Simon Varwell's Blog, page 10

The Anderson

In an age when craft beer is (thankfully) getting more prevalent and more popular, and it sometimes feels like the latest hip thing, it’s worth remembering that there have been some established old handsdoing it well for a very long time.

One place that has a bit of a cult reputation locally in the Highlands is The Anderson in Fortrose. Sitting on the Moray Firth coast of the Black Isle, just north of Inverness, Fortrose is a lovely old cathedral town on the Black Isle that is well worth an...

A visit to Inverness’s mosque

I noticed the other day on Twitter that the Muslim Council of Britain was promoting a “visit my mosque” day across Britain.

Inverness’s small Muslim community has moved into a new building – I pass by from time to time, and as they were participating in the national open day on Sunday past,I thought it would be nice to pop in and take a look.

Inverness is of course renowned for its long Christian heritage – reputedly dating back as far as Columba – and a number of beautiful oldchurches. But t...

Levon’s Divine Underground

This is one of a number of pieceswritten about mytwo trips to Armenia in 2015. Click on the main Armenia pagefor an overview and to read all posts in the series.

Many years ago when working in Russia, an Armenian man by the name ofLevonArakelyan had a message from God. God told himthat one day he, Levon, would perform a miracle.

Some time after that in the 1980s, when he had returned to the family home in the north of Yerevan, Levon had amessage from another source of great authority: his wif...

Levon’s Devine Underground

This is one of a number of pieceswritten about mytwo trips to Armenia in 2015. Click on the main Armenia pagefor an overview and to read all posts in the series.

Many years ago when working in Russia, an Armenian man by the name ofLevonArakelyan had a message from God. God told himthat one day he, Levon, would perform a miracle.

Some time after that in the 1980s, when he had returned to the family home in the north of Yerevan, Levon had amessage from another source of great authority: his wif...

Yerevan’s Blue Mosque

This is one of a number of pieceswritten about mytwo trips to Armenia in 2015. Click on the main Armenia pagefor an overview and to read all posts in the series.

In a country with a long tradition of Christianity and a virtually homogenous population, you wouldn’t expect to find much in the way of religious or ethnic minorities. Indeed, other than some recent Yazidi refugees or the occasional Russian, Georgian or Iranian, there are few obvious non-Armenian communities of note.

And in a countr...

Getting out of Yerevan

This is one of a number of pieceswritten about mytwo trips to Armenia in 2015. Click on the main Armenia pagefor an overview and to read all posts in the series.

One regret I had over my two spells inArmenia was not exploring more of the wider countryside outside Yerevan. The lack of such expeditions was partly due to a busy work schedule, and partly because Yerevan was such a fascinatingcity with so much to see and do that it was quite easy to spend the bulk of my free time there.

And despit...

More photos from Yerevan

This is one of a number of pieceswritten about mytwo trips to Armenia in 2015. Click on the main Armenia pagefor an overview and to read all posts in the series.

In my previous posts I’ve hopefully set the scene a little regarding Armenia and, especially, Yerevan. But rather than boring you with more stories and anecdotes from my time in the city, I thought I would simply share a random bunch of photos that hopefully give moreof a feel for the interesting city that it is, a city whose curren...

Tongue-tied in Armenia

This is one of a number of pieceswritten about mytwo trips to Armenia in 2015. Click on the main Armenia pagefor an overview and to read all posts in the series.

One of the oft-cited strengths of Esperanto is that it is a gateway to other languages. Learn Esperanto, with its simple grammar and accessible word-building, and you’ll not only better understand the mechanics of howlanguages work, but you’ll also gain the confidence of knowing what it’s like to successfully learn a language; thus m...

Ascending through history

This is one of a number of pieceswritten about mytwo trips to Armenia in 2015. Click on the main Armenia pagefor an overview and to read all posts in the series.

Look closely at the statue of Alexander Tamanian as he leans over a stone table at the bottom of Yerevan’s impressive Cascade, and you might detect the slightest of smiles on the otherwise austere contours of his face. And smile he might, with hopefully not a little pride.

This accomplished and profilic architect can lay more claim t...

Signposts to Ghostland

This is one of a number of pieceswritten about mytwo trips to Armenia in 2015. Click on the main Armenia pagefor an overview and to read all posts in the series.

If you arrived any time around 2015at Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan, Armenia you will have been quickly greeted with what must be one of the most extraordinarymessages on offer in an arrivals terminal anywhere.

This is no ordinary country, however, and no ordinary time in its history.

The message is a poster featuring t...