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In 301 A.D., Armenians became Christians, abjuring the paganism and neglecting all its idols. It was during the reign of king Dertad III (286-330 A.D.) that the Armenian people adopted the christian faith and made it their official religion. The conversion to this new religion occurred with the help of a person called Krikor, whom later the people honored as the “Illuminator” of the nation. The ceremonial took place during a garden meeting on the shores of the Arazani river, in Ardashad. King Dertad with all his family, wife and sister, and all the kins, received their baptism, soaked into the waters of the river.

Since the Armenian Church arose from underground to become the first state to officially adopt Christianity in 301 A.D., Armenia and her faith have been inseparable.

The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin is the spiritual and administrative headquarters of the worldwide Armenian Church.The Mother Cathedral, founded by the Descent of Christ, built by St. Gregory the Illuminator and King Trdat III, has stood as a symbol against time of the Armenian faith, nation and people. No other silhouette is so instantly recognized by Armenians the world over.

During my presence in Armenia, I have visited The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and came back with this wonderful picture.

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The first time I visited in Armenia, my ancestors homeland was in 1996, I was so glad to discover this historical city, with its wide streets, outdoor open spaces, 3 to 4 floor buildings, wherever you stop and look above you, all you can see is the big blue sky, but unfortunately after 10 years, I have discovered that this wonderful capital is being ruined by sky-high buildings, pouring tons of cements in order to maximize the returns on the real-estate spaces, I really felt a pity for seeing this.

Please stop ruining this wonderful city, take your projects outside the capital, go to the suburbs and keep the spaces and the blue sky, so Armenians can feel they can fly freely.

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Starbucks is here, in the heart of Vienna, a city with a 300 year-old coffee tradition dating back to the invasion of the Turks, and then to ban smoking in it.

Many Viennese believe that their culture has been infected, that Viennese use their 1,900 or so coffee shops to linger and meet, smoke and drink, savor the wonders of pastries with cream and marzipan, ponder the world, write books and read free newspapers. They drink from china cups and order from a waiter, usually in a stained black dinner jacket.

In Austria, there is a coffeehouse for every 530 people, and Austrians drink 1,000 cups of coffee a year outside homes and offices. This is, quite simply, the densest coffee market in the world. One of the most competitive, too. Austrians love their coffee, they go three or four times a day to a coffeehouse to meet friends or do business.

Young people in Austria are not much different from other young people elsewhere in the world. Many view Starbucks as an alternative to the smoky cafes of their parents and prefer the self-serve to an unhurried waiter. In Vienna, the crowd is well-to-do, mostly in their 30s, a mixture of tourists and locals.

Howard Schultz is an American businessman and entrepreneur most widely known as cief global strategist and chairman of Starbucks. Schultz was born July 19, 1953 in Brooklyn, N.Y. . He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He is the oldest child of three. He has a sister Ronnie (b. 1956) and a brother Michael (b. 1961) who live in New York. His mother lives in New Jersey and his father, whom he often speaks of in interviews, is deceased.
He presently lives in Seattle with his wife and 2 children.

Schultz co-authored a book called Pour Your Heart into It that expounds on his life journey with Starbucks.

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Douglas & Marionnaud are fighting over the Austrian perfumery market.

Douglas perfumeries from Germany are major players in Austria and mainly in Europe, their new expansions plan in France during 2006 is by acquiring the Lavigne Group with some 150 outlets, whose stores have previously done business under the name ELYTIS.

Marionnaud, the well know french perfumery stores, were founded in 1984 by Marcel Frydman, was acquired by Hong Kong-based A.S. Watson in April 2005. On the 14th of January 2005, Watson announced a cash offer of approximately €534 million for Marionnaud shares. Marionnaud is Europe’s #1 perfume retailer in terms of outlets. Nearly half of its stores are in France, where it has a 30% market share. But the ambitious French chain is expanding aggressively in Europe.

A.S. Watson is the retail and manufacuring division of Hutchison Whampoa, the Hong-Kong based conglomerate owned by Mr. Li Ka-shing.



Watsons owns the following beauty, health perfumery and cosmetics retail chains: Watsons, Nuance-Watson, Kruidvat, Trekpleister, Rossmann, Drogas, Portegies, Superdrug, Savers, Spekter, ICI Paris XL, Marionnaud, The Perfume Shop.

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Welcome to Vienna, where history can be seen, appreciated and experienced while walking in this beautiful city, without forgetting to remember how much technology helped improving our life.

In 2006, Austria will be celebrating Mozart’s memory with his amazing musical artworks, if Mozart have seen this gorgeous lady during his lifetime, he would have composed and added to his library a piece containing some flying notes.

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Another international icon you cross while strolling in the walking district of Vienna near the Cathedral.When Nicolas Hayek, from Lebanese origins, launched Swatch in 1983, the whole watch industry watched him closely, being sure of his success, he made Swatch a global brand.

You can clearly see the link between the 2 signs, a country promoting a brand and a brand promoting a country, both parties gave each other what each other deserve.

By the way, I own www.MySwatch.com !

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All the pictures you can see in my trips related postings are taken by me unless these are products pictures, brand logos or elsewhere indicated . I try to minimize the pictures resolutions so the visitors can experience a fast browsing of my blog.

All and most other company names, brand names, logos, colors, products, products pictures, process, technology, ideas, innovations on this blog are the worldwide trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.