🇧🇾 MINSK, BELARUS | Europe's Most UNDERRATED City? | MINSK First Impressions
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- Опубліковано 1 кві 2020
- *I have a new WEBSITE! Head over to www.thetaoofdavid.com/ for Travel, Digital Nomad and Teaching blog posts incorporating video, text and photography, purchase my Teaching Online Ebooks (also at payhip.com/thetaoofdavid), take advantage of my affiliates and even book an English lesson with me at www.thetaoofdavid.com/book-en... 🇧🇾 MINSK, BELARUS - Welcome back! If you saw the last video, you'll know I ended up stranded in Sweden after leaving Serbia (due to the global pandemic). I had to find a new place to live. That place was Minsk, the capital of Belarus!
I had always planned to visit Minsk for a brief visit. Previously, I had been to other ex-Soviet countries such as Kazakhstan, Kygryzstan, Moldova and Ukraine so I was excited to see what Belarus had to offer. Many have preconceptions of ex-Soviet countries that they are a) Russia and b) grey and miserable, full of Soviet architecture.
In this video I cover some of my first impressions of Minsk in relation to architecture and people as well as checking out some of the sights such as the Bolshoi Theatre, the National Library and even the former home of Lee Harvey Oswald. But the main message of the video is around hope, We are all in a difficult place due to the pandemic. We have to have hope that we will get out the other side.
An important note - at the time of filming there were no restrictions in relation to quarantine, lockdown or self isolating. The only recommendation is social distancing. Despite this, I am generally home 6 days out of 7 working with one trip to the shop or a short walk every day. I get that many of you are in quarantine but felt it was important to show some normality and hope in my videos!
MUSIC - (all Epidemic Sound)
"Gold Among the Sand" - Trevor Kowalski (intro and outro)
"Light Em Up" - Daniel Gunnarsson (Minsk montage)
"Wide Eyes" - Tape Machines (connecting montages)
#belarus #minsk #minsktravel
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Remember to look deeper. This video isn't primarily about Minsk. It's about having hope for the future that one day we'll be able to travel again. I hope you're all staying safe whereever you are! There are subtitles in various languages!🇧🇾🇧🇾
Не забудьте смотреть глубже. Это видео не только о Минске. Речь идет о надежде на будущее, что однажды мы снова сможем путешествовать. Я надеюсь, что вы все в безопасности, где бы вы ни были! Есть субтитры на разных языках! 🇧🇾🇧🇾
Hi David, me again 👋 If you're coming to Mexico try to come sooner than later. I keep getting the same messages everyday now from the US Embassy. I have a feeling flights may be completely stopped in Mexico or otherwise. Usually the embassy only sends out emails when it's something important, but they have been sending the same message for the past 4 days, below:
"International commercial flight options currently exist in Mexico. U.S. citizens who wish to return to the United States should make commercial arrangements as soon as possible unless they are prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period. The U.S. government does not anticipate arranging repatriation flights in Mexico at this time.
The Mexican government declared a national health emergency on March 30 and imposed restrictions on non-essential activities in the public, private, and social sectors until April 30. Essential activities include medical services and supplies, grocery delivery services and stores, restaurants (for delivery and carry out only), public safety, fundamental economic functions"
Kazan
The whole Eastern Europe is very underrated and misunderstood. Minsk is a wonderful city! :)
Definitely, I much prefer east to west!
The Tao of David me too! 👍
Been visiting Belarus since 2002 it’s such an amazing city .
Actually Minsk looks really nice, I didn't expect that
Neither did I! A few more weeks here at least so I'll do some more!
caught your youtube by accident,and was impressed by you`re opening statement..more i heard of your further comments,more impressed i was... thank you for the optimism my friend
David, thanks for the cool video! City looks much different than I expected!
Minsk looks wonderful. Definitely on my European wish list now. Thanks mate for such a great video :D Epic
SHOCKED right? A definite must do. Thanks man!
Great video David - thank you! You really do show cities at their best. I have always been interested in Minsk, all the more so now that I have an italki student from there! Stay safe!
Thanks Neil! I have a few students in Minsk too! One lives round the corner! It's really cool to learn some Russian! Hope you and your wife and doing well!
Great video, David. Thank you
You're welcome!
I hope the Natives are friendly and warmly. Be safe and thanks for your new video.
Very friendly! Just like Mexicans! My airbnb host cooks me traditional food everyday, she's lovely!
Great vid David, Minsk looks and sounds fascinating! For those of us confined to the four walls you're opening up the world for us, thank you! 👏👏👏 And baked beans, yessssss!..haven't been able to find them here in my Spanish town, you've given me a longing! Can't wait for next vid 🤗🤗
Haha i'm doing a beans on toast challenge on instagram. People keep sending me photos of their attempts lol. Anything to keep us occupied right! Hope you can find some! Next one will be up at the weekend!
Haha great idea on the baked beans challenge, maybe if I could source some dried pinto beans I could come up with something!! 😋 And yaaay, looking forward to next vid!👍😊😊
like how you were completely alone in that square... except fro that lady that walked into the frame at the end :D
Thankyou so much for showing us something "normal" in this anything but normal world. So refreshing to see no one with face masks!!! Really loving the architecture and history lesson. Cant wait to see more of this unknown City/Country.
Hey! There are deffo some people with masks but not many! I'm having trouble extending my visa to 90 days so may be elsewhere in a few weeks!
@@davidostrowski679 normally the Metro is pretty packed with people ... also dont underestimate the virus - my woman is a Doctor in Minsk main hospital receiving corona cases & is very busy .. the numbers have increased very much this week... Take care & great video btw ! .) ... PS:- i stayed in Lee Harvey Oswalds building in an air B&B .. he was there for 2-3 years before returning to USA & the assassination..
Really loved all of your videos :D
Keep up the great content !!
Greetings from Morocco!!
The only travel vlogger that we watch. Stay as safe as you possibly can David.
You too guys! Hope you're doing well!
@@davidostrowski679 we're okayish thanks. We just need to get back out again. As soon as this hell is over we're off to see friends in the States (who we should have been seeing in March 😔) and then return to Italy and France.
Hopefully Japan again too.
Take care, we're binge watching your channel to keep us sane and you're really helping us dream of better times ahead.
As a Belarusian love the fact that you wrote the intro and stuff not in russian but Belarusian:)
I put both! I think it depends what language your UA-cam is set to. I usually do Spanish and Serbian too as I've done a lot of videos in Mexico and Serbia.
The subtitles are in Belarussian too but I doubt they're accurate (automatic UA-cam!)
Next one will be up in the morning!
The last time I checked they were only offering 5 days maximum stays. Looks like I'll be visiting once things have gone back to normal.👍
I'm pretty sure for US and UK it's 30 days. Since I filmed this I've found out the 90 days isn't automatic because of coronavirus. I'm still trying to apply. But to be honest I might just leave on my planned date and go direct from London to Mexico. YES MEXICO!
I enjoyed watching your video! Thanks for sharing!
I miss Beograd!!!!
Good quality content like this deserves a Subscribe..
Welcome Krishna!
Thank you David. After two weeks at home, mostly inside, I REALLY appreciate your videos and enjoyed seeing a bit of Minsk. Looking forward to my own travels in the, hopefully, not too distant future!
Hey Karla! That was the plan, I'm glad people understand it's about hope and normality. I might be here for a few months if my visa extension is agreed. Brilliant! Hope you're well!
Geezer! Good to see you are doing good. I have missed a few videos of yours, you know bloody work. Now having the time and being at home in quarentine I will try to watch your videos that I missed. You take care
Plenty of time to catch up amigo. I might be back in the UK later this month, depends on whether my visa extension is granted!
@@davidostrowski679 Well it seems where you are (if you are still there) are in better situation and I hope you can get your visa extended. Cheers
Looks like a widely spaced out city, where social distancing has always been a daily habit!
Totally. Classic ex soviet city, very wide!
Thank you for this video and not ignoring what is happening in the world.
I'm glad this city has parks - and trees. Yes, I said "Trees". At first glance I wasn't seeing any trees and that bothered me. I guess because I'm a fan. I'm not a fan of cities without trees. I'm in Oregon, surrounded by trees... I appreciate them.
"Just books" LOL!!
nice to see you again in these worrying times we were following you when you were in bishkek at the market my son was in the area at the time and this is a place he wants to go too in the future ,small world take care .
Awesome, you can still enter Belarus atm, no restrictions, I'm not sure how long I'm gonna be here right now!
Loved this vid, thanks David :)
You're welcome wiener!
Nice to see you back and in one of most less visited places like Belarus 🇧🇾. One question, it’s about other country, are you been in Bolivia? For the rest waiting for the next Belarus video.
Si amigo I was in Bolivia in 2009. La Paz, Uyuni and somewhere else I can't remember. Typical tourist route! It's one reason I wasn't so shocked with Mexico!
Oh yes!! Opera building partly Art Deco ! Thks!!👍
YASSS ART DECO!!
stay safe man..i work online in Phnom Penh...job totally died last week..hopefully it will come back before i go bust...if not i'll enjoy living on the riverside here lol...Minsk looks pretty awesome!
I grew up a few streets from Lee Harvey Oswald's childhood home in Dallas, Texas...nice to see his Soviet apartment block...
Beans on toast is beautiful! Had it for first time at a guy's flat after a lat night out in Peckham 2013...that night it was like the best thing i ever ate lol...been addicted ever since...
Shit man hope you get it sorted. I'm really fortunate that online teaching is unaffected. You're a Texan! EPIC. Love Texas, I was at the school book depository a few years ago. Didn't film though as I was exhausted from storm chasing!
@@davidostrowski679 oh sweet!... I love London...i'm a 'Londonophile' lol I watch only fools and horses and are you being served...i'm a little embaressed to say literally everyday lol... and If I could afford to live there I'd be there now lol
Thanks a lot; I intend to visit Belarus this summer.
Can you talk with locals, are they friendly?
Russian is definitely required, but generally everyone is very friendly. My airbnb host is a LEGEND!
No Art Deco😞. but interesting city!! Nice!!
Smart desicione to go to Minsk , during this covid. l hope you enjoyed in Belgrade. Best regards...
One day I'll make it back to Belgrade! I only left for a weekend a way and couldn't return!
*sigh*
Oh traveling...
On March 15th we came back from our little trip to Belgrade, and it was the moment, when things started to get really mad.
I'm quite torn between getting used to things how they obviously are right now, and thinking that maybe we're not going to travel this year anymore.
Is this even real??
:/
Anyway...
The city of Minsk looks very interesting! Thank you for the video! I'm looking forward to the next one! :)
I hope you enjoyed Belgrade! It's my 2020 mission to return. I just left for a weekend away without any goodbye but couldn't go back! The Belgrade mission is on. Stay safe!
Cool!
спасибо шеф!
Thank you for the video,I love Minsk. I have visited it 3 times and after the covid I plan to come again. I would like to stress that Lee Harvey Oswald lived in Minsk before the assassination of President Kennedy.
So does this mean you will keep doing more videos?......
I was always going to be doing videos, they are just going to be uploaded on here (there'll be no comments section etc) so I can embed them on my website, but I haven't set up the website yet!
@@davidostrowski679 Thats great news ! Hope your keeping safe, NZ has been in lock down for a week now. Crazy times !
Belarus lost 30-40% of their entire population in the world war
David, it's not too bad here under house arrest. But I must admit, I'd prefer to be out and about. Belated Happy Birthday!
Thanks man!
Reminds me of Russia. I'm interested in seeing how your trip goes. I'm trying to plan my summer and might consider Minsk.
Sounds like a plan. That Russian of yours will certainly come in handy 😃
How are you able to go to Pripyat, Ukraine from Belarus? I thought you can only leave and enter through Minsk International Airport, at least that’s how it is for Americans. I don’t know how it is for you. The entrance requirements for Belarus are a bit confusing to me.
yeah the 30 visa free is only when entering at Minsk International, the same for me. You could fly from Minsk to Kiev then most of the tours to Pripyat leave from the centre of Kiev
So much about "dictature" and poverty in Belarus 😊
12:37 😱😷 You touched the elevator button 🤮😷😲🤣 Stay safe out there😊
Ha you know i left that in for a reason right. Plus the subway token thing. There was another shot of a handrail but i cut it out because the focus messed up. Subliminal messages!
@@davidostrowski679 Even though Mexico is finally on lockdown, I do take daily walks, but wear a N95 respirator and goggles. It's so strange to walk by Frida Kahlo's house and not a soul in sight. Including the entire Coyoacan Centro. Just a large police presence. Monterrey stopped all liquor sales, so the local stores were wiped clean of all beer and liquor. There's some funny videos on Twitter showing numerous people with pallets of Corona 😄. CDMX doesn't have a prohibition yet, but last month I had stockpiled beer and liquor just in case. Cigarettes and Liquor are alwsys the first things to go whenever the crap hits the fan.
Enjoy your freedom, but try to wear a mask! Just for added safety.
Thanks for keeping everyone updated. I know you'll stop UA-cam one day, but glad to see your recent videos.
@@davidostrowski679 I just read that in the Philippines, anyone breaking the quarantine will be shot dead😲
Jesus christ! A mexico return may be on the horizon. I can fly direct london to cabo avoiding US transit. Still trying to extend Belarus visa. Will know more on Tuesday
@@davidostrowski679 Just an FYI - expect beer and liquor to be in low supplies. Corona breweries (eleven in Mexico) has suspended production. They own several brands, such as Modelo, Pacifico, etc. I had already had several cases of a variety of beers but yesterday, I order four more cases including liquor, off Amazon since they're on sale, and the lockdown order could be extended through May. I noticed on Amazon that all the Corona Extra is sold out except for the lite version. Hope you come back!
Hope you come back to Mexico! At least you can find some cheap food even on Uber Eats since they have a 20% sale going on. All the food places are open for takeout. And the tamale, ice cream, candy and bread vendors are still available up and down the streets.
Belarus means White Rus, not White russia
I studied German for 7 years, Weißrußland translates to White Russia. Basically the same in Dutch. You're just being political about the whole Belorussia/Belarus issue.
@@davidostrowski679 we are not politicizing the problem, just in Europe or the USA no one understands the fact that we are "scratching" our independence, it is still under threat...
You know 'what' Germany is called
Lonely Planet - Belarus means 'White Russia', a name derived from the fact that this is the one part of Rus that, although conquered by the Mongols in 1240, was never settled by them. The term 'white' refers therefore to the purity of the people, who, unlike their Muscovite cousins, never intermarried with the Mongols.
I'll let Angela Merkel know that WeißRußland is incorrect when I go back
👍
When are you going back to Mexico?
Watch this space amigo. There could be news on that coming soon
The Tao of David 👏🏻
Come to Zaslavl, it is quite beautiful tooo
Thanks I'll look it up
If you come on Saturday would be glad to show my city
The next Mr Bald?
I still have a full head of hair lol
Where did you get this rubbish that "Belarus" may be translated as "white Russia"?
btw, I have Belarusian version of UA-cam and title of the video is written in Belarusian as well. It says "🇧🇾 МІНСК, БЕЛАРУСЬ | Самы непісьменны горад у Еўропе?" what translates to English as "🇧🇾 MINSK, BELARUS | Europe's Most ILLITERATE City?". Don't think that's what you wanted to write.
Where did I get it - 7 years od school and college German education (WeißRußland translates to White Russia, Rußland translates to Russia), literally every website and my Airbnb host (born in Minsk). It may not be 'exactly' White Russia in English but no foreigner is going to have a clue what Ruthenia or Rus is.
Unfortunately UA-cam translations aren't accurate. Feel free to let me know what underrated is in Belarussian and I can change it! Thanks for letting me know!
If you think that your audience won't understand the right translation, wouldn't it be better to give no translation at all then to give the wrong one? For example, in Belarusian "German" is "Нямеччына" what literally translates as "land of people who are unable to speak". Using your logic can I conclude that the word "Deutschland" means the same? Don't think so.
You can write "🇧🇾 МІНСК, БЕЛАРУСЬ | Самы недаацэнены горад у Еўропе? | Мінск першыя уражанні".
David ~You poor, poor, poor thing. Say hi to you new home for the next two years😈😤😣
Ha i don't think the belarusian gov will be happy with that!
@@davidostrowski679 ~You should of taken shelter at my place I just came back from ocean surfing ~My grand parents have access to a private beach and I have one of the keys that open the gate~Whilst we are nestled in our own private world😈😉😤
@@davidostrowski679 escape to America ~"The Land of Milk 'n Honey"😈😉😤! ! !
Belarus - are not white russia.. Belarus - are medieval Litwa (Lithuania). We are BelaruSians. Thanks.
Belorussian is an artificial linguistic construction, designed by Bolsheviks. The native language for 95% of Belorussians is Russian. The rest of 5% speak regional dialects of Russian generally called “nasha mova”.
Awesome info!
The Tao of David by the way, if you are completely bored, try go to Smorgon. It was called Rissian Verdun during WWI. The city itself was completely destroyed and than several times rebuilt since that time, and I’m sure it now looks like standard Soviet city, but in the suburbs there may be some remnants of trenches or fortifications. And there are some picturesque ruins of the castle and church in town as well.
it's absurd. You can't just construct a language. Belarusian and Ukranian are actually 2 different dialects of the native east-slavic language, referred to as "mova"
While Russian IS actually a mix of old-church slavonic (comes from Bulgarian) and mova, with heavy borrowings from neighbouring Turkic, Finno Ugric and European languages (after Peter I and Pushkin)
more on this topic from a canadian linguist ua-cam.com/video/CQLM62r5nLI/v-deo.html
@@davidostrowski679 except it's russian nationalist's BS
If this is a Bolshevik construct, then how did this language turn out to be the state language on this territory in the 16th century? As a proof, read the first Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of 1529 and you will be greatly surprised that that Ruthenia language is the same as modern Belarusian and does not look like Russian at all.