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Article: Travel Drinking: Eastern Europe - Drunk from the legs up Its tourist industry may be stuck in a timewarp, but there are unexpec ted pleasures to be found in Minsk, not least in its cocktails. By Mark Rowe
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- May 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1999 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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QUITE HOW I ended up joining a May Day parade of fridge factory
workers in Belarus 10 years ago remains unclear. I remember crossing
a road with a friend to take some pictures and getting swept along,
believing it safer to march in step than extricate ourselves and risk
being quizzed by a KGB officer.
We strode through Lenin Square, Minsk, under the benign gaze of
banners of Lenin, Engels and Marx, and the noses of the Belarusian
Soviet Socialist Republic politburo. The festive mood was full of
glasnost and our new friends encouraged us to hold up the banners of
the proletariat (Mine said: "Congratulations! From Minsk Fridge
Factory No 7").
I have spent 10 years telling my friends that Minsk ...