get blood circulating properly again and to enjoy an artisan coffee with an irresistible snickers cheesecake. The interior was as millennial and vegan as the clientele, plants hanging from the ceiling and the customer ahead of me buying eco-friendly products along with her coffee
Culture...
Lenin Monument - This is an iconic statue of Vladimir Ilyich himself, placed in front of the State Government Offices of Minsk in Independence Square. The buildings surrounding the former dictator are just as socialist as the man himself, their repetitive rectangular structures a subtle reminder of how people were expected to exist in similar uniformity under his repressive regime https://goo.gl/maps/9CVaPNHcWRk4Wzk66
The Red Church - Next to lovely Lenin is this wonderfully communist, bright, red church (the clue's in the name), a vibrant piece of Soviet history that is definitely worth visiting if you want to see some interesting architecture for free. Read below for more info on churches in Minsk and look through the rest of the website for travel tips in Minsk - it's a great resource!
Libra Exhibition Hall - The word 'hall' is perhaps an overstatement. Imagine a room with paintings and sketches lining the walls and a few sculptures in the middle and that's Libra. I think the Picasso exhibition merited a bigger space for such a big name but the pre-guernica drawings were cool and the small size of the gallery meant it didn't feel like a massive commitment of time and energy to see some art
Had I been brave enough to hit the club...
Kastrychnitskaya and Zybitskaya - Lined with bars, pubs, kebab shops and clubs, these two streets are better known as the "Party Streets"of Minsk, where, according to Artyusha, the molodost' (youth) like to go out. He said summer is the best time to be there when crowds of people drink, smoke and talk outside bars and clubs, then walk to the river to watch the sunrise after a mad one
Hide - Opened in March 2019 and found on the party street Kastrychnitskaya, this club has already launched three hugely successful techno nights and is the hotspot for Belarusian ravers
Modul Art Platform - Another rave destination which hosts some very intense nights where, to quote the Resident Advisor page for their event "Somasutra", you can dance to "aggressive sets" of "collective trance" and the "goal is to create comfortable conditions so that everyone can be what they want. And do not be shy about it. We aim for the disclosure of personality and the release of emotions through an atmosphere of complete freedom and love, dance and techno in all its manifestations."