At this point, everyone has cabin fever of some sort, so
for the long Fourth weekend, three of us and Shelby the dog took a short road trip
to Brest, which is right close to the border with Poland. (Brest, Belarus, nor
Brest, France.)
We mostly wanted to go the forest and see bison, which
are one of the animals that are well-known in Belarus. Stork and red foxes are
a couple of others, but I really wanted to see the bison. In a perfect world,
we could have spent days in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park and seen
some in the wild, but it’s hardly a perfect world, so the three of us and
Shelby went to the zoo in the park to see some caged bison. It was still very
cool and maybe one day I can return and better explore the park, which dates
back to the year 953. That’s three digits.
The zoo was over a fairly wide area, but it was still
kind of sad to see. We’d heard tales about the bear who would open candy that
people tossed at them, and people brought or bought all kinds of foodstuffs to
feed them and all the other animals. There weren’t a wide range, really,
because it was only animals that were found in the park.
We saw lynx (a “kitty kitty” that threw off
Shelby), some boar, deer and some kind of horses that were a bit smaller than
American horses. I’ve never seen any kind of horses in a zoo, so that was
weird.
There were also two wolves in a rather large area, but
not an area nearly large enough for wild wolves. The wolves, like most of the
animals, were hovering near the fence for handouts, and our little quartet was
away from the others because we had no interest in A) feeding wild animals or B)
catching COVID. Shelby caught a glimpse of the wolves and was entranced. She stood
on her hind legs with her front paws on the fence, just looking at her cousins.
Suddenly, they caught a whiff of her and came bounding over. All the people
feeding them became highly interested in Shelby, too, as both wolves rushed
over to her and excitedly tried to make friends. My guess is they were saying “Get
us out of here, Cuz!” But it was really cute. I’ve never seen a wild animal (such
as they were) as interested in a domestic critter.
Grandfather Frost, otherwise known as Santa Claus, is
from Belarus and has his home in the forest, so we went to that, too. He was
there, wearing his summer outfit and greeting guests. Other than that, the park
was a nicely shaded area with all kinds of fairy tale things, like Snow White
and the Seven Dwarves (remember, Disney didn’t create the story, he only
cartoonized it), the Russian version of Pooh and Piglet, and things like the
Chinese New Year animals and the like. We had a nice picnic lunch at one of the
rustic tables before heading back to the entry area, which was where the museum
and zoo were. The park is huge – it took about 20 minutes by bus to get there,
and that was the only time we were in the company of others and wore masks.
The park was the main point of the trip, but we also went
to the Brest Fortress, which is now a WWII museum. WWII – known as the Great
Patriotic War in former Soviet countries – is really big here and it was nice
to see the area. Here’s the Wiki description: “In the late 1960s, the
construction of the war memorial complex Brest Hero Fortress was started. The
complex was opened on September 25, 1971. The memorial complex is a
national place of grief and pride, a popular tourist attraction. It comprises
the barracks, gunpowder bunkers, forts and other fortifications, the museum of
the defence, located on the site of the old fortress, along with the new
monumental structures: the main entrance, the obelisk, the main monument, the
sculpture ‘Thirst’.”
It was in an area with lots of bike paths and green
space; there was another fortress-type area outside the main fortress. I was
able to explore it pretty well because Shelby wasn’t allowed in the main area,
so we took turns hanging on to her. I took lots of pictures of the dilapidated
brick buildings, which I never tire of, before handing off Shelby and going
into the main area.
The “Courage” memorial was the most imposing, of course,
just because of its sheer size, but the “Thirst” one was most haunting. It had
a soldier, body outstretched, panting for water and reaching for his helmet,
which was filled with rainwater. But he’s frozen in time, so he’ll never be able
to drink it.
Hopefully, I will get back, and if I do, assuming I am
without a dog, I’d rent a bike and bike around. This is very much a biking
country.
That day, we didn’t bike at all but walked A LOT and were
dead tired. We were staying at someone’s guest house and the host was also a
physiotherapist who had a sauna. Well, we were all over that. I got my first
Russian massage – where you are beaten by branches and leaves. It was super hot and kinda painful but man, I
enjoyed it. And then I slept like a rock. Shelby, who did not get a massage,
also slept like a rock and her poor mom had to sleep around her in a twin bed.
On the way home, we took a different route, stopping in
three different communities. At one, we saw the ruins of … something. I didn’t
have the guidebook so I don’t remember, but I love ruins. That’s one of the
reasons I adored being in Istanbul. I had no idea I’d happen upon some in
Belarus, so that was really cool. We also stopped at the hometown of Thaddeus Kosciuszko,
who was a Polish-Lithuanian-Belarusian (borders have shifted through the years;
several people lay claim to him) who fought in the Revolutionary War. He signed
on with the Continental Army and fortified, among other cites, West Point. We
have a bust of him on the compound, and there’s a bridge named after him in New
York. And now I’ve seen his homestead.
Not bad.
Now, though, it doesn’t look like I’ll be going anywhere
anytime soon. The elections here are mid-August and there are growing protests
here and elsewhere in the country. When they’re here, they’re right out my
window, so when I say I am not going anywhere, that includes to the grocery store.
Yesterday was the day the Belarusian government “certified”
the people who will run against the incumbent (in 26 years) president, and two
of the frontrunners were inexplicably left off the list, so that was the reason
for the protests. Depending on what happens, it could get very touchy here for
the next month.
But if I am locked in, I will have Shelby. Her mom departs
post this week but right now United isn’t taking pets in cargo so she’s stuck
here. My guess is I’ll have a dog for probably at least a month and more than
likely two. I feel like summer is not a good time to put doggies in the belly
of planes but I don’t know the rules. Either way, on Friday I’m getting what is
undoubtably one of the sweetest, smartest and most diplomatic dogs in the
world. Her momma will miss her, but she’ll be in good hands.
In between walks, though, she has nothing to do and just
sleeps. The walks tire her out, I think, and for the rest of the day, she just
moves from one place to another, closes her eyes, and dozes off. Right now, she’s
on the floor next to the kitchen table. In 10 minutes, she’ll probably move to under
the table.
Poor thing. Her life is in upheaval. She got baffled when
she came over the first time, because we’d all been on the road trip and she got
left with me and not her mom. She then went back to stay with her mom, but the
house had been packed out and it looked different. Then I took her to work and,
since my old office was being renovated, we worked out of a different building.
She didn’t like that much and barked at
far more people than she usually barks at.
