My thoughts based on four days in Minsk (one day in Polotsk) in January 2018, travelling with my partner (in Belarus for work). Brief summary of surprises/characteristics of Minsk Friendly, welcoming, clean, Soviet yet western European-feeling, cheaper than most European countries, efficient, trees, Soviet blocks, modernist, Brutalist, statues, memorials, parks, trams, trolley buses, Metro, wide […]
Minsk – Impressions Read More »
La Folie du Chocolat, incorporating Koinonia Coffee Roasters, No. 16, Commerce House, Rope Walk Lane, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai February, 2018. A Sunday afternoon and a Wednesday afternoon (*score out of 10) The flat white: 8. Sunday’s coffee was a much needed jetlag antidote, Wednesday’s was a comfort coffee. Both consistently excellent, the coffee and the
Mumbai – Coffee fix, with added treats Read More »
“What’s Mumbai like?”, a friend asked me. Mumbai is a difficult place to describe because there is so, so much going on and a cliché fest of “melting pot”, “assault on the senses” and “urban jungle” suggests Mumbai is familiar or ordinary. It is most definitely not an ordinary city and is one which absorbs
Mumbai – Morning walks Read More »
Pre-Travel – Packing – Minsk Airport (January 2018) Pre-Travel Visa/paperwork requirements As a UK passport holder, you no longer need to apply for a visa if your stay covers no more than five days (which means four nights, eg 1st to 4th covers five days. A ten-day visa-free regime is under consideration). You need paper
Minsk 2 Airport – Arrival and Departure Practicalities Read More »
How many people in the UK have a “Made in Belarus” watch? I’m thinking not many. Luch is a Belarusian watchmaker based in Minsk, nowadays 80% owned by Franck Muller, whose Swiss watches are both complicated and exclusive (ie expensive). I particularly like the old fashioned/classic/retro look of some of the watches. Mine is the
Luch watches – Made in Belarus Read More »
(NB This visit was in November 2012) As Addis Ababa is quite a full-on city, I thought that perhaps the most effective way to reflect that would be to kind of list things as they come to me in terms of what I saw walking about. Dust. Potholes so big you could lose a herd
Addis Ababa – Walking around Read More »
