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FAR EUROPE AND BEYOND: INTRODUCING YEREVAN
Alex Robertson Textor
Gadling
http://www.gadling.com/2011/11/01/far-europe-and-beyond-introducing-yerevan/
Nov 1 2011
It took around five hours to get from Tbilisi to Yerevan, in a taxi
organized along a rather mysterious logic. I made it first to Ortachala
bus station, the appointed place in Tbilisi for hiring long-distance
taxis for Yerevan, and was introduced to a portly gentleman who
moved like a head honcho. He ushered me into his minivan to wait. He
paced, smoking furiously, occasionally asking question of the other
idle drivers. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for a few
minutes. I looked around his vehicle. A single syringe rested on his
dashboard. Diabetic or addict? I wasn't crazy to find out.
After about ten minutes the macher of Ortachala found me a driver,
a sullen one-legged fellow wearing an ill-fitting suit. He didn't
talk to me at all at first, and never smiled. He did shout "money
money money" as we were approaching the Georgia-Armenia border. I was
charmed, but if he thought I was turning over a single lari before
he dropped me off in Yerevan he was sorely mistaken.
Still, it was a beautiful drive. After crossing from Georgia into
Armenia, we skirted the border with Azerbaijan and motored through
the densely forested mountains of Tavush Province, already in an
autumnal state in early October. It was a cinematic few hours. The
skies were full of dramatic clouds and it rained intermittently.
At the end of what seemed like a never-ending journey was Yerevan, the
capital of Armenia. London's Georgian establishment paved the way for
me in Tbilisi; in Yerevan, by way of contrast, I knew nobody at all.
I'd received no tips and neither was I furnished with the email
addresses of friends of friends. I would be forced to revert to old
school urban exploration, as if Twitter had never happened.
Yerevan is ordered and calm. There are no twisting alleyways or
hilly warrens in the city's center. The city was established on
a true Soviet blueprint, with one central ring road more or less
encircling the city and a few outer roads following this arch around
the city's inner core. Yerevan feels Soviet in lots of ways. There
are ambitious monuments commemorating the Ottoman genocide of ethnic
Armenians and the 50th anniversary of Soviet Armenia, both massive
and dramatically modern. Leading up to the latter is a broad stairway
called the Cascade, with neatly tended shrubs and flowers.
These features of central Yerevan are impressive for their sheer
ambition. They make dramatic modernist marks on the urban setting
and fit the post-Soviet context perfectly. Planned Soviet cities
are often good for parks and pedestrian zones as well as monuments,
and Yerevan doesn't disappoint here, either. Areas for strolling and
relaxing are plentiful. Yerevan is so pleasant that one wonders why
post-Soviet cities have such uniformly bad reputations and why the
planned Soviet cities are so seldom positively catalogued.
Though the charms of Yerevan might not be immediately obvious to
attraction-focused visitors, there are lots of interesting things
to do and see. A very appealing chaos (along with many delicious
things) can be found in the city's covered food market, and there are
other surprises nestled here and there, too: the explosively baroque
aesthetic of filmmaker Sergei Paradjanov, which reigns at his former
house, now a museum; the National Gallery of Armenia, packed with an
outstanding and wide-ranging collection; and amazing Syrian-Armenian
cuisine, which can be sampled at Lagonid Bistro-Cafe. Many of the
city's churches are worth a visit, as well. Other sites of interest
include the ornately tiled Blue Mosque and the central Republic Square.
Alex Robertson Textor
Gadling
http://www.gadling.com/2011/11/01/far-europe-and-beyond-introducing-yerevan/
Nov 1 2011
It took around five hours to get from Tbilisi to Yerevan, in a taxi
organized along a rather mysterious logic. I made it first to Ortachala
bus station, the appointed place in Tbilisi for hiring long-distance
taxis for Yerevan, and was introduced to a portly gentleman who
moved like a head honcho. He ushered me into his minivan to wait. He
paced, smoking furiously, occasionally asking question of the other
idle drivers. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for a few
minutes. I looked around his vehicle. A single syringe rested on his
dashboard. Diabetic or addict? I wasn't crazy to find out.
After about ten minutes the macher of Ortachala found me a driver,
a sullen one-legged fellow wearing an ill-fitting suit. He didn't
talk to me at all at first, and never smiled. He did shout "money
money money" as we were approaching the Georgia-Armenia border. I was
charmed, but if he thought I was turning over a single lari before
he dropped me off in Yerevan he was sorely mistaken.
Still, it was a beautiful drive. After crossing from Georgia into
Armenia, we skirted the border with Azerbaijan and motored through
the densely forested mountains of Tavush Province, already in an
autumnal state in early October. It was a cinematic few hours. The
skies were full of dramatic clouds and it rained intermittently.
At the end of what seemed like a never-ending journey was Yerevan, the
capital of Armenia. London's Georgian establishment paved the way for
me in Tbilisi; in Yerevan, by way of contrast, I knew nobody at all.
I'd received no tips and neither was I furnished with the email
addresses of friends of friends. I would be forced to revert to old
school urban exploration, as if Twitter had never happened.
Yerevan is ordered and calm. There are no twisting alleyways or
hilly warrens in the city's center. The city was established on
a true Soviet blueprint, with one central ring road more or less
encircling the city and a few outer roads following this arch around
the city's inner core. Yerevan feels Soviet in lots of ways. There
are ambitious monuments commemorating the Ottoman genocide of ethnic
Armenians and the 50th anniversary of Soviet Armenia, both massive
and dramatically modern. Leading up to the latter is a broad stairway
called the Cascade, with neatly tended shrubs and flowers.
These features of central Yerevan are impressive for their sheer
ambition. They make dramatic modernist marks on the urban setting
and fit the post-Soviet context perfectly. Planned Soviet cities
are often good for parks and pedestrian zones as well as monuments,
and Yerevan doesn't disappoint here, either. Areas for strolling and
relaxing are plentiful. Yerevan is so pleasant that one wonders why
post-Soviet cities have such uniformly bad reputations and why the
planned Soviet cities are so seldom positively catalogued.
Though the charms of Yerevan might not be immediately obvious to
attraction-focused visitors, there are lots of interesting things
to do and see. A very appealing chaos (along with many delicious
things) can be found in the city's covered food market, and there are
other surprises nestled here and there, too: the explosively baroque
aesthetic of filmmaker Sergei Paradjanov, which reigns at his former
house, now a museum; the National Gallery of Armenia, packed with an
outstanding and wide-ranging collection; and amazing Syrian-Armenian
cuisine, which can be sampled at Lagonid Bistro-Cafe. Many of the
city's churches are worth a visit, as well. Other sites of interest
include the ornately tiled Blue Mosque and the central Republic Square.