Tel Aviv Rooftop

A few more impressions of Armenia, particularly the capital Yerevan , which is home to a third of Armenians. The photo above of a photographer's display window includes a few national heroes, including Charles Aznavour. A warm, inviting office building from the Soviet period. Smart new shopping parades are however beginning to erase the oppressive Soviet architectural legacy. Stunning sheshbesh (backgammon) boards on sale in a Sunday morning Yerevan street market. The game is popular all over the Middle East as well. Although almost 100% Christian, Armenia felt like part of the Middle East too and there was an obvious mixing of cultures. Banjo-playing old dude, Yerevan street market. We heard some traditional Armenian music at a restaurant, belted out by a mixed duo in traditional dress. A bit too strident and Balkan for my taste. The cathedral-like food market in Yerevan suggests a Soviet stab at capturing the atmosphere of the east. As soon as you walk in, determined moustachioe...

'Please do not bargain' reads the sign on the babushka stand in Yerevan's market. The opportunity to spend a few days in Armenia, mainly in Yerevan the capital, gave me with a taste of life in the southern Caucasus , a part of the world not often heard about until trouble breaks out there and one not often on our minds here in our own turbulent Middle East. But after learning something about the complex Ngorno Karabakh conflict (too complex to go into here) I couldn't avoid noting some comparisons. Kids in the Tigranashen village, Armenia, once populated by Azeri citizens of Armenia and now by Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan. The population swap was carried out in the last days of USSR. In case you were wondering, "Armenia is a landlocked mountainous country in South Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea . Located at the juncture of Eastern Europe and Western Asia , it borders Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, ...