The swirls of cultural life in Belarus - Week 1 - Anneleen Coppens

Good evening dear Bloggers!

As mentioned before, we spent our first days of this amazing journey in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

In the early morning we spent some time at the Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Minsk. It was opened after the liberation of Minsk from the Nazi.

Our guide even told us that the museum’s staff also engages in historical research, for example the history of the Auschwitz death camp.

Draniki

After this short morning trip we decided to rent a car. That way it is a lot easier to get from one certain point to another. Since I don’t have my driver’s license yet, Roselinde was our today’s driver and after putting on an extra warm sweater –February is one of Belarus’ coldest months– we took off to Vitebsk.
Once we got there, we visited the museum of the world famous artist Marc Chagall. He was a Russian-French artist who had several artistic styles and who was very successful in the 20^th century.
We paid 4.5 euros each (student discount) and I have to admit: it was worth it every cent!

Personally I was very impressed by the fact that Marc Chagall used so many different artistic media.

The blue-eyed country

In the afternoon we were eating potato pancakes –the so-called Draniki– in a local restaurant and I suggested to pass by a tourist office to gather some information about other cultural activities and must-sees here in Belarus.

We received multiple brochures and I immediately noticed the big offer of music festivals and concerts. ‘Here in Belarus there are a lot of noteworthy events’, said the kind lady of the tourist office, and I guess she might have been right!

She also told us that there are theatrical events all year round. For example ‘The Panorama’ show, which is internationally known.

While driving through the ‘blue-eyed country’ with all his lakes and rivers, I observed children from different cultures playing together. Friendship here means a lot. Every second year there’s this unique event in Grodno: the Festival of National Cultures. Representatives of all nationalities in this country reunite to share their cultural experiences and especially to enjoy friendship.

Sleep tight,
AnneleenSource: http://eng.belarustourism.by/belarus/