“White Stork” is a symbol of Belarus

“White Stork” is a symbol of Belarus

Photo credit: http://all-origami.ru/

Almost each country has got its own symbols connected with nature such as a particular flower-symbol, a tree-symbol, an animal-symbol, and, of course, a bird-symbol. Birds are considered to be examples of a vivid and bright imagination of nature. 

In our today’s Blogger lens we would like to tell you about the bird symbol of the Republic of Belarus and some interesting facts about this unique bird.

The White Stork is considered to be a symbol of Belarus. The white stork is the most famous one from the family of storks. It is a graceful white bird with black wing tips, with a long thin red beak, a long neck, and with long reddish legs. This bird can not leave indifferent anyone who has ever seen it especially not a hundred miles away. 

Photo credit: Vladmir Nazarov - http://fromdarkside.livejournal.com/

White storks like settling near people with pleasure. However, the most important factors in their choice are an ecologically clean area and abundance of food in it. It is obvious that white storks really take care of their health and the health of their progeny.  

In Belarus you can meet white storks so often as if they are normal crows or sparrows. In each Belarusian village there are a lot of trees or concrete posts, house roofs or water towers with a big nest on top of them. Sometimes people are eager to help birds by making a special area for nesting on a treetop or a pole. 

Photo credit: Vladmir Nazarov - http://fromdarkside.livejournal.com/

Also you can meet white storks near rivers or in some moorland pacing busily and lifting their long reddish legs high as if they are some supervisors who are checking something. But in reality they simply are in search of frogs, snakes or insects to eat and feed their babies with. 

Sometimes dozens of birds you can meet in Belarusian fields along roads during harvesting. 

Photo credit: Vladmir Nazarov - http://fromdarkside.livejournal.com/

White storks can’t sing at all. Their singing is like a beak snapping. Even nestlings try to imitate their parents’ songs. In Belarusian villages and on outskirts white storks’ singing-snapping resounds from their big nests every morning and evening. Local people even don’t need any alarm clock as white storks will make them awaken with the sunrise.   

Photo credit: Vladmir Nazarov - http://fromdarkside.livejournal.com/

But don’t think that you can meet this graceful bird in Belarus all the year round. If you think so then you are for sure mistaken. White storks always fly to winter to warm overseas countries, mainly to the continent of Africa. Usually young birds fly to warm overseas countries at the end of August while adult birds do it a bit later at the end of September. However, already in March all of them return back home to their Motherland - Belarus. After a very tiresome journey having covered thousands and thousands kilometers male white storks can find their last year’s nests without any difficulty. Some days later their females join them which are their faithful companions during their whole life. Immediately after their meeting they start to repair nests and after that they express their love for each other mating and laying eggs which males and females incubate alternately.

Photo credit: Vladmir Nazarov - http://fromdarkside.livejournal.com/

By the way, white storks’ couple can use one and the same nest for many years up to 20 years. They say that the size of a birds’ house usually depends on its age, the older a nest is the bigger its diameter is.  

White storks' signing-snapping filmed in Belarus

Video credit: kara74100

The Stork Residence! - Or was it? - The Storks of the town of Rogachev!  

Photo credit:http://photogoroda.com/

In Belarus there is such a small town in Gomel region that is called Rogachev. It has become famous because of the interesting story that took place there. This story is connected with white storks. The memorial dedicated to liberators of the town during the Patriotic War which you can see in the photo above was without three flying storks with sharp beaks on top of it some years back, it was only like a marble pole on which real white storks created their nest one day. Everything would be fine except the only thing that this memorial is in the town centre of Rogachev and a memorial plague with all the names of fallen soldiers was always under a so-called storks’ "gun".

Once the mayor of Ragochev had seen it and immediately ordered to destroy the nest of white storks while they were away. Special workers came, climbed there and removed the nest. However, the next morning a new nest showed off on the same place. A week later workers noticed it being very surprised they removed it again. But again hard-working white storks brought lots of tree branches and created a new nest, as they had to live somewhere. 

As a famous saying says “Fast footwork is the key to success in life”. The same scene happened around 6 times in the town of Rogachev. Local people started already joking that it was not a good thing to disturb white storks and it was necessary to leave the bird couple alone because they had not destroyed anything. However the right solution was found. They decided to put a pole with a big wheel on top of it around ten meters from the memorial and  transferred the nest on it. As for the marble memorial pole, they made three flying bronze white storks with sharp beaks on it. And in this way they made everyone very satisfied.

A picturesque sight of Belovezhskaya Pushcha in Belarus

Photo credit: http://bp21.org.by/

A so-called picturesque sight of Belovezhskaya Pushcha, one of the most ancient reserves of Europe, UNESCO’s heritage is considered to be a big colony of white storks. If to be precise, this colony of birds is located in the village of Babinec, in Brest region. There is a tall old tree there where there are around 8 white storks’ nests built on it.

Some ancient legends and superstitions connected with storks Since the begging of time the white stork has been esteemed highly among eastern Slavs. If an owl was associated with wisdom, a magpie - with loquacity, a sparrow – with pugnacity and thievery, while a white stork was considered to be a symbol of longevity, marriage faithfulness, and prosperity.

Photo credit: http://www.legendami.ru/

According to one of the most ancient legends, the white stork is a person turned into a bird by God for disobedience. Once God picked up all the reptiles of the world and put them together into a big bag, tied it hard and asked some man to destroy it. However, that man did not fulfill the order. Because of his inquisitiveness he untied the bag and looked into it. The reptiles broke loose and crawled all over the world again. Turning the disobedient person into a stork, God ordered it to clean the world from them. Because of that weathered shame stork’s legs and beak became red as if it still can feel its shame.

There is also a wide-spread legend that white storksbring kids to people. In old times they used to attach a cart wheel to the roof of their house or on a treetop it was like a skeleton for a future nest and they hoped if white storks would chose their house roof or tree and settle there that that a long-awaited child would be born in that family.

People also used to believe if white storks would settle on the roof of their house that it would be always protected from any disaster such as fire or a thunderbolt. So if you want to explain your small curious child from where you got him or her you can use the mentioned explanation and say that a white stork brought them."

Express Delivery"

Photo credit: http://www.hrm.ua/

The everlasting love
or the White Stork is the real symbol of marriage faithfulness

This is a couple of white storks from some mountain village in Croatia whose love doesn’t know any distance. Already for 17 years, to a day, a faithful male Klipeto has returned back to his female Malena whose wing is seriously broken and it has to winter in the village without leaving it and flying to warm overseas countries, as it can’t do it. One day a school teacher, the local person of this Croatian village sheltered the poor bird on the roof of his house. According to the story of local people, the male white stork Klepeto has become famous in the whole world because of its faithfulness to its beloved female. This year Klipeto has covered around 14 thousand km in order to be together with Malena till next autumn

Video credit: The news every day

By the way…

In the Republic of Belarus, since 1947 they have been produced legendary bicycles “Aist” what means “Stork” in English. These bicycles have become very famous because of their simple design, ease of repair and maintenance. Accordingly,  the factory where they are produced is called “Aist” too.

Photo credit: http://student.kpi.ua/

In the city of Minsk there is also a fast train Express called “White Stork”. Its rout is Minsk-Kiev, goes from the Belarusian capital to the Ukrainian.

Photo credit: http://www.mediaport.ua/

Also in the “BelarusBank” they sell silver coins-gifts with the image of a stork.

Photo credit: http://www.belaruscoins.de/

 

Photo credit: http://www.dom-monet.ru/

In the Republic of Belarus they also produce a variety of souvenirs with the image of a white stork such as clay, straw or wooden white storks' figures, souvenir plates with their image, clocks, magnets, souvenir boxes.

Photo credit: http://belashtorg.by/

“Cheerful Train” in the city of Minsk

“Cheerful Train” in the city of Minsk

The Children’s Railway Station “Zaslonovo”

Photo credit: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/

Almost everyone in their childhood had an electronic passenger train or a locomotive, put traffic signs, built tracks for it and played with it for hours and hours imaging as if you were a train driver. 

Being an adult people already buy electronic toy trains for their children as it also gives them an opportunity to return back to their childhood.  In fact, it does not matter how old you are, whether you are a child or already a grown-up, toy trains attract all people.  

If you want to return back to your childhood, hear the sound of an engine horn, the sound of train wheels again you must visit “Zaslonovo” – the Children’s Railway Station located in the center of the Belarusian capital. Despite its name, everything there is real: locomotives with their wagons, and traffic rules, and train drivers, and train conductors, and, of course, passengers.

The Children’s Railway Station “Zaslonovo” was opened in 1955. However, till 1971 it had been called the station “Park of Culture”. Why it was named “Zaslonovo” you can get to know about it later by reading some piece of information from the history of the Belarusian children’s railway that is given at the end of our Blogger lens. 

"Zaslonovo"

The station “Zaslonovo” is a beautiful cozy and spacious railway station with its ticket windows and waiting-room. 

Like any railway station, in “Zaslonovo” there is its own head and substitute. However, how it turned out that all the service staff from the head till a train conductor are children. 

After buying tickets you will have to wait for a train a bit. You can do it in a waiting-room.

When you enter the railway station waiting-room you will see an operating model of a railway. There is a railway station, houses, trees, a lake, roads, bridges, and, of course, a moving train there. Everything looks real.

Except the operating model of the railway, there is also a small so-called museum which exhibits are models of various trains. 

With a speaker they inform about a soon arriving train. And immediately after it the main platform of “Zaslonovo” becomes full of passengers. 

A bit later a runaway locomotive with its six wagons appears around the bend. People standing on the platform are usually enlivened. As it is time to go on the train “Capital Express – Pine Woods”. 

After getting inside music stops playing and a pleasant girl’s voice welcomes all passengers of the train and wishes to have a nice trip after telling a brief piece about the history of the Children’s Railway station “Zaslonovo” and interesting facts connected with it. 

The train moves farther and farther and trees, roads, rail crossings sail outside the train window. 

 

During your trip there are 3 stations: “Zaslonovo”, “Pionerskaya” and “Pine Woods”. 

“Zaslonovo” is the main station where you depart and arrive.

“Pionerskaya” is a technical station where there is a control panel of the arrows and signals. 

"Pionerskaya"

  "Pine Woods"

“Pine Woods” is a terminal station where passengers will have around 5 -10 minutes and can go outside to go for a short walk in a beautiful pine woods, take photos, or just breathe fresh air and rest from everyday routine and the city bustle. After having a short rest you will hear the sound of a locomotive horn which means that it is time to leave a beautiful pine forest and get inside the train to return back to the main station “Zaslonovo” from where you have started your journey. 

By the way, the width of the railway track is 750 mm, the power of the locomotive is 400 ph that is able to make the train go with the speed of  50 km per hour, and the weight of the engine is around 20-24 tons.  The length of the whole route is 4.5 km. 

Annually the Children’s Railway Station “Zaslonovo” opens on the 1^st of May and closes for a winter season last Sunday of September.  

 

Usually the railway station works according to the following existing schedule: 

-         in May (on Saturdays, Sundays including official days-off) is from 11.00 till 18.00;

-  in June, July, August (on Wednesdays and Thursdays is from 11.00 till 14.50; on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays is from 11.00 till 18.00) . 

The Children’s Railway Station “Zaslonovo” has got a very convenience location as it is situated in the center of the city of Minsk at Independence Avenue 86 which you can reach by metro train getting down at the metro station “Cheluskincev Park”. After your train journey in “Zaslonovo” there is a nice opportunity to continue your examination of the city of Minsk and visit one of the beautiful capital parks called “Cheluskincev Park” just like the metro station and there is also an opportunity to find yourself in a so-called paradise in the center of Minsk, we mean the Central Botanical Garden about which you can get to know more by reading our previous Blogger lens “Summer Paradise in the Center of Minsk”. Don’t lose such a chance as all these three wonderful places are situated in the same location.  

By the way, at the present moment the children’s railway is under some reconstruction or better to say under a wide scale modernization.  They are planning to finish it and open its doors in front of visitors in a new season this year again. But how the modernized “Zaslonovo”  will look like it is a secret. It will be a surprise for everyone. 

From the history of the Children’s Railway Station 

Photo credit: http://www.minsk.rw.by/

The 1^st Children’s Railway Station in the world was established on the 24^th of July in 1935 in the world of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. For the six prewar years, around 20 children’s railways were founded all over the former USSR countries. 

The 1^st Belarusian Children’s Railway was established in the city of Gomel in August in 1936. Unfortunately, during the Great Patriotic War almost all the opened children’s railway stations turned to be in the occupation zone and were destroyed during battles with fascists. After the year of 1945, the half of the children’s railways was restored and the building of new ones started. 

However, they did not want to restore the 1^st Belarusian Children’s Railway in Gomel as they had decided to build a new children’s railway in the capital of the Republic of Belarus in the city of Minsk. Already in autumn in 1954 they started its building. Schoolchildren of Minsk, young people, and, of course, railway men of the Belarusian Railway took part in the building of a new children’s railway in the city of Minsk. From Estonia they sent a locomotive 159-232. 

Photo credit: http://www.minsk.rw.by/

On the 9^th of July in 1955 a scarlet ribbon was cut by the minister of Education of the BSSR N. Kazakov. Hundreds of railway men, citizens of Minsk together with their children, guests of the city came to the opening ceremony of the Children’s Railway Station that was called “The Park of Culture”. On that day near a platform of the new station a small train consisting of 6 green wagons at the head with a locomotive was standing and waiting for its departure. Since that day the Children’s Railway Station “Park of Culture” has started its work and it has been working already almost for long 59 years. 

Photo credit: http://www.minsk.rw.by/

However, in the year of 1971 they changed the name of the station and named it after the legendary Belarusian partisan and railway man Konstantin Zaslonov. 

Photo credit: http://www.minsk.rw.by/

Konstantin Zaslonov  and his brave deeds

Photo credit: http://www.21.by/

Konstantin Zaslonov was the head of the railway station in the town of Orsha and a locomotive engineer. During the World War II he became also one of the most active and famous partisan leaders among railway men. 

Konstantin Zaslonov created a partisan detachment of so-called people’s avengers in Orsha region where he was highly appreciated. They became a very powerful brave partisan detachment that frightened German invaders a lot. During the three first months of the war, Zaslonov’s partisan detachment destroyed more than 118 enemies’ locomotives together with German soldiers and their weaponry. They used so-called “coal mines” that were normal mines designed like coal.  

Fascists even put ad notes everywhere in the town of Orsha and Orsha region. They promised to give the reward worth of 30 thousand German marks to a person who would show the location of Zaslonov and his partisan detachment or who would deliver him dead or alive. 

The commander of the partisan detachment Konstantin Zaslonov also trained and taught secret service agents showing them particular examples in practice. Together with them he went to fulfill responsible tasks. Sitting in ambush for many hours Konstantin Zaslonov taught his battle assistants an art of observation and how to distinguish enemies’ tricks.  

Photo credit: http://z-pix.ru/

All the time Konstantin Zaslonov wrote his special military diary. However, all the notes in that military diary were stopped making one week before the heroic death of the commander of the Orsha partisan detachment. On the 14^th of November in 1942 Konstantin Zaslonov fell in battle in the locality of Kupovat in Vitebsk region. 

"Train from Romashkovo"

As our today's Blogger lens is about "Cheerful Train"  we'd like to end it by offering you to watch one of the nicest old cartoons called "Train from Romashkovo". Enjoy!

Video credit: Whale Crane