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Here we are, standing in Independence Square in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.
Belarus has been described as a throwback to the last days of the Soviet Union.
There aren't many eastern European countries where you can still find statues of Lenin - like the one behind us here.
These are the main government buildings. Our guide explained to us that these buildings were not big and heavy, and that they fitted in harmoniously with the other buildings in the square..
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| ..like this small brick church.
This is the Red Church, built 1910.
Converted to other uses during communism, it's now a church again.
The small wooden chapel in the foreground was donated by the Japanese as a mark of solidarity between peoples affected by radiation. The bell at the top is copy of a bell that survived in Hiroshima.
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| We came across a religious procession heading to the church..
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| ..hoards of believers following along behind.
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The national emblem.
There used to be a Soviet hammer and sickle in the centre, but was replaced by the outline of the country after the fall of communism in 1991.
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| Belarusian State Teaching University
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The Island of Tears
A memorial commemorating Belarusian soldiers who died in the USSR's 9-year war in Afghanistan.
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