"Gomel, Belarus" Ozero Gomel' by wilmac

My first visit to Belarus brings me to the the city of Gomel, I did not know what to expect after reading all the stories on the internet about Belarus, a police state that is run by a dictator, so I came with an open mind. I had read that the people of Belarus do not like Westerners and would be impolite and ignorant towards them, happily I found this to be untrue, I found the people of Gomel to be friendly, polite and helpful, even though they speak little english and I speak little russian, I had no problems communicating with them. I started my visit with a walk along the main street in the rush hour, fantastic, wide streets and so very clean, after coming from London, a city that moves at 100 miles per hour, I found it difficult to slow down to the leisurely pace of Gomel, the rush hour is more like a not so rushed hour, I walked along the main street and looked in shop windows at exotic foods and fantastic bottles, Belarussian arts and crafts, and down to the main square, a wide open place full of sunshine and light, across the square and into the park, I am still amazed that within a three minute walk you can go from the busy main street into a calm oasis of green grass, trees and fountains, and a short walk further brings you to the river Sozh, a beautiful expanse of slow moving blue water with a river beach, bordered both sides by green trees and grass, fantastic.
I spent my days walking around the city, my lack of russian did not stop me from trying new foods and new drinks, speaking with people in a mix of words and sign language, I made some very good friends in Gomel (Sergei & Natalia) and I will be going back there very soon to see them again.
To speak on food and drink, I found the food to be very different to what I am used to in London, potatos and bread are the main of the diet here, with cured meat, cheese and pickles, very tasty. I love some of the snacks you can buy on the street, tasty morsels of meat and potato, a small pizza with sausage and my favourite, Lays krab chips, the beer is very good, my favourite one is a local beer called (tanya, please), very good flavour and very nice taste.
I am amazed that the second city of Belarus is such a calm and quiet city, a place of beautiful wide and clean streets, a place where you can walk from the noise of the busy city centre to the calm and quiet of the river in just a few short minutes.
To speak on the drawbacks, the Millitzia, I had a very hard time to register my visa, I followed the rules to the letter, but still this was no good, my host and I spent a whole afternoon running about because it seems that the Millitzia change the rules to suit them and make it difficult for a western visitor, I was lucky to have a russian speaking host to guide me through the process.

To summarize, I found Gomel to be a beautiful city full of friendly people, a place full of culture with a wonderful history, I had a very enjoyable time here and will reccomend to everyone to visit this amazing city, to meet the people, enjoy the sights and just spend time to relax.

My thanks go to Taniushka, Alesja, Mama and Katja.
To my new friends Dmitri, Andriiy, Segei and Slava

And special thanks to Natalia and Sergei for the vodka, the shashlyk and the hangover the next day, I will see you both again soon

XX