Michele and Teresa needed to get to the airport for an 8.40am Belavia flight to Vilnius, Lithuania. For some annoying reason, the wifi did not work in our Minsk apartment this morning. That meant that we could not use the taxi app to order a cab to the airport.

Michele and Teresa left Scott sleeping since his flight was later in the day and made our way to the Macdonald’s down the road near the Gates of Minsk in the hopes of getting some wifi…. but it was not open at 6am.

We went to the central station hoping to get some wifi but could not connect here either. So we determined that there should be a cab rank close by. We approached one and tried to negotiate a price. The language barrier was making things a bit vague but we decided to trust him and he got us to the airport in one piece, albeit we did pay the premium price (which we think was a mixture the time of day it was and also that we were tourists who were easily taken advantage of).

One thing we did notice was the fact that there are not always seat belts available for use and the drivers barely use them (we noticed this in Kiev too). Yet here in Minsk the roads are so wide and efficient that you do feel safe enough.

The check in process was fuss free but the border check, even with leaving the country was very thorough and took longer than entering the country. There were duty free shops in the departure area but we did not want to add to our suitcases just yet!

The Belavia flight was very comfortable with decent sized seats and leg room.

Our experience in Minsk was all positive and we are so pleased that we spent the time here. We would absolutely recommend this beautiful country as a must see to anyone interested. We have already commented that we will be comparing every city that we are yet to see to Minsk.

Arriving back into the EU is heaven as far as border security is concerned. We just go to the passport scanners and pop through!

Vilnius is an hour behind Belarus so we landed before we took off.

Uber was operational from the airport and took us to the hotel Involita within 15mins for €8. This hotel is located in the heart of the old town and finally has a lift! The room is basic but comfortable and includes breakfast.

We dropped our bags off but could not check in until after midday, so we set off in search of breakfast and a hairdresser. The cafe that we found was attached to a jewellers and was adorned in pink flowers and furniture. We ordered coffees, breakfast and mimosas.

After breakfast we walked around the old town and finally found our blow dries! We waited for our appointments at another very modern cafe that had swings for chairs!

Salon-ready once again, we looked for a place to eat lunch. We thought that eating at 2:30-3pm would avoid the lunch at rush but it seemed that everyone wanted to dine at that time too. One restaurant turned us away before we squeezed into a table for two at another. Two chicken Kievs and some dark beers were ordered and we were not disappointed.

By the time we left the restaurant it was dark so we did a bit more exploring, got some supplies and then settled in for a relatively early night, it had been quite a big day. The Australian fires were the main story on the BBC news, they still look devastating.

There is a music channel that was playing 80’s hits and we realised that Wham’s Last Christmas has been the song we have heard the most of throughout Europe. But look at what they played today!

Labos nakties!

Minsk was essentially a ghost town on New Year’s Day. We decided that we would find something to eat and then catch trains across the metro. It would have been good to plan a day trip on a country train but we enjoyed the Soviet decorated stations instead.

We had wanted to visit the Lido cafe which is like the old milk bars in Poland where you choose your food from the dishes displayed, line up to pay and then collect and eat your food. They are like canteens. Sadly, Lido and everything else was shut so we had no choice but to have Maccas.

On the way we walked past the permanent circus building with it’s quirky statues.

Down in the Metro, everything is soooo clean, including the underground walkways, stairs, platforms and trains. The glass on the trains is even devoid of finger marks!

The system is extremely efficient, with trains arriving every 5 minutes. Each trip, no matter how many stations you passed cost 50 Australian cents which you just pay using your visa the same as you would an Opal card in Australia.

We picked random stations to alight from and walked into the open to see some of suburbia. Most places were shut because of the holiday. We did get to see some older Soviet buildings in the outer suburbs though.

We returned home to recharge and then decided to try the taxi app that is used here instead of UBER, called Yandex.Taxi to check that we could use it to get a cab to the airport tomorrow as we are leaving very early.

The setting sun was spectacular behind the Gates of Minsk. It was the only day we saw the sun here.

The cab arrived and took us to Karl Marx place again to find some good food. The app lets you choose if you want to pay with card or cash and the ride and payment process was fuss-free. The Grunwald restaurant was full so we walked back to Cafe Michel and had an excellent variety of dishes. Scott ordered chicken with sherry fried sage, Michele had beef filet with mushroom ravioli and truffle sauce, Teresa had ravioli with celery cream and stewed lamb. Since it was our last family meal together for a while, we followed our meals with a deconstructed lemon meringue pie dessert and chocolate mousse with pickled prunes and sherry.

It was time to get ready for the leaving tomorrow. We were already suffering separation anxiety because Scott will be leaving us to return to Frankfurt and Michele and Teresa are flying to Vilnius early in the morning.

Goodbye Dotta and Дабранач!

Another winter wonderland greeted us this morning!

We found that Karl Marx place was just 500 metres from us… it was the street recommended by Alex for cafes and restaurants.

We ate breakfast in Cafe Michel which was a modern, industrial design hip cafe. Once refreshed we set off to find Gorky Park. We walked past a lot of interesting and imposing buildings which provided perfect backdrops for photographs.

We saw a lot of cadets who walk around in squads with beautiful teal coloured fur hats and camo uniforms. There were no weapons in sight anywhere but they had a lot of pockets.

The streets were busy with traffic but there are very few people out and about on foot. This provided excellent photo opportunities, especially for Scott with his love of soviet architecture and columns!

We entered Gorky Park admiring the snow covered pine trees and the ducks scrambling towards us in the flowing stream.

After that it was time for lunch so we walked to the Karl Marx street and ate at the Grunwald restaurant. Michele and Teresa ordered a lovely Borsch, served with sour cream, horseradish and dark bread which caused Scott to have food regret. His was a lamb dish but uneventful.

We then decided to find old Minsk. It did not disappoint. The views of this well-planned town (rebuilt in 1984) are very beautiful and are made all the more spectacular with the Christmas lights. The decorations are plentiful and all very different from each other, it’s hard not to take photos of every display.

It was time for a beverage, so we found a place right in the middle of the old town and ordered a vodka tasting board each. The shots of vodka were accompanied by a delicious assortment of bread, cold meat, pickled veggies and horseradish. Amazing!

We returned home via some more Christmas decorations and lights and called it a night. Ready for more exploring tomorrow….hopefully via the cat museum!

Дабранач!

Galileo was the first order of business for today as Michele wanted to buy a new pair of boots for Europe. She made an excellent choice and then was invited to roll the dice. She rolled a six and they excitedly presented her with a large box of chocolates.

We also spent some time looking at possible gifts for Michele’s upcoming momentous birthday.

We walked back to the old town and found a cafe for lunch. The music in this cafe was all English Christmas carols. We washed our meals down with dark beers and then found our way to the cat cafe.

The cat cafe is a refuge for homeless cats and you are invited to adopt one if you like. Each guest had to sanitize their hands before touching the cats. The cats were found in various rooms and places all over this small apartment. It was very quirky.

After this experience some more exploring by foot was planned. Teresa had read about the KFC which has a bas relief sculpture above it and we inadvertently stumbled upon it on this journey. A cafe was also necessary to wash cat off hands and have a bevvy.

There was another GUM department store at this part of town so we browsed for a while. We made our way back to the main part of town where the traffic moves quickly and efficiently on the wide roads.

It was time to head back to the main square to find dinner and a drink for New Year’s Eve. We returned to the cafe from the day before and could eat as long as we finished by 8pm. The food was good and so were the White Russians and Beer Cocktails! Scott ordered goulash and Teresa and Michele had pork hotpots with mushrooms. Another side of potato pancakes were of course in order!

We then ventured outside to be entertained by a performance on the small stage. What was evident was the lack of crowds everywhere we went. Definitely a change from the NY crowds of other major cities!The whole evening was very pretty.

We then made our way home in time to see some fireworks in the distance. The Gates of Minsk were nicely lit. It was time to say ……..