8 new UNESCO Sites and great memories

We're home on Grand Manan after a long flight from Warsaw to Toronto, then on to Saint John, having been away nearly 3 weeks.  We've added eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites to our growing list, made some new friends, and come to understand the differences between Poland and Belarus and their respective development following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.  Bryant re-connected with many cultural and gustatory memories of his early childhood growing up in an Eastern European community in New Hampshire, and I learned a lot about the history of a part of the world I knew nothing about.  All in all, a great trip with many unusual memories!

Hello again and goodbye to Warsaw

This time we chose a hotel at the Warsaw airport for convenient arrival and departure flights.  This morning we arrived from Minsk around 10, so had the afternoon to roam around the new city of Warsaw.  We took the bus into the city from the airport and shopped a huge, modern mall near our previous hotel for 2-3 hours before catching the bus back to the Marriott Courtyard.  We were so pleased with this hotel choice - modern, Western style, excellent restaurant for a light dinner and fabulous breakfast the next morning before our flight home, and best of all a 5 minute walk from the Chopin Airport terminal.  Not a bit of airport noise either - don't know how they did that, but we didn't hear a single jet engine.

Turov museum

We drove about two and a half hours from Pinsk to Turov, where we visited a rather sad, deteriorating museum celebrating local culture and a particular Russian Orthodox priest who lived and worked in Turov long ago.  It was unfortunate to see this place after our wonderful experiences yesterday in Motol and Bezdezh.  We can only hope that the Minister of Culture can spread some money to this little town for a museum upgrade.

Then it was back to Minsk and the same hotel as earlier in the week for one night before we fly to Warsaw and then home.  We decided to have dinner again at the Traktir restaurant nearby, but this time our waitress could speak no English (unlike our charming waiter the previous Saturday night).  The English menu apparently was not completely in line with the Belarussian one, and thus Bryant was served (despite ordering stuffed green peppers) a huge ham hock with 3 potatoes which could have easily fed 3-4 people.  To add to the excitement, when this dish is served,  they turn out all the lights, ramp up the Techno music, and bring in the tray of food with a rocket sparkler perched on the tray to attract the other customers' attention we assume.  Surprisingly, out came a second rocket-bedecked platter for me with a steak hanging on a stick, though I had ordered cabbage rolls.  These main dishes followed an appetizer (luckily shared!) of pickled herring fillets,  at least 6" long, with tomato and cucumber slices, a boiled potato, sour cream and sprigs of fresh dill.  After sharing a very large piece of cake for dessert, we staggered out of the restaurant and back to the hotel to finish our packing.

Two village museums in the afternoon

In the afternoon we drove to two small villages, Motol and Bezdezh, to visit their museums.  At Motol we were entertained by two groups - the first were 7-8 young boys with their leader who played traditional Belarussian folk music on accordions, and the second a group of 8 men and women who sang and played.  Their village sponsors a cultural centre where young people can learn the traditional culture of art and music, and the groups are products of this centre.  Their museum was very well done.

The second village, Bezdezh, has a similar museum, but it is more of a "living museum", with animals, food, and even a modern rental suite in an old farmhouse to help earn more money to improve their facility.  Again we were entertained by a local adult group (I tried to upload a video but couldn't seem to make it work.) of singers and instrumentalists who had assembled just for our visit.  We were apparently the first visitors from Canada they'd ever had.  The museum houses a mammoth collection of cross-stitched linen aprons which is the specialty of that village, and which have won international competitions.  Although the Belarus Culture Ministry supports these museums financially, we found that the hosts were enthusiastic and very motivated to improve their facilities, and anxious to please visitors.

Part of the apron collection at Bezdezh

Horse cart and museum grounds

Bryant models wool coat with our hostess, Maria

This woven grain basket is treated to repel rodents

Typical cross-stitch bedding

Musicians at Bezdezh

We had a small lunch in their farmhouse, with sampling of homebrewed vodka

Martha modeling a wedding headdress, Bezdezh

Pinsk in the morning

Catholic Church in Pinsk

Church Courtyard Gate

Government supplied housing near Pinsk

Wood Carving,  Pinsk

Tatiana sent us on our way with a typical breakfast of rice kasha with pumpkin and mountains of blinis (like crepes) filled with mushrooms and sour cream, or cottage cheese and homemade preserves, along with good, strong coffee.  We drove to Pinsk, the largest town in the area, and wandered the downtown area, (with carved wooden statues in a small park), stopping again for Turkish coffee on the street.

A ride to nowhere

After a light lunch we continued south on unmarked roads toward Pinsk.  Endless cornfields, plowed ground, small villages with pumpkins around every house were evident - most homes made of wood in the old Russian style with brightly painted window trim.  As the afternoon wore on, my optimistic side kept hoping that the next village would hold our farmstead.  How wrong I was!

8-10 cell phone calls helped Victor hone in on our destination.  We were told later that all he had for directions were the latitude and longitude of the house.  Several false starts meant turning toward a village, then turning around again to leave.  Just as dusk was turning to darkness, a woman waved from the side of the road which by now was a 2-track dirt path.  She climbed into our van, and directed us to her house.  Our "farmstead" was in the middle of an eco-designated wetlands area in the Pripyat Marsh, and was very small, though it did have an inside bathroom of sorts.  Our hostess served us a traditional Belorussian supper and we sorted out the sleeping arrangements, deciding before bedtime that we'd only spend one night here, not the two that we'd planned.

We'd wanted an "authentic" experience, and we'd gotten it.

"Museum" in a shed at our "farmstead"

Typical Belarus village home

Bryant relaxes at the Farmstead amidst PATTERN!

"Our" Farmstead

Two UNESCO castles

In the morning Irina led us through two exceptional castles, both UNESCO sites, on our way to our "farmstead" stay in the southwest part of Belarus.  The first was Mir Castle in Mir, which was started in the 15th century in Gothic.  It has had a checkered past, having connections with the Radziwill family, but during WWII, it came under the dominion of the Nazi occupying force and served as a ghetto for the local Jewish population prior to their liquidation.*  The second was in Nesvizh, a short distance away, which was started in the 16th century as a residential complex for the Radziwill family.  In 1939, the family was expelled from the castle by the invading Red Army.  In Soviet times, one part was used as a sanatorium, while the park gradually fell in neglect.  In 1994, the castle complex was designated as a national historical and cultural reserve, and subsequently added to the World Heritage List.*
*(From Wikipedia)

Irina and Bryant at Mir Castle Grounds

Mir Castle

Church at Mir Castle

Radziwill Residience at Nesvizh

Nesvizh Castle Ceiling

"Wave Machine" used in dramatic performances at Nesvizh