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 ...
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 ...
Advantages: Much flavour Disadvantages: Not that original
Gladiator is in many ways a traditional Zimmer action score, with its brass fanfares, synths, predictable rhythms, and long cues (or in this case, the entire soundtrack is mixed to flow from cue to cue without any breaks). To provide softer and more etheral moments, Zimmer collaborated with Dead Can Dance founder Lisa Gerrard, whose vocal contributions can be heard in cues like "Sorrow," "Reunion" and "Now We Are Free" among others. These vocals create a kind of Arabian sound to the score, although by now such vocals are becoming more and more like a cliché in Hollywood (think about Troy?). Other contributions include the duduk solos by the instrumentalist DjivanGasparyan in the cue "To Zucchabar" and additional material written by Klaus Badelt. Also there are extensive quotations of "Mars, the Bringer of War" from Gustav Holst ...
![Monkey - Journey To The West [Digipak] - Various Artists](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/713/prod_small-6966713.jpg)
