Kentron District, Yerevan, Armenia: Our Home In The Pink Capital

Hubby and I dumped our luggage in one corner of Tashir Pizza. We perused the menu handed by a charming waitress (who could shake your weariness off with one smile) and ordered something familiar and easy and essential: Spaghetti bolognese and salad and the WiFi password. An Armenian gastro adventure can wait, I thought. Besides, we were in a fast food joint. Not a lot of choices there. And we were starving after a Georgia-Armenia border cross that morn.

A park bench near Swan Lake.  

I fished my netbook out of my backpack and logged online — thankfully, the internet was working well — while the hubby headed out to look for an ATM. Earlier, we borrowed the phone of our cabbie who drove us from the bus terminal to the pizza place and called our AirBnb host. She didn't pick up.

So I quickly sent her an email.

"Hi, did you try to call me from Armenian number?" our host named Armine (yes, seriously, Armine from Armenia) wrote.

Apparently, she's the kind who won't answer calls from unknown numbers.

  AirBnB-listed apartment, cheaper than a double room in any hostel.
About half an hour later, she arrived at Tashir Pizza, just a few minutes after the hubby (who happily reported that he was able to withdraw some dram) got back. Armine, similar to our waitress, has a disarming smile. And she's got a crown of gorgeous long brown curls. Her aura, calm and collected, a lot like yoga which she teaches for a living. Introductions were brief. Armine hurriedly confessed that she was to use the rent money we're paying for an out of town trip. She had to leave as soon as possible.

Some of the new buildings along North Avenue stuck to the pink theme.  

Because we couldn't carry all our bags in one go, she and the hubby went ahead with some of the stuff. The hubby returned alone, key already in hand. The spacious one-bedroom apartment was all ours. Its building sits along one of the quiet residential alleys just across Teryan Street. We walked for less than five minutes to get there. The location of it in Kentron District is tops (and cheap for its league), reason why we picked this accommodation from the AirBnB list. 

Installation art meets vertical garden. Beyond the guitar is the Swan Lake (a man-made lake with, you know, swans)

Kentron is Yerevan's city center. It's compact, pedestrian friendly and easily navigable, thanks to neoclassical architect Alexander Tamanyan's layout design. Watering holes, restaurants, shops of famous international brands, and government offices are huddled here. Housed in buildings of various architectural types, from cold Soviet panel buildings to anything Europe-inspired. In my opinion, not as gorgeous as Tbilisi, but it does possess its own allure.

Speaking of allure, I've never seen that much beautiful women in one city!

The History Museum Of Armenia  

Yerevan is called "The Pink Capital" because of the pink tuff that was used to build certain structures during Architect Tamanyan's time. Such are the government buildings surrounding the Republic Square. The city as a whole is not really that pink-y anymore though, since newer constructions didn't stick to the theme.

Last thing I'd expect to see in an ex-Soviet state. A long queue of Barbie cabs.  

Our time in Armenia was much too short, and unfortunately, was not wisely spent. We got Armine's cozy apartment, particularly its huge couch and fast speed internet, to blame for this. And perhaps our jadedness from the Turkey-Georgia trip.

Within the capital we only managed to visit the Republic Square, the Swan Lake and the History Museum of Armenia (I recommend booking a tour guide in advance, it's free). The everything in between included binging on gyro and the well-loved Armenian barbecue, chasing Luna in parks, downloading movies (to watch in Nepal, our next destination), and working online.

Armenia's Zvartnots International Airport, prettiest airport I've seen so far. A play of the Armenian Tricolour or Yeraguyn (colors of their national flag).

Yerevan's one of those cities we don't mind visiting again cause we barely scratched its surface. Hopefully the opportunity falls on our laps, so we can someday comprehend why Armenia's drinking fountains are very popular to its people.

You'll get what I mean when you travel here too.


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