The real thing

Minsk, Belarus

Quick quiz: the coke advertisement pictured, right, appeared in a capital city in which decade?

A) 1950s
B) 1970s
C) 2000s

Correct answer: C.

One word: Recycled.

Meet you at the McDonald’s on Lenin Boulevard?

Minsk, Belarus

A co-incidence or a “told you so” moment? The biggest McDonald’s in Minsk stands proudly on Lenin Boulevard. It was a photograph too delicious to miss.

One word: Triumphant.

Cyrillic nails me

Minsk, Belarus

Picture this. You arrive in Minsk on a bus at 7:00am. Wearily, you unfurl your English-language map only to discover that you don’t even know the name of the bus station or what street it is on because the local language has a Cyrillic alphabet. Reading has become impossible and you are unable to even match street signs to the map.

You cast your mind back to high school maths. Pis, Fis, Landas were all there, but you don’t recall the backwards R. What sound does that make?

One word: Illiterate.