As I was looking at the Belarus map during my research, the North and Far East region was
something that intrigued me. These are regions that many tourists don't visit and pay attention to.
I was also curious to see what the people and places are like in areas close to the borders.
I took a three-hour high-speed train from Minsk for 16 Belarusian rubles. Prior to my departure,
I managed to get in touch with Vitali, whom I found through Couchsurfing. Despite our language barriers
Vitali was very excited to show me his hometown. Good afternoon! I am currently in Vitebsk, located
in the Northeastern part of Belarus situated at the border of Russia, Lithuania and Latvia.
This city itself is considered to be the oldest, sort of ancient city of the country, the cultural
centre of the country, so I'm just excited to showcase to you what the city looks like.
Being one of the oldest cities in Belarus, Vitebsk is believed to be found in 974 by the
Princess Olga of Kyiv, and has been mentioned in ancient Russian chronicles since the 11th century.
This northernmost regional city has an advantages geographical location as it is located at the
crossroads of one of the most important trades between Russia, Baltic states, Ukraine, Central and
Western Europe. If you can see behind me this is the Vitebsk hotel, which reminds me of the
Minsk hotel in the capital city of course, and the building is definitely one of the oldest in the
city. You can definitely feel the sense of that soviet building and it's still you know
standing right here to remind you of the old times but this is located in the centre of the city.
I am with Vitali. Vitali is a local from Vitebsk and has been so very kind in hosting me
and he is taking me to the Saint Barbara church behind me because of the magnificent architecture
that he thinks is worth showing. Saint Barbara is the oldest catholic church in Vitebsk city, there
are over five catholic churches. Personally for me as a tourist, when I first saw this the red brick
architecture makes it a stands out building or you know one of the landmarks of the city, I think.
Vitali is bringing me to this Polotsk market and I was wondering if they're
still open and I said "let's go" because it's always interesting to see markets
all around the world. Perhaps this market is currently not as bustling as
it would be on the weekend, but there are still people selling things.
We have come to my favorite part, my personal favorite, in the market which is the fresh produce
where you can find all kinds of fruits and probably onions, apples,
pomegranate, tomatoes, and it is so colourful. Sometimes market
is the best way to introduce yourself to the local culture what the people like to eat and many more.
If you don't know anything about Belarusian, Russian or Ukrainian, these are part
of the East Slavic people whereas their sort of siblings considerably like the Balkans people are
are considered as the South Slavic people. For me personally, this is an interesting
note to think about what the people look like, the language, the demeanour, the personality.
So the building behind me is the train station that was built in 1919,
considerably to be one of the oldest and historical landmark of the city definitely.
I was joking and asking Vitali whether people in Belarus need to smile more and as
I asked him why do you think that they don't smile more and he said because the
weather is cold so for them to smile it gets too cold for the teeth, is that right?
Quite a significant monument in Vitebsk city known to be the Victory monument because this commemorates
those who fight against the German during World War II,
if I'm not mistaken. The scale of this is so massive! So we are currently
in the area where I find it quite interesting. I asked him what is this and
Vitali said this is sort of a monument dedicated to the war in, where is it?
War in Afghanistan 1979 till 1989. Yeah, so I think there is during those times,
I remembered watching one of these documentaries, during those time there was some kind of war that happened in Afghanistan with the Soviet Union.
All of these tanks are sort of real. I don't know if you can see but it extends to all of this
helicopter that probably used to transport all of the Soviet armies.
So where are we now? What is this called again the place? Батькова хата (Batkova-Hata)
Father's house. So this reminds me of Stolovaya which means canteen.
You have selections of many things starting from salad, I get one salad.
it's traditional to get a soup, a salad, and the main
hearty meal. They usually put sour cream.
The next one would be,
Is that meatball?
Yes, pork yes. Okay, I'll have this one.
Yes, okay!
I've got a meatball and vegetables right here.
Ah, this is traditional food. Ah!
I will definitely start with the soup. What is this name? Rassolnik
Usually, soup right here is mixed with sour cream. That is so very hearty!
What do you say you know, delicious! like mmm very good!
очень вкусно means delicious in Russian Ochen' vkusno!
Babka (potato pie popular in Belarus and Poland). Ah from potatoes?
It tastes probably like potatoes stew.
Belarus is so very famous for its potato. There's slang for Belarusian people known as,
Bulbash! (Belarus even somehow managed to produce vodka made out of potato!)
which basically means that the people of potato. A traditional snack called as Kholodets (Холодец)
and this is a jelly type of food if you can see the texture. Inside of it are probably chicken
or a selection of a different type of meat, if you wish. This is Belarusian wasabi.
Over here you have pickles, a cucumber, pork, garlic, raw garlic, green onion, your favourite!
For some people who drink vodka, they would generally
eat cucumber or even garlic afterwards to reduce the unpleasant taste. Fruit drinks
such as this one, I got blueberry and Vitali got raspberry and this is called Kompot.
Thank you so much for watching today's video, thank you to Vitali.
Thanks to him that he is so kind to showcase Vitebsk city to me!
Are you happy? Yeah I'm happy! Very happy! Thank you so much again don't forget to let me know what you
think down in the comment section below. Would you actually travel to different countries or
places that are not famous, but also would like to hang out with locals so that you can also
see the city or the places that they know so much about? Don't forget to also check out my
Patreon.com page if you wish to support a creator like me and my work. See you again next time, bye bye!