CLASSIC EASTERN EUROPE Jamie Forsyth, England, arrived in Minsk warm September afternoon, I was expecting to see the city in black and white, like an old movie about the war. Imagination painted the picture as a serious mustachioed men in beige raincoats and sunglasses would exchange suitcases in dark alleys, stopping only to say something like: "Red fox, November Sevastopol always warm" - and then quickly disperse. At present in Belarus actually acts dictatorial regime, who heads the highly controversial president Alexander Lukashenko, endorsing homophobia, xenophobia. In addition, he managed to tweak the constitution with impunity in order to remain in power for 14 years. KGB is still there, controlling the lives of a large yellow house on Independence Avenue (the main street of Minsk). Belarus - one of only two European countries for entry into or transit through the territory of which the British citizens need a visa (the second country - Russia). View from hotel rooms is not surprising that because of these limitations and the fact that Belarus is not very many places, tourists are not coming here. In an average year in this country comes to 4,000 British citizens. Thus, the "White Russia" is a less popular destination than Botswana (5,000 visitors), Uganda (15,000) and Colombia (18,000). In English is hardly spoken. In this we were able to see for myself after out of the modern-looking building the station and tried to catch a taxi to the hotel's "Jubilee" in which going to stop. Fortunately, a few words in broken Russian and instructions on the map of destination did their job, and we allowed our fat bald driver for the amount of about 9 pounds to smuggle us through streets filled with traffic. The price was more than usual, but still quite affordable, especially considering that we were exhausted after moving from Vilnius, and that when we had our baggage. View of the memorial to the fallen in Afghanistan, crossing the border did not take us long. We filled out immigration cards, and border guards, who came into our car, carefully check our passports and visas. By virtue of my profession (I am a journalist) should expect trouble from the customs officer. Also, I had read various horror stories, and for some reason was expecting a big hairy guy named Vladimir will complete a thorough examination and possibly even zasunet finger in a rubber glove in an area of ??my body, where movement is restricted in one direction. In reality, fortunately, nothing happened. We checked into our hotel, which was a huge Soviet apartment buildings, and gave shelter to the most miserable and reluctant to work staff in the world, and went in search of places where we could eat. During our walk toward the city center, we were surprised that the streets were many young people, despite the fact that he was Monday night. Many sat on benches and drinking something alcoholic. It is obvious that the law forbids it, but numerous police officers preferred to turn a blind eye to it. Of course, England is often the case, and often accompanied by bullying, but, in Minsk, I have never had the feeling that someone could throw me a bottle to the head and called a goat. Svisloch Apparently, street crime is virtually non-existent, the streets quiet and the parks and sidewalks are perfectly clean. I am proud to note that in Minsk for the first time in my life I went through the underpass, which was not painted, and where there was a smell of urine. At McDonald's we have decided not to go, choosing instead to a small bar-restaurant in the open air, where we managed with the help of many gestures to order some sausages and meat pies. During this trip I became a true master of nonverbal communication. Read more:
No comments:
Post a Comment