што за офтоп разьвялі тут?! нармальная тэма з фоткамі і ўраджаньнямі ад горада была )
Мінск by me
4
Hi to all Belarusian forumers. Hope it's ok to post in English. I can't write in Russian or Belarusian but I can read both so I would appreciate any remarks or feedback in any language. 
It was my first time in Minsk and those are the general observations I have made:
- It's a very clean, tidy and orderly city.
- Easy to navigate, walk and drive at all times
- Feels very safe
- People are nice, polite and helpful in most situations
- I was extremely impressed by street network and transport infrastructure. Driving in or around Minsk is pure pleasure (we rented a car)
- There seem to be quite a few new trendy nightlife spots. Most seem to be nice (especially Cherdak). However prices of alcoholic drinks seem to be more comparable to London or Paris than to Vilnius or Riga
- Girls. I knew that girls in Minsk should be pretty nice but I didn't know they were THAT hot. I have never seen so many beautiful and sexy girls in one city before (except Macau and Bangkok).
- Public transport is fast, efficient and very cheap
- While Stalin era (or Interwar) architecture is impressive the post 2000 architecture, in my view, needs to get better
- Overall planning of Minsk is very systematic, consistent and effective. Something that most European cities are struggling with these days
Anyway, here are the photos
The sights right outside the Central railway station. While railway station areas in many European cities are often a matter of concern it doesn't seem to be the case in Minsk. It seems to be clean and safe with some impressive Stalin era buildings along with newly built developments
Iconic Stalinist buildings facing the Railway Station square
Government House which contrary to what I thought is not a post-WW2 structure. It's built in 1934. Designed by Iosif Langbard
Area around Independence Square. By now you might have noticed that Minsk looks very clean and tidy. It doesn't apply only to main central areas but very much so to the entire city. In fact it must be one of the cleanest and tidiest cities I have ever been to. In this respect I would compare it to places like Singapore or Helsinki
It was my first time in Minsk and those are the general observations I have made:
- It's a very clean, tidy and orderly city.
- Easy to navigate, walk and drive at all times
- Feels very safe
- People are nice, polite and helpful in most situations
- I was extremely impressed by street network and transport infrastructure. Driving in or around Minsk is pure pleasure (we rented a car)
- There seem to be quite a few new trendy nightlife spots. Most seem to be nice (especially Cherdak). However prices of alcoholic drinks seem to be more comparable to London or Paris than to Vilnius or Riga
- Girls. I knew that girls in Minsk should be pretty nice but I didn't know they were THAT hot. I have never seen so many beautiful and sexy girls in one city before (except Macau and Bangkok).
- Public transport is fast, efficient and very cheap
- While Stalin era (or Interwar) architecture is impressive the post 2000 architecture, in my view, needs to get better
- Overall planning of Minsk is very systematic, consistent and effective. Something that most European cities are struggling with these days
Anyway, here are the photos
The sights right outside the Central railway station. While railway station areas in many European cities are often a matter of concern it doesn't seem to be the case in Minsk. It seems to be clean and safe with some impressive Stalin era buildings along with newly built developments
Iconic Stalinist buildings facing the Railway Station square
Government House which contrary to what I thought is not a post-WW2 structure. It's built in 1934. Designed by Iosif Langbard
Area around Independence Square. By now you might have noticed that Minsk looks very clean and tidy. It doesn't apply only to main central areas but very much so to the entire city. In fact it must be one of the cleanest and tidiest cities I have ever been to. In this respect I would compare it to places like Singapore or Helsinki
41 - 57 of 57 Posts
очень хороший отчет! kay:
kay:
3
More photos coming!
So after the first couple of days in Minsk we managed to get a decent impression how the city looks like. We didn't have to rely on any kind of public transport and kept on driving from place to place or even just driving at random from one end of the city to another simply for the sake of it. Things looked nice, tidy, clean and it was beyond any doubt that Minsk overall is, in fact, a very orderly and neat place. The photos that I put here (except the following three photos in this post) are not picked out or selective in any way and show what Minsk actually looks like for most part.
So I decided to call for help and contacted some of my sources who supposedly were more familiar with Minsk. I wanted to get any information on any run down or shabby areas. Consequently I got informed that one such area was located near the old Airport (Minsk-1). Off we drove.
And here is what we found. Something that looks like a former village outside the city which kept its shape and charm (if it can be called this way):
Yep, the curious attempt of finding 'bad' areas in Minsk ended in a complete disappointment. Those last three photos show the worst that we managed to find in Minsk. And it looks like it won't stay there for long.
So after the first couple of days in Minsk we managed to get a decent impression how the city looks like. We didn't have to rely on any kind of public transport and kept on driving from place to place or even just driving at random from one end of the city to another simply for the sake of it. Things looked nice, tidy, clean and it was beyond any doubt that Minsk overall is, in fact, a very orderly and neat place. The photos that I put here (except the following three photos in this post) are not picked out or selective in any way and show what Minsk actually looks like for most part.
So I decided to call for help and contacted some of my sources who supposedly were more familiar with Minsk. I wanted to get any information on any run down or shabby areas. Consequently I got informed that one such area was located near the old Airport (Minsk-1). Off we drove.
And here is what we found. Something that looks like a former village outside the city which kept its shape and charm (if it can be called this way):
Yep, the curious attempt of finding 'bad' areas in Minsk ended in a complete disappointment. Those last three photos show the worst that we managed to find in Minsk. And it looks like it won't stay there for long.
4
One of the centrally located McDonald's is located in this Stalinist building. This particular McD was always very busy and it feels like there is demand for more fast food burger chains in the central part of the city
More burger (not McDonald's)
Old town backyard
More burger (not McDonald's)
Old town backyard
3
Continued.
An older residential district to the Northwest from the downtown. You could see that buildings are old (perhaps from 70's or early 80's) but everything's kept in good order
An abandoned GAZ-24 Volga car which was a Soviet 'executive car'. One thing I noticed in Minsk was abandoned cars. I saw quite a few of those and wondered why authorities don't bother removing them.
If you were born in the USSR no later than mid 80's then you'll know what this is all about
For those who might not know, this is a cistern that is selling Kvass. It was extremely popular back in the USSR days and has remained one of the iconic household attributes of the era: a yellow cistern (of that particular shape and size) selling Kvass on any random location in any city or town. Why was it so popular? Because you couldn't just buy kvass in a shop. It wasn't available most of the time. Which is why people would queue from early morning in some instances to get some of the delicious drink. And in the Soviet Union this used to be a delicacy drink even if not as exclusive and good as Coca Cola or Pepsi (those were almost impossible to get).
These days there is no rationale to sell kvass from yellow cisterns like this one (to be honest it didn't even taste that good... perhaps because it was running out when we bought it) but my guess is that this is happening only to satisfy the nostalgia of the older generation who remember USSR days as their best years. Today you can still buy kvass in Belarus and other former USSR/Soviet Bloc countries but you would do that in a supermarket. Or if you want some really good kvass then most restaurants would have it on the menu too. Brewed locally and much better that it ever was in those yellow cisterns.
To me this is an attribute which is a perfect reminder of how poor and hopeless the Soviet system was
An older residential district to the Northwest from the downtown. You could see that buildings are old (perhaps from 70's or early 80's) but everything's kept in good order
An abandoned GAZ-24 Volga car which was a Soviet 'executive car'. One thing I noticed in Minsk was abandoned cars. I saw quite a few of those and wondered why authorities don't bother removing them.
If you were born in the USSR no later than mid 80's then you'll know what this is all about
For those who might not know, this is a cistern that is selling Kvass. It was extremely popular back in the USSR days and has remained one of the iconic household attributes of the era: a yellow cistern (of that particular shape and size) selling Kvass on any random location in any city or town. Why was it so popular? Because you couldn't just buy kvass in a shop. It wasn't available most of the time. Which is why people would queue from early morning in some instances to get some of the delicious drink. And in the Soviet Union this used to be a delicacy drink even if not as exclusive and good as Coca Cola or Pepsi (those were almost impossible to get).
These days there is no rationale to sell kvass from yellow cisterns like this one (to be honest it didn't even taste that good... perhaps because it was running out when we bought it) but my guess is that this is happening only to satisfy the nostalgia of the older generation who remember USSR days as their best years. Today you can still buy kvass in Belarus and other former USSR/Soviet Bloc countries but you would do that in a supermarket. Or if you want some really good kvass then most restaurants would have it on the menu too. Brewed locally and much better that it ever was in those yellow cisterns.
To me this is an attribute which is a perfect reminder of how poor and hopeless the Soviet system was
4
A whole new residential district U/C
There were a few 22+ storey apartment towers U/C in the vicinity so we tried our luck and entered one of them. Inside the elevator. The hand-written notes actually are adverts for services such as rubbish disposal, transportation of items and other services that might be relevant to those who are moving into their new homes
And here is the view from one of the top floors of a residential tower (Miastrauskaja Street)
There were a few 22+ storey apartment towers U/C in the vicinity so we tried our luck and entered one of them. Inside the elevator. The hand-written notes actually are adverts for services such as rubbish disposal, transportation of items and other services that might be relevant to those who are moving into their new homes
And here is the view from one of the top floors of a residential tower (Miastrauskaja Street)
3
Back on the street. A new ~25 storey apartment tower which seems to have been completed very recently
A note informing residents and builders that rubbish duct is not working. The literal translation: 'Dear residents, builders! Do not throw rubbish into the rubbish duct. The rubbish duct IS NOT WORKING! WHAT'S THERE NOT TO UNDERSTAND?" LOL
More residential towers
A note informing residents and builders that rubbish duct is not working. The literal translation: 'Dear residents, builders! Do not throw rubbish into the rubbish duct. The rubbish duct IS NOT WORKING! WHAT'S THERE NOT TO UNDERSTAND?" LOL
More residential towers
5
Minsk Passazhirsky Railway Station, the main railway station in Minsk and Belarus
Belarusian Railway PESA diesel train before departure to Vilnius. Passenger transit on Minsk-Vilnius route was improved considerably over the past few years. Travel times were cut from around 4 to 2.5 hours, new trains and more frequent services introduced. Over the next couple of years the route will be fully electrified which means EMU trains will serve the route cutting travel time to 2 hours. The only annoying obstacle which remains in place is visa regime between Lithuania and Belarus which, hopefully, will be abolished in the near future so improving conditions for tourism
There were actually two trains coupled. Demand for travel between Minsk and Vilnius seems pretty high
Inside the train
On the way back to Vilnius. Passing a loco-hauled train Minsk-Moscow
This is it. The 4 days in Minsk went quick and everything was perfectly smooth. I love when things go as planned during trips and this was precisely the case in all respects. Thanks and see you again in Minsk some day. :cheers:
Belarusian Railway PESA diesel train before departure to Vilnius. Passenger transit on Minsk-Vilnius route was improved considerably over the past few years. Travel times were cut from around 4 to 2.5 hours, new trains and more frequent services introduced. Over the next couple of years the route will be fully electrified which means EMU trains will serve the route cutting travel time to 2 hours. The only annoying obstacle which remains in place is visa regime between Lithuania and Belarus which, hopefully, will be abolished in the near future so improving conditions for tourism
There were actually two trains coupled. Demand for travel between Minsk and Vilnius seems pretty high
Inside the train
On the way back to Vilnius. Passing a loco-hauled train Minsk-Moscow
This is it. The 4 days in Minsk went quick and everything was perfectly smooth. I love when things go as planned during trips and this was precisely the case in all respects. Thanks and see you again in Minsk some day. :cheers:
41 - 57 of 57 Posts
