Vanadzor - an Armenian adventure

Advantages: Nice scenery, good base for sights, cognac
Disadvantages: Poor eating places, nothing to do in evenings

...Vanadzor ? so small and insignificant in international terms that you probably haven?t even heard of it. Until I went to Armenia, neither had I. We chanced on Vanadzor, needing somewhere to break up the long journey between the Armenian capital, Yerevan, and Tbilisi, capital of Georgia to the north. In fact, Vanadzor is the third largest city in Armenia with a population of either 76, 000 or 175, 000 depending on which source you believe. Personally, having now been there, I?d be inclined to go for the latter figure. Amongst Armenians, Vanadzor is regarded as a rather nice place ? not quite up there with the capital but still given nicknames like ?Sanatorium City? or ?The Beauty of Lory? (after the Lory region it is in). Unfortunate then that our first view of the city was the massive chemical plant on the outskirts. Only a small...

fizzytom 09.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Vanadzor, Armenia

What happens if I pull this?

Advantages: Central location, comfy rooms, pleasant staff
Disadvantages: Not very organised, poor breakfast

...Armenia. A lot of people have heard of it, but it's a bit like Timbuktu or Zanzibar: you've heard of it but does it really exist, where is it and why would you want to go there? Yes it does exist and I have a few visas in the passport to prove it. It is a bit to the east of the Black Sea, north east of Turkey, north west of Iran and south of Georgia and Azerbaijan. Why would you go there? Well I went for business, some people go for pleasure, there is lots of history, good rambling and trekking and lots of good, cheap wine and brandy! Where would you say? To be frank, if you are looking for Hyatt or Crowne Plaza standards, impeccable service and attention to detail then you are bound to be disappointed just about anywhere in Armenia. Much as I like the country and the people, five star service just does not seem to be exist. It...

Vodkaboy 25.12.2004 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Yerevan (Yerevan, Armenia)

Brilliant game - here are my tips

Advantages: Great budget game
Disadvantages: Boring after a while

...I bought Fifa 98 after the owrld cup and it is my favourite football game. After a while I got pretty good at it and i could win any game easily. I started off playing Brazil. Ronaldo is the ebst player in the game and it can be fun for a hwile running circles round players with him. However that starts to wear after a while. If you want to make the game last I suggest you try playing games betwen strange combinations of teams. For instance, my favourite and hardest game to play is Armenia versus Germany. Sammer always seem to score at least one free kick....

SpikeIsland 11.07.2000 · Read review
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Review of FIFA 98 (PC)

Vote for Russia or we turn off your gas!

Advantages: Camp
Disadvantages: Camp

...unity and relations either. But last years winner gets the final and so you can't argue on that score. At least Roman Abromovich gets another European home final after the pretty Russian girl romped home on Saturday, much easier to buy the referees in this contest. It is, of course, the partisan immigrant vote that decides the winner these days, mostly in those fragmented new countries of the Balkans and Russian Republics -Armenia, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Ukraine all gave Russia the full 12 points. If you think racism is bad in the U.K then you wait until you go to these places! It was also noticeable that the Scandinavian countries shamelessly voted for each other on mass, Norway, the nil poi's of old Europe, earning an impressive 5th place off the back of the chilly country posse. An example of this patriotic bias...

thedevilinme 26.05.2008 (24.07.2009) · Read review
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Review of BBC1: Eurovision Song Contest

Break-up of the Level 42 Family

Advantages: Level 42 at their most commercially accessible.
Disadvantages: Level 42 at their most commercially accessible.

...ancestral homeland of Armenia ? then a Soviet republic - taking in the sights of Leningrad (St Petersburg) and Moscow along the way. ?Running in the Family? was an ever-present in my shiny new Sony Walkman (the cassette kind) and often got a run out on my room-mate?s brassy boom box. The trip had everything ? the emotional awakening and sense of belonging to a place you?d never even been to before, a forging of new and now life-long friendships, and even a desperate, longing, unrequited love. All the while, each song on the album provided lyrical and melodical hooks on which to hang these experiences - so much so that the music and the events are almost inextricably linked. THE ALBUM ?Running in the Family? (RIF), Level 42?s seventh, and arguably most commercially successful studio album, followed their watershed ?World Machine? in...

Hishyeness 25.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Running In The Family - Level 42

WOGAN!!!!!! WOGAN!!!!

Advantages: None, except good old wogan
Disadvantages: What a load of political, "lets vote for our friends" rubbish!

...Does the UK have a chance at winning this year? I think the best thing to do here is to simply cut the crap, We have no chance what so ever. Europe, and the whole world hates us, and i dont suppose the war on iraq helps our cause. The only country that has tended to vote for us is Ireland. The scandinavian countries vote for each other, even if the song is awful. Below is a full summary of paris of countries that tend to give each other high points: Greece and Cyprus Greece and Armenia Bulgaria and Greece Finland and Sweden Sweden and Denmark Norway and Sweden Iceland and Denmark Romania and Moldova Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina The Netherlands and Belgium Ireland and the United Kingdom Russia and Belarus Spain and Andorra Hungary and Romania Poland and Ukraine Russia and Ukraine Finland...

jaguarchallenge 22.05.2008 · Read review
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Review of Eurovision Song Contest 2008: Does UK have a chance this year?

Suggestions

Advantages: Something a little bit different
Disadvantages: I don't think there are any... unless you don't want to upset the neighbours

...System of a Down are a four piece 'agro' metal band, with a huge politial agenda in their music, with a wealth of Eastern European influence, as three of the members come from Armenia. They have been compared to artists such as Korn and the Deftones as a result of their broad influence. The band themselves are very heavy metallers, yet still manage to push forward a great deal of their Armenian roots. A prime example of this is in the track Sugar, which is a favourite on many an alternative dancefloor. If you've ever been to an alternative club, you will have heard it. This is undoubtedly the best track on the album, due to it's constantly moving bass lines, bizarre guitar riffs, and it's talk of mushroom people. Just as you get used to it's uniqueness, the track changes into something totally different and much more mellow...

nicolap 22.10.2001 (11.11.2001) · Read review
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Review of Toxicity - System Of A Down

It should be flowering soon

Advantages: good rockery plant
Disadvantages: ?

...Thrift I have no thrift in my garden I am thinking I should like some. My parent's garden has some it is a pretty plant. Thrift, Armeria, sometimes called sea pink or cliff rose. As you can guess from this name the common wild thrift (Armeria maritima) grows near the sea. I know that it grows in cornwall, it likes rocky cliff habitat. There is an Armenia Lauchemia this has crimson red flowers and an Almenia cephalotes Alba this has white flowers. This plant is a perennial lasting many years. The leaves are grassy green spikes formed in a clump. They are about10cm 4 inches long. A slender stem 30cm 12 inches supports a flower. The flowers a group of florets bunched together closely making almost a pom pom flower head about ½ inch .7 cm wide. Each plant has several flowers and is very attractive. Thrift flowers from spring i...

mumsymary 22.04.2006 · Read review
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Review of Thrift

Eating seeds is a past time activity - Toxicity.

Advantages: A truly awesome metal album
Disadvantages: None

...and Kerrang and no good night at a rock and metal is complete without a good old mosh to something from System of a Down. Currently the band is on a, ?permanent hiatus?, which, according to their website, ?may last months, may last years?. They are all working on other projects at the moment, for more information check out their official website, www.systemofadown.com. The band is made up of four members, two from Lebanon, one from Armenia and one from Hollywood. This mix of nationalities certainly adds flavour to their music with a lot of Eastern influence in what is a typically very Western genre of music. The result is something I really enjoy and obviously I am not the only one. I would go so far as to say that they are one of the best metal bands of all time. For the best information on the band check out the ?official, unofficial...

donnabroom 27.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Toxicity - System Of A Down

Yerevan - a history buff's paradise

Advantages: Lots to see, lots to learn, khorovats
Disadvantages: Unfriendly people, horrendous bus stations

...Armenia is a country I had wanted to visit for some years and I finally got the opportunity during my trip around the Black Sea; strictly speaking we shouldn't have gone at all since Armenia is not on the Black Sea but I did not see the opportunity presenting itself in the near future. I had spent ages imagining Armenia as a country where sad old ladies wore black and kept up a vigil for sons lost in the war in Nagorno Karabakh or perhaps sent to fight for the Russians in Afghanistan. I supposed it to be a country where folk musicians played at on holidays and the whole village would join in the plaintive songs. What I found, at least in the capital Yerevan, was a different story altogether. We arrived by ovenight sleeper from Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. We were tired and filthy and without accommodation. The trusty Lonely...

fizzytom 28.02.2007 · Read review
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Review of Yerevan