Blogs from Minsk, Minsk Voblast, Belarus, Europe - page 6

I must admit, when the idea of going to Belarus first cropped up my initial thoughts were; “umm…no way…it’s too dangerous…it’s too communistic.” Strangely enough, the longer I mulled it over, the more excited I became and decided that this was just too good of an adventure to pass up. Well, fast forward two weeks later… train tickets purchased and visas freshly stamped we were off to Minsk. I found the Russian night train to be surprisingly well appointed. The beds were soft, the linens were clean and the pre-war Soviet music which was blaring throughout our compartment was actually quite pleasant. We shared a four-person sleeper with two other Russian women who very generously offered us their aid with translating the Russian customs forms. So, I tucked myself into my bunk, popped two Unisoms and ... read more

Yep, I made it. Actually I'm kind of glad I ended up having to fork out the dough for the flights. Everything I read about the train trip to Belarus talked of problems people had. I just flew in, got my passport stamped and got out! Easy peasy. No difficult visa questions, no nothing. Marina came with a friend of hers to pick me up, it was really great to see her again. As if I wasn't attracting enough attention already for being the obvious westener, Marina then went and screamed loud enough to shatter glass when she saw me. Still, it was nice. :) We then drove sans seatbelts (apparently not required in Belarus) and made our way to Marina's home at some speed. I guess traffic police arn't big here. Yikes, screw the corrupt ... read more

Thank you Gidget, and our Warsaw hosts; We loved collaborative gardening and the view. Geraniums red and a box of herbs Are happily blooming on your porch anew. This dance M gave for your orange tree Was full of zest and citrus zip... The city winked its dark sunset song To carry us through on our train journey so hip. ... read more

I visited Minsk as well as Breast, Belarus. ... read more

About This Document Where it Came From In Summer 1990, I went on a school exchange trip to Minsk. I kept a handwritten diary throughout the trip. When we got back, I typed the diary up on the family BBC Microcomputer, editing and sanitising it for an audience of family, teachers and friends, to whom I gave printed copies. This year, 2002, my parents gave me the floppy disk it was on. I searched long and hard for a way to transfer data from BBC Micro disks to a PC. All the solutions involved finding a BBC and making a special lead, and in the end I offered some stranger a fiver to do it for me. He kindly offered to do it for free, and got a box of BBC games from a boot sale ... read more