Minsk, the capital of Belarus, has a way of making the tourist feel...let’s just say...very small. Stalinist-inspired buildings are blocks long and made of heavy stone, the sickle and hammer engraved into the facades. Streets are still named for Communist-era heroes (You can still stand on the corner of Marx and Engels Streets, for example). The KGB still operates there--when I was in town to write a feature article for AFAR, I swore I was being followed. No, really. And gargantuan statues, like the one pictured, are plunked down throughout the city (including one of Lenin). The above statue is commie-loving poet Yakub Kolas whose apparent admiration for the Belarusian peasantry was so strong, he adopted the name “Kolas,” which means “ear of grain” in Belarusian.
The Panellas were inspired to open a second restaurant in Williamsburg because of its similarities with Trastevere.
Courtesy of Antica Pesa
A selection of Antica Pesa’s traditional Italian desserts
Courtesy of Antica Pesa
Francesco Panella likes shopping for fresh, local cuts at the Meat Hook in Williamsburg.
Courtesy of the Meat Hook
The cobblestone streets of Trastevere are quintessentially Roman.
Photo by DavidMG/Shutterstock
Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood is filled with quaint restaurants, stores, and markets.
Photo by DavidMG/Shutterstock
Antica Pesa’s Williamsburg location is both elegant and inviting.
Courtesy of Antica Pesa
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Dwarfed in Minsk
Minsk, the capital of Belarus, has a way of making the tourist feel...let’s just say...very small. Stalinist-inspired buildings are blocks long and made of heavy stone, the sickle and hammer engraved into the facades. Streets are still named for Communist-era heroes (You can still stand on the corner of Marx and Engels Streets, for example). The KGB still operates there--when I was in town to write a feature article for AFAR, I swore I was being followed. No, really. And gargantuan statues, like the one pictured, are plunked down throughout the city (including one of Lenin). The above statue is commie-loving poet Yakub Kolas whose apparent admiration for the Belarusian peasantry was so strong, he adopted the name “Kolas,” which means “ear of grain” in Belarusian.
