Minsk

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Well, we are not in Prague any longer. I say that as it is not a good thing. English is not a common language here. The airport transfer driver we booked through Viator asked me, Who told you to come to Belarus? Me: No one. Him: Then why would you come here? Fair enough. Country #87.

We were at the airport in Prague an hour before we could even check in our bags. It was crowded but we didn't encounter any long lines. Everything went smoothly. The weird thing was that I couldn't fill my water bottle because security was not until you entered your flight's gate. The shops & restaurants were before security. Nothing in the gate area but toilets and vending machines. Our Belavia flight was fine. Better than we expected and we were in economy. We picked aisle seats on row 6 for both of us. That was good. It was about a 2 hour flight to Minsk. There was a 1 hour time change. It is an hour later in Minsk.

We are at Monastyrski Hotel in Old Town. Our driver assured us we'd like it here and be safe to walk around. Good to know. We have a 1/2 day private guided tour of Minsk tomorrow.

It is again about 10 degrees F hotter here than the forecast. Our driver told us they never have weather like this.

We got here about 5 pm. We had to buy an obligatory health insurance policy for 3 days before passport control. That was about 8 Euros. Our passports were examined with a magnifying glass. Looking for counterfeits? We got cash from a Bankomat while awaiting our luggage. We got to the hotel about 6 pm. We headed out to dinner about 7 pm. It was about a 5 minute uphill walk to a Chinese place because they had an English language menu. Sadly the waitstaff spoke no English. Tomorrow we plan to eat pizza at a place a few doors away. I guess we're skipping Belarussian specialties.

We don't think much of our Monastyrki room. It doesn't have luggage stands so we have to leave them on the floor. It was really hot and stifling in our room when we arrived. The door was standing open and 2 women were in the room. Security had escorted us with our luggage so he handled that. But WTH? Our AC was not working. We asked at reception on our way to dinner and it was working when we returned. Good job. I asked about ice when we got back to reception since I couldn't get any at dinner. Ask at the restaurant. They had an ice machine right there and it should be open whenever I need to refill my bottle. So some good news. There is a cooling box under the desk. I put 2 small complimentary bottles of water in there and plugged it in. I can hear it running, but no cooling yet. Clay is holding out for morning. Good night. Oh Clay says the bed makes him feel like a monk. This used to be a monastery. I hope we can sleep!

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