My Minsk Impressions

I really felt like apologizing for not understanding how close the Belarussians are to me. It was so worth going there, and I want to come back. You know why? The first discovery was the smashing of the stereotype about a boring grey city where nothing really happens. To my big surprise, the building from the Stalinist period form a real logical ensemble in the city center. After WWII Minsk had to be built from zero and the core idea of the city plan was to built a perfect Soviet city.

A post for dear Belarussians: my Minsk impressions and tips about Georgia

That utopic idea and its reflection in the architecture are thoroughly elaborated by the writer Artur Klinau in his guidebook “Minsk: The Sun City of Dreams”. UNESCO was very close to include the city center into its heritage list, but one new concrete-and-plastic building has destroyed the whole picture. So the sun city is there as it is, and Klinau is organizing amazing tours through it, rain or sun. What else you should know about Minsk… I love the gentrification of industrial parts: they are rapidly turning into creative spaces.

The walls in different city parts are covered with murals, and it’s quite witty that a big part of it is painted by Brazilian street artists in the framework of the festival Vulica Brasil. Cafes and bars are as hipster as they can be. I caught myself on the thought that in Tbilisi and got used to a mishmash in the menus, but here everything is structured: you drink cocktails in one bar, go for a wine to the other, etc. And the habits of Belarussians are totally different from those we used to imagine in the Georgian tourism board. We were thinking to catch them with old friendships and soulful authenticity, but they rather need clean streets and good service. Logical, because if you live so close to Europe and spend a lot of time there, you get used to the quality, for sure.

And the last and most common thing for me is tips of places to eat and drink:

Pancakes paradise Depo
Fast food joint Lauka
Drinks and live music in Bar Huligan
Delicious international food in ENZO
Wine bar Svobody, 4
Book shop and wine bar Kniharnya Logvinau
Cool cocktails Banki Butylki
Stylish beer bar Chapski
Amazing cocktails and cool atmosphere in El Pushka

And again: I am super grateful to people who were showing me around and took care of me. I hope you will find Minsk as cool as I did and will have a great time there!

Картинки по запросу минск зыбицкая