Memories and Reflections-№7-My love, Belarus (impressions about Minsk)-Media collection "Driving Idea"

Memories and Reflections
Memoir-nostalgic lyrics and review of the current era
№7

My love, Belarus
(impressions from a trip to Minsk)

Леденев в Минске

DM correspondent Viktor Ledenev, who lives in the Moscow region, loves to travel to the capital of Belarus, Minsk. In this article, he describes his recent trip there and is happy to share the many pleasant sensations he experienced in Minsk. His essay is both an inspirational account of a fascinating tour and a stream of consciousness that immerses the author in the rich emotional world. Based on this essay, you can get an idea of what joyful and vivid impressions a visit to the Belarusian capital metropolis can bring.

Travel has always been and remains my passion, but lately I haven’t had the opportunity to visit different places so often, especially those remote from my town. But this does not upset me, since nearby there is an amazing place called the Republic of Belarus, visiting which brings incredible pleasure and relaxation. I started going there periodically in January 2011 and immediately fell in love with this country, as they say, “head over heels.”

I cannot answer objectively for the entire state due to the fact that I only had to be, walk, study and communicate exclusively in the capital of Belarus, the hero city of Minsk, but This was enough for me. Therefore, I will tell you about my impressions experienced in this glorious city.

When you get off the train, you immediately plunge into the atmosphere of love of life that permeates even the Minsk railway station. The people are kind of bright and friendly. The station is bright, clean, everything is clear, and you don’t even want to leave here, since everything is created for a comfortable pastime. But you have to go, and the station is not the only place where you can find pleasant emotions.

And so I go out and walk along Kirov Street to Dzerzhinsky Boulevard, cross Independence Avenue and walk at a leisurely pace along Komsomolskaya Street past the building of the KGB of the Republic of Belarus, which is completely does not frighten, but on the contrary touches with its pseudo-Stalinist Empire-type architecture, and the clock on the tower of this building shows the time that must be used wisely, being in this city for not so long. And I walk, walk, look at the starry sky, which for some reason seems so high and boundless here, and the stars are scattered so expensively, beautifully and richly that I want to sing, shout and smile. I don’t know why, but such feelings always come when I walk through Minsk, and I don’t come here that often - well, about 2-3 times a year, which, on the contrary, only enhances the perception of the city.

And so I go down the “slightly crooked” street and go out onto Nemiga (this is the name of an old Minsk street, there is even an expression “Meet me on Nemiga”, which means “I’m always waiting for you in the city center large"), and this is already considered the historical belly of the city, and I see the Trade Gallery (well, where would we be without it in our age of market economy and consumer society), but I don’t stay there for long, but head towards Pobediteley Avenue, which is an important branch of the transport infrastructure . He, straight, wide and light, picks me up and carries me into the arms of the Yubileiny Hotel.

The hotel, of course, looks very Soviet, but the staff is very European, which affects the decent service and pleasant hospitality management. The girls are smiling, friendly, and as if they have no problems, and they are very happy, rich and satisfied with life. And I immediately begin to think that I found myself in a heavenly place, where humanity’s dream of introducing an “economy of happiness” in a single country was fully realized. "Bah! Is this really possible?" - I think, and maybe I just experienced euphoria from a change of place, because I had been sitting for a long time in my provincial village near Moscow with a view of the mega-pig sty.

But no! That's right! They are simply happy with what they have and do not complain - this is the thought that immediately slips into my mind, and I, satisfied, lie down in a clean, snow-white bed. Not a speck of dust, not a speck of dust, and only the light on the flagpole of the residence of the Belarusian president flickers in the window. How soulful everything is and how I don’t want to leave this fertile land, but there are few days left for walks, so I fall asleep and wait for the morning to absorb the atmosphere of Belarusian happiness.

And here it is, morning in Minsk. I slept so well, as if I had never slept so sweetly anywhere and ever. I don’t understand what this is connected with, but I didn’t analyze this condition, but simply went downstairs and sat down to drink coffee in a nice hotel cafe. Likewise, the simple Americano coffee struck me with its deliciousness. I don’t understand what’s wrong with me. Well, everything is good, and not just good, but super!

But life, it turns out, is an interesting thing. Yes, she is such an infection, amazing and beautiful! And it is here, in Minsk, that it turns out to the fullest, this life is amazing and beautiful. And why didn’t I know about this before, but vegetated in this noisy and gloomy Moscow for so many years and thought that there was the limit of human comfort and prosperity, coupled with satisfaction!

And so I understood what “Belarus, my love!” means. What friendly, clean and kind people, these “syabrs”! What happened to them during the years of Soviet power and after that! After all, didn’t all these cataclysms, crises, redistributions and meanness leave a dirty trail on them?

It turns out that somehow they passed by all this “abomination” of human nature. And this, of course, makes me even more happy and inspired to take a walk around the city of my dreams.

I walk along the streets, breathe deeply, go to cafes, and eat Belarusian cuisine. Their pancakes are ready to be swallowed along with the plate. For some reason I don’t want to leave the city center, so I wander around the hotel, but decide to walk through the nearby Victory Park, which inspires me with the idea that even in a large capital city there is a place that immerses you in the silence of forest grace.

And so I walk along the alleys of the park, look at the trees, breathe fresh air, absorb solar energy, listen to the birds singing, but for some reason I don’t notice of people. They pass by me somehow distantly. It’s as if they don’t care or have any interest in me, just like I don’t care about them. I haven’t experienced this in the wilds of human society for a long time.

And I'm happier than ever. I decide to walk to Europe Square, where the historical building of the city hall is located. I close my eyes and imagine myself on the street of a medieval city, but for some reason in Poland. By the way, I have long noticed that the influence of European states, and especially Poland, is strong here.

As if it were an integral part of the Polish community, and not a former republic of the Soviet Union. Although there is a lot of Soviet left here, it somehow looks organic and does not catch the eye, but is picturesquely included in European culture and mentality. This, again, is my purely subjective opinion, and maybe I’m wrong about something, which is even better for the reader’s perception of this article.

There is no discomfort that you often experience in an urban environment due to the hustle and bustle. Everything is somehow provincial, but at the same time urban. It was as if I found myself on another planet. I don’t know - maybe I don’t have much to compare it with, since most often I didn’t go further than central Russia, but the fact remains a fact.

I don’t want to go anywhere, especially to the so-called tourist clusters, that is, museums, galleries, especially in an organized crowd with a hypocritically indifferent tour guide , but you just want to stand and look around, like a weather vane on the roof of the town hall, but then the twilight thickens, the lights turn on, the stars, of which there are countless, light up in the sky, and they shine brightly and serenely, and also somehow look with confidence at me from above, which in the Moscow and Moscow region skies I had never noticed or did not want to notice, but here I felt this joy of simple human existence. And this is not pathos, but true feelings on one’s own, as they say, “skin”, that is, the fact remains a fact.

These are the original impressions I got from visiting Minsk, which I remember as a city of eternal celebration and serene pastime. I am constantly drawn here, and I cannot answer why exactly.

Everything seems to be ordinary, trivial, but on a subconscious level Minsk sends me impulses of pleasure, so I will reflect the whole range of impressions, feelings and emotions in my next articles on this topic. Drivingidea.ru LogoArrow