Hyusisayin Poghota

Just like the Kino Moskva-before coming to Armenia-I was intent on seeing the new Hyusisayin Poghota (Northern Avenue). This is an area of Yerevan that has been built in the last few years and is considered the new elitar taghamas (elite neighborhood). As luck would have it, my office is on Hyusisayin Poghota, so now I get to see it everyday...It's an interesting place.

It is like the Rodeo Drive of Yerevan, with shops and restaurants galore. They've even got a Yum-Yum Donuts. The area is still under construction but it is complete enough to get a sense of the place. It kind of feels like walking through the Americana- in a weird sort of way. People come out to walk up and down the street, which usually has plenty of musicians out for entertainment. When you look up at the buildings it seems kind of deserted, like no one lives in the new high rises. But there is lots and lots of activity out in the street. 

On the surface it seems like a beautiful new part of Yerevan, but it has a lot of controversy around it (I'll explain in the next post)...

(Images from top: Strolling Northern Avenue, street musicians passing the time, one of high rises- I wonder how much it costs to buy a place, the view of the opera house from Northern Ave, Northern Ave by night, street musicians and their dancers).