Monthly Archives: February 2012

EcoPUB

EcoPUB is a pretty new, smoke free little pub in Yerevan.  A first.

I think they did a good job on the place.  The location is quite central, on a quiet side street.  It’s pretty small, which is probably a good idea since the non-smoking concept is a newer one in Armenia.  The staff is friendly, the space is comfortable, the usual selection of beer.

If I were to nitpick, the only things I could suggest as improvements are a better sign outside (it’s at 6 Spendiaryan Street, quite close to Agump/The Club), and a couple more bar food type items in case people are hungry.

It was such a great pleasure to walk into a pub, smell fresh air, and sit as long as I wanted without my throat and eyes beginning to complain, then walk out without the stench of cigarettes.

Hunt for it, find it, go there…  keep them in business!! :-)

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&q=6+spendiaryan+st,+yerevan,+armenia

Children, lock your doors!

If you’re spending any amount of time in Yerevan, living in an apartment, remember what your parents told you…  lock your doors!

I’m not talking about thieves, robbers or violent crime, I’m talking about the acceptance here of just opening someone’s front door and stepping in.  Of course, not everyone does this, but if you spend some time here and ever forget to lock your door when you’re at home, don’t be surprised if someone for one reason or another just opens your door and walks in.  These aren’t your friends (not that that’s acceptable in the west), these are people who you don’t know, are selling something/begging, or you have some vague business with (eg. stair sweepers).  Or, in one case I heard, it can be a bunch of guys who didn’t want to stand in the rain, so they step inside and have a smoke.  In your home.

In every case I’ve heard of, these trespassers are amazed if you are offended or if you want them to just get out without any discussion.  They argue with you.

I’ve heard there is no Armenian word for privacy.  I don’t know if that’s true or not, but for many in Armenia there is clearly no concept of it!  In this case, the easiest way to avoid the whole issue is to always, always, lock your door.

Armenia-EU free trade pact

This has been in the works a while, and will be a really big deal.  An economic union and free trade pact between Armenia and the European Union.  That’s 500 million customers for Armenian products. It will also make imports cheaper.

The European Union on Monday decided to launch negotiations on a deep and comprehensive free trade area with Armenia in order to boost economic growth and investment with the Eastern European Partner.

That does not include political union – at least not yet. But I think after free trade comes, and the easier travel regime that has been proposed as well, full on union/membership may follow naturally enough, if both sides want it.

Saint Valentine invades Armenia


Like it or not, certain American holidays are becoming popular worldwide.  Halloween is becoming more and more popular in Armenia, and so is Valentines day.  This year there were decorations, gifts, balloons being sold on the streets, flowers, special cakes, and a number of restaurants were fully booked by couples.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a fully booked restaurant here before.  You could see the couples strolling around town on the night of Valentines day – many more than usual.

Valentines day came the day after Trendez this year, and from what I saw completely overshadowed it in central Yerevan.  The tradition of jumping over fires was not nearly as apparent as the red hearts of Valentines.

Snow storm

Yerevan (and the region) experienced quite a snow storm last week.  Yerevan usually doesn’t get a whole lot of snow, even though it’s cold in the winter, since there isn’t much precipitation.  A few inches here, an inch there.  On Wednesday/Thursday it snowed almost non-stop.  The snow piled up to one or two feet and things got pretty messy.  There were snow plows working on the streets, but it wasn’t enough and the sidewalks were a disaster too.  Then it finally warmed up a little and things got slushy and then cold again without snow, so the slush turned to ice, and many sidewalks are no fun.  Shoveling snow right away off of sidewalks is not something all the businesses do.  Even a large hotel like Ani Plaza just shovels a strip in front of the door and leaves the rest of the sidewalks as icy obstacle courses, even though no doubt many of their guests are walking around a bit as well as coming and going in cabs.  I think a law requiring businesses to shovel the whole length of their property on the day it snows would be a good thing.

Disgruntled Librarians

Yesterday, on the way to the Meghu shop that sells honey, I came upon a library which was a few doors down on Kievyan .  I’ve seen libraries in Yerevan as I’ve walked about many times, and always thought I should enter one…  but then decide I’ll do it another day.  Well yesterday was the day.  From the sidewalk I could see the old books lining the shelves and when I got to the door I entered a space that seemed devoid of people.  But then I noticed there was an office door and a woman inside indicated I should enter.

So I went into her office and she asked what I wanted.  I said I’d like to look at the books.  She said no!   Read more »

Amazing gourmet artisanal heavenly Armenian honey

One of my favorite shops in Yerevan was the Meghu store.  I discovered it many years ago – a concept I had never seen or heard of before or since.  It was on Sayat Nova Street and a few steps down from street level.  You’d walk in and there was a wall of honey jars of various sizes, all full of thick honey in varying shades of gold, some clear, some crystal white.

There were many to choose from, and it would of course be impossible to choose from them if you couldn’t taste them.  But you could.  They’d pop a toothpick into any honey you’d like to try.  Well then you’d realize that tasting doesn’t help all that much, since they’re all so incredibly good, and each is quite different from the next.  You could really taste the specific flower nectar types that featured prominently from one honey to the next.  It was nothing like the honey you’d get at the supermarket in America.  I had no idea it could be so good.

I was really disappointed when I one day I passed by and saw they had closed shop.  For a few years I told people about that store I had loved, and even dreamed of recreating a shop like it.  It’s a good thing I didn’t though, since last fall I rediscovered it, where it had moved so long ago.  Next door to the SAS Supermarket by the Kievyan Bridge.  I went in and tried the most incredible honey from Kelbajar and picked up a jar.  It was the highlight of my morning to have a spoonful of this with my morning tea.  I went back for some more today, but they are out of it and can’t get resupplied until late spring.  It was a disappointment, but somehow I will console myself with some really heavenly honey from Martakert, and then some from Talin!

Your wish is their command – Turk under investigation for denial

It would be funny if it weren’t genocide denial…  okay, maybe it’s still funny.

Turkish EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis, clearly a genius, challenged France while he was in Switzerland by stating publicly:

“We are today in Switzerland and I am saying the 1915 incidents were not a genocide. Let them come and arrest me,”

What is funny about this is that the French law is not on the books at this point, but guess what, Switzerland’s is!  This chicken appears to have been ignorant of that fact, and was trying to posture by denying the Armenian genocide outside of France’s borders.

Swiss prosecutors have launched an initial investigation to see whether Turkey’s EU minister breached the law by denying that the mass killings of Armenians a century ago were genocide.  Under Swiss law it is a crime to deny that the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War One constituted an act of genocide.

Egemen, there’s a saying in English…  be careful what you wish for.

snow, snow, and more snow

having grown up in New England, there is nothing more fabulous than a beautiful snow that blankets the city and serves for some great entertainment (snow fight, anyone)? My older daughter Alexandra has been anxiously awaiting Armenia’s first real snow fall and it finally started coming this past week. And lots of it. While we haven’t been hit as badly as some other parts of Eastern Europe, we did get some accumulation that did provide for some wonderful entertainment. And this is the first year in my almost ten years in Armenia that I recall the city actually clearing roads (and some side walks) so well.