A double shot of Minsk, thanks to poor planning and an inconvertible currency
Jul 30, 2013, 8:07 pm
#46
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Trenton, NJ (PHL, EWR)
Programs: A3 Gold, BA Bronze
Posts: 1,633
I crash for a 3 hour nap, ignoring all standard jet-lag fighting protocols. Wake up, take a shower, change, break out the puffy jacket, and head for walk. It's a brisk 0F outside.
Svislach River. That's what polluted water looks like in the process of freezing. In New Jersey, we are familiar with this process.
I'm starting to freeze and duck into a coffee chop, London Cafe. It's on the main drag, (Nezavisimosti) is quiet, warm, and has good coffee and desserts. It was only a few blocks from my apartment, and I dropped in a few times during the trip. If Minsk had legit hipsters, this is where they'd go for coffee.
Not too much funk. Just a splash.
I grab dinner at the restaurant on the first floor of building. All hopped up on coffee, I decide to bring it down with a beer. I wish I could remember the name, it was pretty good.
My entree was the perfect dish ever, the end.
Fried potato things. Chicken. Filled with cheese. Wrapped in bacon. I devoured it and headed upstairs to crash. Andrei was meeting me at 8:30 am.
Svislach River. That's what polluted water looks like in the process of freezing. In New Jersey, we are familiar with this process.
I'm starting to freeze and duck into a coffee chop, London Cafe. It's on the main drag, (Nezavisimosti) is quiet, warm, and has good coffee and desserts. It was only a few blocks from my apartment, and I dropped in a few times during the trip. If Minsk had legit hipsters, this is where they'd go for coffee.
Not too much funk. Just a splash.
I grab dinner at the restaurant on the first floor of building. All hopped up on coffee, I decide to bring it down with a beer. I wish I could remember the name, it was pretty good.
My entree was the perfect dish ever, the end.
Fried potato things. Chicken. Filled with cheese. Wrapped in bacon. I devoured it and headed upstairs to crash. Andrei was meeting me at 8:30 am.
Last edited by FlyIgglesFly; Jul 30, 2013 at 8:20 pm
Jul 30, 2013, 8:14 pm
#47
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Trenton, NJ (PHL, EWR)
Programs: A3 Gold, BA Bronze
Posts: 1,633
Rule number 1 when dealing with flats in Belarus: Never judge a flat by it's stairwell. I've seen some very beautiful apartments in Minsk that had stairwells that seemed like something out of the projects in just about any major city. How much did you pay for that flat? Or did you already mention that.. 
Eric
Eric
And Psuedo Nim, I got lucky. The currency wasn't devalued like it was in 2011. Stayed just about the same.
SFO777, SeaRaptor: Let me first and foremost apologize to you both for denying the eye candy you so crave and deserve. I hope you'll understand my primary goal was to gain access to the country at that point. And I much prefer to play the role of sketchy foreigner of indeterminate origin without any photographic record of my sketchiness.
Thanks to all the encouraging replies. I'm glad to have this creative outlet and, at the same time, maybe make a few of you laugh. I'll plug away at this for the rest of the week, so expect a few posts around this time nightly.
Last edited by FlyIgglesFly; Jul 30, 2013 at 9:05 pm
Jul 30, 2013, 8:18 pm
#48
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,924
Jul 30, 2013, 10:52 pm
#50
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Arizona, USA
Posts: 2,403
Unless, you know, she's the kind of hot mess that's into me and can go at least four days without trying to stab me. I call those "keepers."
I think I may soon adopt the phrase "Kinshasa degrees." @#!% brilliant!
Jul 30, 2013, 11:16 pm
#52
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: DCA
Programs: TK*G OZ*G AA Plat
Posts: 627
Great report. Brings back some memories of my visit in 2010, but we crossed via land at the Lithuanian-Belarus border, in my personal car. That took a huge bureaucracy to temporarily "import" the car for our trip, but managed to pull it off after visiting 6 separate windows at the border crossing.
I think we used the same apartment rental agency too. Our guy drove an older BMW 5-series wagon also.
I think we used the same apartment rental agency too. Our guy drove an older BMW 5-series wagon also.
Jul 30, 2013, 11:26 pm
#53
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Free Republic of Florida
Programs: LH Senator, CX Diamond, UA Prem Plat, Fans of MO Elite
Posts: 589
I snoop on the rest of the C passengers during the flight and gather they're from Qatar, coming to Minsk at the invitation of the government, and are somehow involved in potash. These men will not be needing visas on arrival and will most likely be whisked past any and all levels of bureaucracy. As long as we get a gate, I'll be first to the consulate.
We get a gate. Potashers are indeed met right off the jetway by a Just The Right Amount Of Hot Official Government Welcomer, leaving the path clear to for me to the consulate window.
We get a gate. Potashers are indeed met right off the jetway by a Just The Right Amount Of Hot Official Government Welcomer, leaving the path clear to for me to the consulate window.
Last edited by Mr. Strong; Jul 30, 2013 at 11:34 pm
Jul 30, 2013, 11:29 pm
#54
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Free Republic of Florida
Programs: LH Senator, CX Diamond, UA Prem Plat, Fans of MO Elite
Posts: 589
Jul 31, 2013, 10:05 am
#57
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: BAH/OBBI
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold, Hilton Diamond, Gulf Air Falconflyer Gold
Posts: 233
Keep it up, haven't seen a Minsk TR in a long time,
Eric
Jul 31, 2013, 12:43 pm
#58
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: The City of Angels, CA
Programs: Nothing current
Posts: 392
MSQ isn't exactly a clusterf**k per se, but it's not the most efficient. That being said, it still beats my home airports of EWR/PHL because at MSQ at least you get to deal with officials such as the Ridiculously Too Hot For An X-Ray Machine Watcher or Ridiculously Too Hot For A Document Checker ladies. Instead of the typical Ridiculously Too Fat And Too Dumb To Be Alive TSA employees in the US. People claim to be molested during pat downs in the US. People try to be molested during pat downs at MSQ. "NO, I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THAT KNIFE GOT THERE, BUT YOU BETTER CHECK REAL THOROUGHLY FOR ANYTHING ELSE, IRINA. Whoa, not that thoroughly..."
Great, great TR! One for the ages! ^^
-S
Jul 31, 2013, 1:03 pm
#59
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: The City of Angels, CA
Programs: Nothing current
Posts: 392
-S
