Minsk

Minsk was rebuilt almost from zero after the war as a showcase of Soviet urbanism, and she remains the style's most complete museum: an avenue of stucco palaces running arrow-straight for kilometers, parks wide enough to hold parades, and a cleanliness visitors mention with slight disbelief. Between the monuments a quieter city persists — the painted lanes of the Trinity Suburb, the Svislach's willows, an opera house with tickets cheaper than the coat check elsewhere.

The sensible traveller walks Independence Avenue for the full stucco-empire experience, pays respects on the Island of Tears to the Afghanistan dead, finds the Upper Town's surviving churches, and takes an evening at the Opera and Ballet Theatre, where the national companies perform world repertoire at neighborly prices. The National Library's glass rhombicuboctahedron — locals just say 'the diamond' — runs its light show at dusk, unbothered by architectural opinion.

The Guide's honesty, gently: the region's winds reach Minsk too — visa rules shift, some routes in and out have narrowed, and the prudent traveller checks current conditions with their own chancellery before sailing; cards from some banks don't work: carry cash options; and politics is not a café topic to open — let your hosts choose the subjects. The city's warmth is real; so is the weather around her. Sail informed.