An Autumn Morning Sketch: Yerevan

Yerevan, Armenia photo credit: Ani Kojoyan

In autumn you can see all the possible colors in Armenia: from springish raw green to sun-kissed yellow and crispy orange, from mature forest green to chocolate brown and wild purple, from navy blue to peachy rose and crazy crimson.

It seems these colors have their own smell and taste; it’s all about the nature, weather, and people, shaped and embraced within smiles that warm your heart, stories that are to be told, newly-baked bread that should be shared, sugar-taste fruits and the Armenian wine that need to be enjoyed in the company of friends in the evening, and a cup of strong oriental coffee, well the latter can be enjoyed alone.

It’s 7.45 am, Saturday, to be precise – November 11, 2017. Slowly but not heavily and self-guided you are walking downtown Yerevan.

After the dawn rain, all-all wet Alexander Tamanian’s statue is greeting you (it seems he is even smiling). Slowly and selectively you are choosing a café to drop in for a cup of either Armenian-mountain thyme or blackberry tea or oriental sand coffee, made slowly but patiently. But the weather is so appealing and you decide to walk a lit bit more and then by chance you end up being at the very center of the Yerevan Cascade Complex, surrounded by the Cafesjian Centre for the Arts. And one after another, the pieces of modern Arts welcome you. One after another, cafés also greet you here. The culture of café is widely popular in Yerevan, and you can find lots of locals and tourists hanging out till late midnight in cafes and pubs. Why? Well, they say it’s affordable and Yerevan is safe. This time you choose a takeaway coffee which perfectly suits your mood and taste. One, two, three-four-five, six-seven – you are at the top of the Cascade and this view – early-morning Yerevan, these creamy clouds, the light-bluish sky, and the velvet look to Mt Ararat. And your soul is expanding like a silk scarf thrown into the air.

They say Yerevan is truly attractive in the evening as well, but this is another story to share.