Mysterious castles of Belarus from "Viapol"
In whatever travel agencies in Russia or Ukraine tourists order trips to Belarus, and inside this country, the tour operator "Viapol" is mainly involved in organizing excursions for those who arrived by train or plane. I didn’t find a convenient bus tour from Moscow, so I had to take what I have and hope for the best. But hopes, I would say, were not fully justified. As a result, half of the program turned out to be uninteresting and empty, and the second half, more interesting, we literally ran after the guide. I'll tell you more. Day 1. Since we arrived at 00:10, in the morning we had breakfast at the hotel "Belarus" in the city center and a free day. There are no complaints about the food in the hotel - they fed literally for slaughter. Buffet breakfasts were amazing in variety (no worse than in Hungary), and lunches were excellent in taste and portion sizes. Agree, not everyone can master Olivier for a snack, borscht for the first, mashed potatoes with a chicken Kiev and cabbage salad for the second, a glass of juice and a cake or donuts with tea. We didn’t go to the city to have dinner, sometimes in the evening we just drank tea in the room. In the corridors of the hotel, in such a case, there is a convenient apparatus that provides cold water or boiling water at will. The rooms are small but clean and tidy with new furniture. The standard room has 2 beds, 2 bedside tables, 2 chairs, an armchair, a table with a mirror, glasses, a telephone and a guide with an embedded map of Minsk, a huge flat-screen TV hanging on the wall. The only thing I didn't like was the bathroom, it's very small. Probably 1.5x1.5 m. As a result, in the far left corner there is a cramped shower stall (0.8x0.8 with a cut corner), opposite the door there is a toilet bowl, on the left along the wall there is a washbasin with gel probes, shampoos and a hair cap, liquid soap and a non-portable hair dryer are attached nearby (the maids screwed it on after 1 cleaning). And here are the towels. . . all 3 towels are located high on a shelf along the wall with a door. So, if your height is not two meters, but 1.57, then you jump to them and jump. It made me want to defiantly move a chair to the bathroom. What else I didn’t like: the doors to the balconies are closed in the floor halls, you can’t admire the view without glass. But there are high-speed elevators, interactive help screens in the lobby. Directly opposite the hotel there is a monument to Pushkin, nearby parks and squares with many sculptures, the theater building, next to it is the town hall with a bronze chaise. In walking distance along Independence Avenue, Freedom Square and Yakub Kolas with sculptures (min. 45 moves) in one direction and GUM, Independence Square, 3-level supermarket "Capital" - in the other (30 min. ). Very close to the department store on Nemiga, Komarovsky food market on the street. Vera Horunzhey. So in 1 day we had a good walk on our own, took pictures. Day 2. Pansky maentak Sula-Rubezevichi. According to the lists, we loaded onto a comfortable bus and went to Rubezhevichi. The tour guide did not introduce himself. Upon arrival, he showed us the simple Catholic church of St. Joseph, where they listened to an organ concert, they did not get into the phytopharmacy promised under the program, they only told us about it. Pan maentak Sula is a big disappointment. There is a lake, several "antique" houses, adapted for a cafe (they fed lunch very well: salad, 1st, 2nd, compote, tea), a hotel, a museum, something like a banquet hall, where they showed us how they used to drink from the blade of a saber. But the metal tiles on the roofs, typical gutters such as the Profil 130 system, and metal-plastic windows were very striking to me. . . Now they are trying to restore the fortress there and they themselves say that the mortar was lime, but the bricks are laid on a cement-sand mortar. Woe-restorers. Riding a boat stylized as a drakkar was also not impressive. However, those who went to ride in the cart were also not delighted. Sula is an example of how tourists can be ripped off for visiting a banal new building on a historical site. Maentak is suitable only for those who want to live for a few days, like in a boarding house, in nature. Day 3. “Belarusian Mosaic”. First we went to Zalesye. This is a building in the same vein as Sula (veneer doors, metal-plastic greenhouse fences, open laying of modern batteries, electrics, etc. ). Dressed (partially) in historical costumes with banal slippers on their bare feet, the guides told a little about the history of the estate, the Oginsky family, showed the greenhouse (they promised to restore it, but so far the view of a pair of "cacti" is pitiful), a park, a gazebo (perhaps the only unspoiled building), several stones. Then we moved to Smorgon, looked at another simple church, had lunch (also a lot and tasty). We looked at the church in Soly and Ostrovets (we were not impressed), the church in Gervyaty is the only truly beautiful, interesting object. In the latter, they listened to another organ concerto. Thanks to the guide Yarosh, who did not gallop us, but gave us time to look around, although because of this we arrived back in Minsk an hour and a half later than indicated in the program. Day 4. Dudutki. I would call this place a big market with souvenir shops, moreover, with a paid entrance for naive visitors. Commercial platform for making money. There are houses scattered on the territory where you can see souvenirs, buy them, and for 10 minutes according to the tour, see how something is weaved from straw, molded from clay, carved from wood, forged. . . Following the guide Irina, we ran at a gallop, pushing each other with our elbows. They tasted moonshine with a sandwich with honey and pickles, got a tiny sample of honey, tasted herbal tea with bread. And I wouldn't say delicious. However, lunch in a tavern nearby that day was also inedible. Chicken broth with a wing floating in it, “glass” boiled potatoes, sausages that I didn’t even like in appearance and were bitten by few, a couple of thin but fatty potato pancakes, sparkling water and a pancake with tea, which was only brought to our table half an hour later, after urgent requests and shouts, so that the whole group was waiting for six. Four ostriches turned out to be smelly and shabby, and the promised cab ride resulted in a "lap of honor" around the barn on something like a children's cart with benches along the sides. Fuss, running around and for what? . . I don't recommend to go. This place is only for very inexperienced tourists. Day 5. Overview of Minsk. 4 hours, two and a half of them showed objects from the windows of the bus. Too bad we didn't stop by the diamond library. If we had not visited all the squares on our own and had not walked around the entire center on our own, it would have been very sad. Don't even take a picture! Yes, and late to acquaint with the city, when we walked around on the 1st day and in the evenings up and down on our own. We made an exit to Independence Square, where they again listened to the organ in the church (3 times! ), near the town hall. At the end we were taken inside. But the town hall has been restored, so it is not at all impressive as an excursion object after Italy and St. Petersburg. Another exit was on about. Tears already explored on their own. At 2:00 pm we returned to the hotel for lunch. For the rest of the day, I had to figure out what to do on my own. In shops you can buy chocolate "Kommunyarka" and "Spartak", Belarusian cosmetics. But with knitwear problems. It's like a shoemaker without boots. Something hangs in stores, but of this type and size. . . Even their smallest blouse size 42 is designed either for a very thin model-hanger, which suits everything, or for a plump lady. Of the 35 people in the group, no one bought clothes. The locals dress up at the roar in Zhdanovichi, but you have to go far out of town by minibus, and in the morning, and not after the excursions. Day 6. Nesvizh. Hooray! They show the town itself, the town hall with an interesting well-preserved interior, the palace and park complex, protected by UNESCO. This is a truly noteworthy item. Inspection of the historical part of the park (a small piece), a break for a decent lunch, chic interior decoration and expositions of the palace. . . The excursion day and the program are very intense. But the territory of the park with rivers is 100 hectares, so the overnight stay at the hotel in the former stables of the castle is very useful. Until 22 hours before dark, we just managed to run around the paths and find all the sculptures and interesting places marked on the diagram, admire the castle in the sunset (and then in the dawn) rays of the sun. Tip: take a picture of the park map at the entrance with your phone, as they are sold in the palace souvenir shop for as much as 230 thousand rubles. However, without a plan, no one will get lost either (checked! ), as the park is stretched along the reservoir. In the evening, I was a little upset by the lack of illumination of the facade of the palace and jarred a large number of bars around. The day is tiring, the hotel is of average scall. Despite the fact that we were given a 3-bed room for 2 people, the room is very small, sparsely furnished, on half of its area you have to bend down, because the attic floor. But the shower works, there are samples of gel and shampoo, there are towels. There is no hair dryer. The bar of solid soap tested by someone was pushed back into the wrapper by the staff and put in as a new one. Day 7. Mir Castle. Hooray again! Again, a worthy object, and not a commercial "excuse" for knocking money from tourists. The interiors and internal exposition are slightly worse and smaller than in Nesvizh, but worthy of inspection. Striking coffered ceilings, hunting hall. A wonderful lunch in an antique-style basement, and after a tour of the outer walls, a lake, an unusual tomb church. All on one ticket issued by the guide. And then you can independently climb through the labyrinths of narrow and steep spiral staircases of the towers, go to the galleries, go down to the armory. To be honest, I didn’t get to the very top or to the very bottom - it’s scary, although interesting. Bottom line: I liked the last 2 days, I more or less liked the intensity of the 3rd day - trips to churches, the 2nd, 4th, 5th days were very disappointing. I will not compare with those tours when I traveled around Europe from the "Accord-tour", but at least in comparison with the excursion to St. Petersburg from the "Nevsky Seasons" last year, Belarus with the company "Viapol" loses a lot. Half of the program is a dummy visited by a gallop. For money twice as much as "St. Petersburg" tour operator of Belarus offers twice the worst program. Therefore, I advise you to take only a couple of days of excursions with a busy schedule from Viapol, and then explore the city and country on your own.
