Armenia: The comeback country
November 11, 2005
The Dallas Morning News
By JANE WAMPLER / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
YEREVAN – On a clear autumn day, the smell of fresh cement and the sound of hammers swirl through the capital city of Armenia.
Sidewalk cafes overflow with suited businessmen and couples talk over demitasse cups of strong boiled coffee. Women in rimless sunglasses and stiletto heels walk arm in arm, sidestepping wheelbarrows, and several new luxury hotels are nearly booked to capacity.
Armenia is making a comeback. Again. After surviving 70 years of Soviet domination, a devastating earthquake and millenniums of foreign marauders, this Eurasian country is assuming its role of perennial phoenix.
[...]
[...] in a region more associated with terror than tourism, this predominantly Christian nation is politically stable and welcoming to tourists.
[...]
The capital city, population 1.3 million, is staggeringly old, older than Rome by 29 years.
[...]
[...]. I visited Old Erivan Restaurant, our bill was less than $15 for a basket of lavash (thin pan-fried bread), a platter of cheese, a ripe tomato and cucumber salad, lamb stew, a shish kebab of meat and vegetables, and a few strong Armenian beers to wash it all down.
[...]
[...] Armenia's 4,000-year-old past is its main draw.
Many consider this country the cradle of civilization. The biblical rivers Tigris and Euphrates originate in the original Armenia. [...].
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
The Dallas Morning News
By JANE WAMPLER / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
YEREVAN – On a clear autumn day, the smell of fresh cement and the sound of hammers swirl through the capital city of Armenia.
Sidewalk cafes overflow with suited businessmen and couples talk over demitasse cups of strong boiled coffee. Women in rimless sunglasses and stiletto heels walk arm in arm, sidestepping wheelbarrows, and several new luxury hotels are nearly booked to capacity.
Armenia is making a comeback. Again. After surviving 70 years of Soviet domination, a devastating earthquake and millenniums of foreign marauders, this Eurasian country is assuming its role of perennial phoenix.
[...]
[...] in a region more associated with terror than tourism, this predominantly Christian nation is politically stable and welcoming to tourists.
[...]
The capital city, population 1.3 million, is staggeringly old, older than Rome by 29 years.
[...]
[...]. I visited Old Erivan Restaurant, our bill was less than $15 for a basket of lavash (thin pan-fried bread), a platter of cheese, a ripe tomato and cucumber salad, lamb stew, a shish kebab of meat and vegetables, and a few strong Armenian beers to wash it all down.
[...]
[...] Armenia's 4,000-year-old past is its main draw.
Many consider this country the cradle of civilization. The biblical rivers Tigris and Euphrates originate in the original Armenia. [...].
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 6:20 AM
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