Yerevan among Momondo’s best budget holiday destinations

January 31, 2017 By administrator

Photo by gagrule.net

The Armenian capital city of Yerevan has been included in the list of best budget holiday destinations compiled by free global travel metasearch engine website Momondo.

“Give in to the minibus chaos to criss-cross your way through the city – for 100 Dram, and a loudly shouted “stop!” you’ll be dropped off at the Yerevan’s prized monuments. The pedestrian Northern Avenue takes you from the opera to the fountains at Republic Square. Imposing Soviet era buildings by day, elegant backdrop to a light and water show at night, the Republic Square is inevitably a must-see,” Momondo says.

“Enjoy the long summer nights in the pink city, as it’s called due to the pinkish stones of the buildings, at the café terraces. Rebuilt to hide the scars of wars and natural disasters, most of Yerevan’s current attire is only a century old. Yerevan’s oldest heritage lies along the outskirts of the city where the Hrazdan River and deep gorge create a natural border.”

Also included in the list are Sofia (Bulgaria), San Antonio (Texas, USA), Valparaíso (Chile), Braga (Portugal), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain), Belfast (Northern Ireland), Lviv (Ukraine), Panama City (Panama), Kalamata (Greece), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Air Force Band goes retro to kick off holiday season (Video)

December 18, 2015 By administrator

Master Sgt. Tyler Kuebler, the music director for the Airmen of Note, plays Jingle Bells on clarinet at Union Station Dec. 3. (U.S. Air Force photo/Jim Lotz)

By Stephen Losey,

The Air Force Band yesterday staged its annual surprise performance of holiday music at Union Station in Washington DC on Thursday. Unlike previous years, which were more classically-themed flash mob-style performances, this year’s show nodded to the Air Force’s roots and the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. The musicians wore Army Air Corps uniforms and played a period-appropriate big band-style arrangement of Jingle Bells — even bringing strings into the mix — before segueing to a choral version of Auld Lang Syne.

Swing dancers from New York City helped bring everything home, and Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James showed up to kick things off. Members of the Airmen of Note and Singing Sergeants were among those playing yesterday.

This is the third year in a row the band has put on a public show with no advance announcement to start celebrating the holiday season. The first one, in 2013, was held in the original Air and Space Museum in Washington, and last year’s was in the Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Northern Virginia, in the shadow of the Space Shuttle Discovery. The videos tend to go viral, with more than 4 million views between the first two.

Source: flightlines.airforcetimes.com

Armenians return from Turkey’s Antalya horrified

August 17, 2015 By administrator

YEREVAN. – Summer vacation of an Armenian couple in Antalya was like a real horror film. The couple, who wished to remain anonymous, told Armenian News – NEWS.am that although they had paid quite a lot for a 10-day vacation in a 5-star hotel, the climate of fear was so strong they had to cancel their vacation and return to Armenia after 4 days.

At the hotel booked by Dolce Travel tour agency, the couple was first taken to a separate subsidiary building with a common toilet. A day after contacting the tour agency, they were taken to the rooms provided for them.

Besides the couple, there were no more Armenians in the hotel; 70% were Azerbaijanis, who were constantly teasing and threatening them.

The couple was especially concerned about one of the reception workers, who kept making offending remarks and reminding they were the only Armenians in the hotel.

The next day, 5 boys surrounded the couple on the beach, talking loudly and laughing; the only thing the Armenian couple could get was the repeatedly used word “Ermeni,” namely Armenian.

The couple managed to leave the beach and reach the hotel with the help of an English family.

However, in the hotel, they again came across the 5 Azerbaijanis, who were talking to a hotel worker, the one who was teasing them. Seeing the couple, the Azerbaijanis laughed, asking in Russian: “So, Ermeni, did you have a good rest?”

“It was no longer possible to stay there; wherever we went, the Azerbaijani kids were crying “Ermeni.” We wanted to change the hotel, but they required 450 dollars for that,” the couple said.

Finally, the couple phoned to the tour agency, changed the day of the return ticket and returned to Armenia. They tried to get back their money, but the company refused to compensate, offering large discounts for other packages.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

80 percent Germans Rule Out Summer Holiday in #Turkey Over Terror Threat #BoycottTurkishProduct

August 2, 2015 By administrator

According to media reports, some 80 percent of German citizens have ruled out Turkey as their summer holiday destination because of Ankara’s military operation against the Islamic State (ISIL) group and Kurdish militants.
BERLIN (Sputnik) – Some 80 percent of German citizens will be avoiding Turkey as their summer holiday destination because of Ankara’s military operation against the Islamic State (ISIL) group and Kurdish militants, the Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported Sunday, citing a survey.
Earlier in the week, the German Foreign Ministry issued a warning to tourists in Istanbul of possible terror attacks on the underground rail network and bus stops in the wake of the Turkish Armed Force’s airstrikes on the Kurdistan Workers Party’s (PKK) positions in northern Iraq.
According to the survey conducted by the Institute of Public Opinion Emnid, 81 percent of Germans ruled out a vacation in Turkey in the coming months, while 19 percent of holidaymakers were still willing to make the trip.
The findings also revealed that only 31 percent of German citizens did not pay attention to the level of terrorist threat in holiday destinations, as 68 percent made it top priority when choosing a resort.
Ankara launched a military campaign last week against ISIL jihadists in Syria and the PKK in northern Iraq, in response to an unprecedented escalation of violence across southern Turkey.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150802/1025323109.html#ixzz3hhaDyyh3