France – Paris

So over-rated I won’t bother…

Italy – Venice, Rome, Sorento & Capri, Florance

I will summarise 10 days of Italy in couple of lines…

Venice – Wow, what a stunning city. My kind of place to live for at least 10 days (no more then 20 as I would get bored no doubt). So glad it is still above water. PS there is an island in Venice that belongs to bunch of Catholic Armenians.. We will concur the world one day just watch this space J

Rome – Even better. Loved the Vatican and the Sistine chapel. It was just amazing… it’s really worth while visiting. I would  love to go to Rome again. So much to do and see

 

Sorrento and Capri – I didn’t get the opportunity to swim in the Mediterranean but got lots of photos of it… will that work? Not really… I so wanted to swim in the medi

 Florance – didn’t like Florence as much as the others… it is just me… cause everyone else loves it

London-Belgium-Germany-Austria

in 2 days we crossed 4 countries… so lucky I had so much on the bus…. yay

Belgium – I was walking through the interesting bits in Brussels when I came across the “Mozart Hotel” http://www.hotel-mozart.be/. Beautifully decorated, boutique hotel with amazing antique artefacts lookalike. The owner was a Moroccan called “Ben” short for “Ben Rahman”.  He obviously had gr8 taste and lots of money. We had gr8 chats (of course about Bush and the war in Iraq, what else?). I gave him 25 Syrian Pound as a souvenir

Germany – Did the Rhine River Cruise… not much else

 

Austria – gr8 mountains

 Then to Italy

OK Europe – Only the interesting bits – 1st Athens

I started so many blogs in order to summarise my stay in Armenia but decided to put that aside and do one for the other countries that I visited…

Athens

I booked the hotel for Athens over the Internet and it was £20 cheaper then anything else I can find there. so of course I booked it since the last time I booked the cheapest hotel it turned out to be excellent (for my standards). So off I go to Athens… when I got to the airport I realised that I didn’t have the hotel phone number and only the address which isn’t a smart thing to do.. never-mind after catching a bus and then a taxi got to the hotel. inside the hotel was OK for the price, the room itself was even better (for the price). it had clean sheets, balcony and a refrigerator (carpet was awful but u will expect that for the price). until now I still don’t know why the hotel was cheaper then everything else around me as I don’t expect Athens to be like Vienna in regards to cleanliness being next to godliness… so I decide to go for a wonder.. around 1pm I leave my hotel and of course I meet the locals who live near the hotel… let just say I wasn’t in the financial district of Athens… I was more at the “Drug heads” district of Athens… after meeting two of the local women who were on drugs and then seeing another one negotiating “specials” with a local man I kind of decided not to leave the hotel after dark… but being extreme optimist I’m still thinking this might be a coincidence…. The next day I go for a walkabout again, trying to swim in the Mediterranean I ended up in the ports which is not where swimmers go… never-mind… this things happens when u travel… Coming back to the hotel I notice a guy on the motorbike selling drugs to another guy who was buying it and his friend wanted to check the quality of the drug so he was sniffing it on the street…. now I would not have had any problems if it wasn’t happening in front of the hotel… Yes ladies and gentlemen, at the front of the hotel, possibly 1.5 meters away from the door of the hotel… of course I had to stop and look cause I never seen people take drugs before and it was interesting… In conclusion, I did not end up staying in the Financial district of Athens….

I love Italy

Just a quick blog to say i am in Italy and loving it… so fantastic and gorgoues so happy to b here… havenàt been robbed yet…

 more to come in a week… look for this space

The Mountains

It’s been a while since I last blogged and think it’s time to elaborate on the experiences that I’ve been having. Iv’e been traveling up and down the Armo Land the last couple of weeks and I’m falling in love with the place. It has the most amazing mountains… the entire landscape is surrounded by mountains and their mystical qualities. I’ve also visited a lot of old churches and been wondering where the spirits are? Unfortunately they feel very empty to me, these amazing churches which stood the time, the climate and numerous wars and yet they feel bland, tired and as if they don’t want to be there. They do not tell their stories… I am not sure why that is the case? I’m hoping that when I do get back and look at my photos I will learn more about their history and will find their magic… The mountains, on the other hand, have great mystery and their mystic powers do transient through time and space. They are gr8. They represent resilience, change, power, strength and dignity. It is difficult to be in their presence and not feel their power all over the land. I see them all the time and I want to see more of them. I feel so blessed to have traveled and seen some of the most gorgeous sceneries ever. And yet all Armenians, specially in Diaspora, are in-love with Ararat and Masis. Diaspora Armenians will spent thousands of dollars to buy land that has Ararat view. The mountains, Ararat and Masis, have this belonging. They want to come home but they are not allowed. They are part of the occupied land and for me they represent the refugees who live in the western world and have all the modern luxuries of their adopted land but they do not belong. All Armenians want both Ararat and Masis to belong to us again and this want is not just for us, but for the mountains themselves. They need to come home and feel at peace. They need to belong and be part of the centuries that they left behind…

Armenia – Overall Perspective

So I’ve been slack lately… I wanted to write a blog but been busy enjoying the life in Yerevan. It’s been gr8. I’ve been here for more then a month now and I’m just trying to digest all the soviet beauty around me. I’ll give you a rundown.

The architecture: Well the architecture here is quite boring to tell u the truth… there are no colours, no gr8 designs. Majority of the dwellings look alike and have very similar purpose. Apparently if you look at them from a plane it writes (CCCP). The people: The locals in Armenia are growing on me. They have very different perspective on life and they talk funny. They’ve got this very strong Russian influenced accent and they use very different words to us, the diaspora Armenians. There is a large number of Armenians from Syria, Iran and Lebanon who are coming to live in Armenia and they will soon be citizens. It is interesting as massive numbers of Armenians migrated to America during 1990’s because of the economical depression that came from the earthquake and the break down of the USSR. But the Armenians who have stayed are a lot happier now and they do not want to leave the country even though the wages are minimal and the living conditions less then appealing.

 

The local Armenians, who r also known as, mahallies (Arabic word), are very rough people. At the beginning I was talking using words such as “please, thank you, if its not a hassle, etc” but soon realised that I was being left behind in public transport and not getting served etc etc. so I improved my vocab and increased my tone of voice. I almost scream now when I need the mini-bus driver to stop and I say “khatkhmerougi gaknir”. I said that yesterday and the driver looked at me from the mirror (They don’t usually do that unless ur a terrorist) to who was talking to him. Well it takes a bit of time to find the balance and knowing how to talk like the locals…

 But also I got to appreciate the locals… mainly because they kept the land for us. You see, I was told by another Syrian, Armenian today, that because the local Armenians are discourteous and rude, they’ve been able to keep the land from the Turks and later won the war with Azerbaijan. You see, we, the polite, westernised Armenians have always lived under the influence of either the Turk or the Arab or the English or the French and had to adapt to their culture and always feel like we need to give in more then take. Whereas the Armenians in Armenia who were associated with Russia and Iran are a lot more discontent to give away their identity and their land and hence we (all Armenians around the world) do need to thank the Armenians in Armenia for giving us the 29,800 skm of land and the other 4,000skm of karabagh to us. As if it wasn’t for their Russian discourteousness we may not enjoy the land that we now call Armenia…

Myth #3 People in the 3rd world eat potato and bread all the time

 

This myth is actually true.. see myth #2 for the reason…

Myth #2 Life is cheap in the 3rd world

Well it is if u decide not to buy anything. But I’m sure it’s the same with you guys who are sipping ur cappuccinos reading this blog. Mmmmmmmmmmm cappuccino with skim milk and no sugar. I knew this gr8 little place called Qube on Bathurst st. … anyway, out off the day dream to reality. I’ve been in Armenia for 2 weeks and I have already spent $300. Now u may think that’s not much $s but let me give u some facts. I do NOT spent money on, accommodation, internet, travelling to and from work, and the first week I did not spent any money on food either. I still haven’t visited any tourist attractions or been outside Yerevan. So it is puzzling right… Well I do enjoy some western luxuries such as mobile phone cards, use taxis at nights and buy food besides potatoes.

U c I, who have no living expenses (rent, water, electricity, council rates etc), will need minimum $600 per month to live in the 3^rd world, yet the average income (ie the norm) is $160 per month. so the way they maa they live is through sharing. All members of the family work and for majority of the population they do not pay rent so they combine all their income and live on basics.

Myth # 1 It is a life changing experience

It is a life changing experience but it sucks. You see things such as having a running hot water, refrigerator, showers etc they all do not exist. But more on that in the “Survival Pack”