An awkwardly placed bathtub in a Stepanavan hotel room is more than an odd design choice. Maria Gunko traces its unlikely connections to Armenia's recent past, exploring how ordinary objects absorb history, adapt to necessity and quietly tell stories of survival.

Tucked away in a former garage in central Yerevan, Runnin Bakery has become a word-of-mouth favorite. Maria Gunko explores how two women are redefining craftsmanship, entrepreneurship, and community, one sourdough loaf, post-run pastry, and loyal customer at a time.

From the forests of Lori to the volcanic slopes of Azhdahak, Maria Gunko explores Armenia’s mountains where landscapes become archives of geology, history and memory, and where hiking offers a rare escape from the noise of contemporary life.

A journey to the medieval Armenian capital of Ani becomes an exploration of memory, erasure and cultural survival. Traveling through Turkey to reach the ruins visible from Armenia’s closed border, Maria Gunko reflects on heritage, identity, historical loss and the politics of preserving, and silencing, the past.

A boba tea shop brings contemporary China to Yerevan through careful branding, cultural translation and taste. Its owner, a Chinese emigre, came looking for a good vibe and kind people; in return, she created a space that sits between cafe and experiment, showcasing how unfamiliar flavors, ideas and places can be introduced thoughtfully and unexpectedly.

In this sharp, darkly humorous take on lifestyle in Yerevan, Maria Gunko reframes beauty routines through water shortages and crumbling infrastructure, revealing how resilience, improvisation, and dignity redefine what “living well” actually means in a post-Soviet city.

In a small Armenian town, women hold households together while men work abroad. Maria Gunko traces the unrecognized labor of waiting, remittances counted, calendars marked, tables set, and the endurance that sustains families across distance and absence.

Two Armenian ski resorts reflect different visions of winter leisure. Maria Gunko explores Tsaghkadzor and Myler as a dialogue between continuity and change, tradition and anticipation, and how their coexistence is reshaping expectations, culture and the future of winter sports in Armenia.

Reflecting on learning Armenian and the unexpected doors it opened, from a late-night restaurant in Leipzig to a train station in Ghent, Maria Gunko reveals how this “small” language creates instant belonging within a global network shaped by kinship, hospitality and shared identity.

The holidays in Yerevan are a layered season shaped by Armenian Christmas, Soviet New Year, and Western traditions. Maria Gunko explores how these parallel celebrations coexist through food, ritual, nostalgia, and excess revealing a city comfortable with multiplicity and contradiction.