Visiting Armenia

**Arsen_** · 08-10-2020, 07:40 AM

American writer and traveler settled in a village in Armenia

American writer and traveler Gregory Diehl, born in San Diego (California, USA), traveled around the world, volunteered in Africa, lived in Europe, traveled across Asia. He has already lived in more than 50 countries when he first visited Armenia in 2015. Gregory liked Armenia so much that he applied for Armenia's citizenship and he bought a house in a small Armenian village in 2018.

"I was born in America, my father and both of my grandfathers are Germans, but Armenia is dearer to me. I do not consider myself an American, so I wanted to get Armenian citizenship," the writer says. Diehl does not like to talk about his plans, but he has already begun construction of a small guest house not far from his home - there will be where to shelter for a while friends from the United States, and other countries of the world who decided to visit him.

**Arsen_** · 08-11-2020, 03:15 PM

Sounds of Nature, Armenia

**Arsen_** · 08-12-2020, 12:32 PM

Some more driving in Yerevan

**Arsen_** · 08-13-2020, 02:24 PM

A man from Australia who has lived in Armenia for the past six years talks about the reasons why he chose to live in Armenia

**Arsen_** · 08-14-2020, 09:49 AM

Some more driving in Yerevan

**Arsen_** · 08-14-2020, 08:11 PM

Some driving on the outskirts of Yerevan.

By the way, have you noticed that there is always clear and sunny weather in Armenia?

Here is the average annual weather data: in Yerevan, on average, there are 316 sunny days per year, 45 light cloudy days and only 4 grey days. Imagine there are only 4 grey days in a year!

**Arsen_** · 08-16-2020, 05:26 AM

Traveler from Norway wrote a book about Armenia and decided to become an Armenian

The Norwegian man Sven Erik Rise several years ago traveled to Armenia and fell in love with Armenia so much that he wrote book about Armenia called "Why I love Armenia" and decided to become an Armenian by choice and even pick for himself Armenian name Tigran.

“I’ve traveled to 100 countries but I’ve never seen anything like that. I didn’t do anything, I just walked around and tried to speak a little in Armenian language and everyone was so welcoming, heart-warming, hospitable, and friendly, it was amazing ”, Sven told, “I can find friendly people everywhere but I haven’t seen a nation where everybody is so friendly. People who survived genocide and today are living between two countries like Azerbaijan and Turkey, still are so happy”.

In Armenia, people are genuine, welcoming, and the best thing is, it’s not about money, they give without expecting anything in return. That’s one of the unique things which, according to Sven, lacks in other countries. He also loves Armenian letters of the alphabet and language, quality vineyards, festivals.

Sven was supposed to stay in Armenia for two weeks, but he couldn’t help it and stayed two months in Armenia. After he went back to Norway, he wrote a book about Armenia called “Why I Love Armenia”. He started to learn Armenian language and next time in Armenia he surprised Armenians with his knowledge of Armenian language.

Now there is one big wish Sven Erik hopes for – to get an Armenian passport one day. Some steps are being taken already, although he admits it’s not easy at all and he will need more time and more effort. Sven considers himself an Armenian by Choice, proving one doesn’t need to have Armenian blood to be Armenian. He cannot wait to say “finally I’m Armenian”.

Since 2015, not a single year has been passing without him visiting Armenia. Every year he manages tours from Norway to Armenia for at least 3 times a year and every time it’s as exciting as the first. Hopefully, as soon as COVID is over, Sven plans to participate in the Yerevan Marathon next fall. He’s even training now by running 20 km a week to manage 40 km in Yerevan.

As he is missing Armenia in Norway, he created in his garden his own “Little Armenia” with Armenian flag at the top at the backyard of his house near the sea. He managed to recreate Ararat, a small khachqar, small Artsakh with its’ flag, grew some berries he took from Armenia and mini winery.

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In this video Sven Erik told in Armenian about “Little Armenia” he created in Norway.

**Arsen_** · 08-17-2020, 06:27 AM

Some more driving in Yerevan.

At 1.00 in the video on the right side, you can see the complex of buildings of the US Embassy in Armenia. By the way the Embassy of the United States of America to Armenia for a long time was the largest US Embassy in the world, now it's the largest American embassy in Europe and second in the world, the total area of Embassy is 90,469 sq.m.

And by the way, at the very beginning of the video on the right you can see, there is a Russian church (it was built on the money of an Armenian benefactor).