A photo of a photo at the airport,
and a 30+ hour travel day including three flights and a lot of waiting around.
Until finally we found ourselves at our destination in Yerevan, Armenia. That’s Hilda’s selfie from one of the three airport lounges we enjoyed.
And the view from our condo where we will be staying for five nights.
We had arranged for a driver with a sign to meet us at the airport and take us to our condo. It was 4AM and we knew we wouldn’t want to fuss. Everything went smoothly and by 8am we were unpacked and took a small walk to the grocery store for coffee, milk, and snacks. I took a shower, rubbed my eyes, brushed my teeth, and we gathered to plan out the day, after 30+ hours and catnaps on the plane, we set about staying up until 9pm.
First stop, lunch at a restaurant recommended by everyone who recommended restaurants: Lavash. It was three blocks from our condo so super-easy to go there. It turns out we have landed in the Restaurant World of Yerevan. So many restaurants on every block surrounded this condo.
After lunch we walked up to the meeting place for the HOHO bus, but this one was really just HO. You could Hop On but Hop Off was not an option. It was more like a little city tour that ran only three times a day.
Merlyn took this sweet picture of his sweetie. Hi Hilda!
Following are samples of the kinds of things we saw.
Traffic squares with statues.
Parks with statues.
Btw, all the statues of Russians, of which there used to be many, are all gone in favor of the Armenian heros of culture, politics, and the military.
Hilltop statues.
Cuties catching a smooch.
And Merlyn and Hilda, returning from a viewing opportunity.
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After the tour we walked around a little before heading home. This is the Cafesjian Center for the Arts and I’m very much looking forward to seeing inside but for tonight we just walked around the grounds.
The everywhere-everyone shot of this place. The building is called The Cascade Complex and you can see why. Above, at the top of the complex, is the Memorial to the 50th Anniversary of October Revolution and also called the Monument to 50 Years of Soviet Armenia. Interesting that it has survived after December 26, 1991 and the establishment of the Republic of Armenia.
A couple pictures of the public art on the grounds of the museum.
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And THEN Sevak and Ida joined us at the condo and we went to see some of their favorite places, but First, a beer garden!
This morning, based on bogus internet ‘information’ we went first to the Cafesjian museum and couldn’t get in until Fri-Sat-Sun but we did wander around the entertaining grounds again.
Not being able to get into the museum at Cafesjian, we stopped off at Limone Cafe for a beverage break.
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From there we walked in a round-about way to the must-see not-to-miss Matenadaran, also called the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, and here is Hilda, a seeker, humbled in the presence of the renowned Mesrop Mashtots, creator of the Armenian alphabet.
The entrance hall. We were able to get an excellent English speaking guide, Lilit Hakobyan, who talked to us for almost two hours. It would have been a 20 minute buzz-by without a guide to tell us what we were looking at.
You can definitely understand why this place is a national treasure.
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After the museum we took a stroll, looking for lunch..
..and decided to give Gustav a try. It was ‘hidden’ in a side alley, the food was lovely, and after Hilda visited with the owner and promised a 5* review they brought us a tasty tiramisu on the house. Having declined dessert, we then ate it all.
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And then after lunch we went back to the condo for a little rest and to get ready for a big night out.
Around 5:45 we were off to walk to Sevak and Ida’s. These drinking fountains are a prominent feature around town providing tasty water and gladly used by one and all.
Sevak and Ida offered us a fine selection of welcome snacks including these little packets of cheese. Everything is cheese, the wrapper, the tie, and the treat inside, all cheese, you just eat it, tasty and fun.
Our destination for the evening, Tavern Yerevan. This is what the main room looked like when we arrived..
..and at the time this table of lovelies was already in full-throated song to the joys of Armenia. All I learned was that they were Armenians from France here to sing and dance.
And sing and dance they did.
Come on come on dance with us!
I slipped out for a few minutes to check in with the Lavash Ladies, making traditional bread in the traditional way.
They roll out the dough super-thin, stretch it on the linen form, and then whack the form against the side of the brick oven. The dough sticks to the bricks and cooks right up in a second.
Sevak and Ida treated us all to this amazing evening.
I’ll just write here the dishes missing photos…Two kinds of eggplant appetizer, crispy fried potatoes, baskets of three kinds of bread, and a wonderful sweet cream dessert. Thank you thank you guys!
Today was the first day of on and off rain predicted to continue in that vein for several days. It never got bad although we’d have to wait out the occasional thunderstorm. We made a detour through this park to admire the Statue of Komitas Vardapet, founder of the Armenian national school of music and a place Hilda remembered visiting with her mom.
We were on our way back to the Cafesjian to finally get into the galleries and to see it with water running in the fountains.
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Hilda had been supporting a group home for disabled adults here in Yerevan and she took this opportunity to visit there while Merlyn and I had lunch at Santafe where we lounged around for a while in the rain and it was comfy and tasty too. (internet photos)
Strawberries are for sale everywhere and I bought a big bucket of them from a guy on the street back on day 2. They were fabulous and as I write this on day 6 we will have the last few this morning, and they are still fabulous.
I put this mural here to note how little there is of street art, just a few murals like this one is all I’ve seen so far.
We visited the Martiros Sarian House Museum, a favorite artist of Hilda’s and the founder of the modern Armenian national school of painting. He died in 1972 at age 92 having lived a long and productive life. This is from their website since there were no photos allowed inside the house.
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We enjoyed another very good meal at another one of the high-end restaurants, of which there are many. This place is called Seasons where they have the restaurant with a nice combo playing light jazz, a lounge area, and a cafe ‘across the way’.
Recording the entertainment to share.
Moving on to Republic Square where later in May music will play and the fountains will dance.
Copied from “Discover Armenia” online: “According to ((the architect)) Tamanyan’s design, the construction of the square began with the building of the Government House in 1926. All the buildings of the square were completed in the 1950s, except for the National Gallery building, which was completed in 1977. In Soviet times, the Republic Square was named after Lenin and his monument was erected there in 1940 and dismantled in 1991, prior to the independence of Armenia.”
And here in Republic Square are the most famous of the drinking fountains in Yerevan called “Yot Ahpyur” meaning “Seven Springs” in Armenian.
Merlyn and Hilda moved on, it was 10pm, to join Sevak, Ida, and Shakeh at a music club. I went home. They got home after 2am…
Sadly, I’m NOT FINISHED YET!
I put this here so you can get some idea why. There so much to say and I want to add a map but I needed to move on for now.
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Above photo from Hayk’s website.
We’re headed to Khor Virap, you can see it in the middle left and behind that is Mt Ararat, or so they say. We’ve been unsuccessfully chasing a view for days.
((Put the map here with short description of the borders.))
But first, snacks! She was baking the bread on a hot stone to her left and filled with delicious herbs I wish I could duplicate. Thanks Hayk for the treat.
Dried fruits, Hilda’s first purchase of the day. YUM!
More views. I’ve noticed the yellow of the Armenian flag frequently fades to a darker color when flown outside. Hayk says the yellow is often called apricot for one of the most important and beloved fruits here.
((Look up about the cross-stones.)) Note the pigeon in the niche. You can buy a pigeon before the big walk up to the monastery, to release with a hope they will fly to Mt Ararat but actually, not surprisingly, they fly back to their owner to be sold again.
As usual, you can read about this place at length, but here’s a short wiki note: “Khor Virap’s notability as a monastery and pilgrimage site is attributed to the fact that Gregory the Illuminator was initially imprisoned here for 13 years.” Gregory was eventually released and “King Tiridates, who had embraced Christianity as his religion following the miraculous cure effected by Gregory’s divine intervention, proclaimed Christianity as the state religion of Armenia in 301 AD.”
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We did a short visit to a village well-known for all all the storks. Merlyn got a picture of one of them feeding a baby which I’ll get from him soon.
After enjoying the storks we got to enjoy another snack – a fried puff pastry filled with potato, and Armenian coffee too, Not to be confused with Turkish coffee, oh no.
Stopping for a photo-op of village scenery. The scenery photo didn’t turn out so well for me, but I loved this guy.
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On our way through Noravank canyon heading to the Noravank Monastery, note the stream here that turns into a fast-running river along the way.
And the lovely spring flowers.
Hayk has a big comfortable SUV with a full-sized sunroof and we were so lucky that it wasn’t raining because he drove slowly through the canyon, played local music, opened the sunroof, and then..
..let everyone stand up, Merlyn here making a video. The music, the sounds of the river, the fresh air, the beautiful sight, what a highlight!
What a sight.
These three pictures are all from different sides of the building.
There were a number of buildings on this site. Mostly due to earthquakes many of the monastery structures we’ll see have been rebuilt at some point but usually on the same site with the same kind of materials.
((Tell the story of these candles, donations, and collecting wax.))
He was chanting and the sound was quite remarkable.
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Next stop, Areni caves, again, copied: “In 2008, Armenian PhD student and archeologist Diana Zardaryan of the country’s Institute of Archaeology discovered the earliest known shoe at the site. In January 2011, the earliest known winery in the world was uncovered in the cave. Later, in 2011, the discovery of a straw skirt dating to 3,900 years BCE was reported. In 2009, the oldest humanoid brain was discovered in the cave.” Remember about the shoe because we later saw it at the museum.
Our cave guide, her daughter, and Hilda.
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Hayk asked us if we wanted to have a quick lunch at a food court or a more leisurely lunch at a place that has the best lamb in all of Armenia. You can certainly guess my vote. So here it is, right on the river with various covered patios for eating..
..we’re here, where we had the best lamb in all of Armenia. It was indeed delicious as was the rice dish.
Our dining companion. Cats seem welcome wherever we’ve been.
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Our aerial tramway ride up to see the Tatev Monestary started out like this..
..but cleared along the way, so yay for that.
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((Wineries of Armenia))
((Put a picture inset of how it looks without clouds.))
Above is the subway entrance from Republic Square. ‘They’ say the subway isn’t fancy like some but it’s clean and nicer than others. We ran out of time to give it a try. It’s not a very big system, only 10 stations, but then Yerevan isn’t a very big city at around one million residents.
We decided to have a lazy morning and it was easy to hang around the condo, eat snacks and leftovers, drink coffee, take deep breaths. We were headed to the flea market, close enough to the condo to walk, and we passed through the pedestrian shopping street, a shopping opportunity with the opposite vibe of the flea market, all high-end shops with international brands.
Our destination for the day was the flea market Vernissage, the most well-known in Yerevan. The second we got even close I started sneezing and it did not stop. WHAT? What was going on?! I couldn’t stay, my eyes were swollen and tears and snot filled my face. I later learned all those trees that covered the market, the wind swirling the fallen pods, were cottonwoods and cause a lot of people trouble. All around the tables of the flea market people were sneezing. It was crazy!
We met up with Sevak and Ida for lunch. It poured rain the whole time we were eating and then stopped for us to leave.
The rain has been very accommodating.
After lunch we went to the History Museum of Armenia where we got to see the actual shoe from Areni Cave and there’s a picture of the cave below.
There was s special exhibit of carpets “from the collection of James Tufenkian, displayed ‘in dialogue’ with a collection of archival photographs from the early 20th century…and studio portraits from photographer Dimitri Yermakov.”
A quote from the exhibit: “In an era when the statehoods of Armenia and Artsakh are under attack from their violent neighbors – who, in parallel to territorial claims and an ongoing blockade, engage in politics of cultural appropriation and erasure while the world plays blind – Armenian carpets stand as bold statements of statehood. Let the individual stories of each carpet from James Tufenkian’s private collection unfold with their own voice. United, they form a collective narrative bringing forth Armenians’ fundamental contribution to the history of carpet making.”
We moved out of our condo today and made our way over to the hotel where we would meet the Intrepid Armenia and Georgia tour. Helpfully, our rooms were ready early so we could get settled and then head out for lunch. Hilda wanted borscht so she asked at a small shop where the woman pointed down the street to this place, the epitome of down-home local. And Hilda got borscht directly from the kitchen above.
Remember strawberries are everywhere including here in front of the restaurant, a guy selling strawberries out of his trunk.
I can’t remember if we walked or called yandex for a ride to our one activity of the day, a visit to the Sergey Parajanov (1924-1990) Museum. I reeeally liked it. He’s most well known as a film director but this museum was about his life and the collages he made during a time when, in Soviet times, he was forbidden from making films. You can check out this link if you want to see more of the Parajanov Museum. (gurrr The music on the site is annoying!)
This building offers an opportunity to talk about the material called tuff and pronounced toof. It’s made from volcanic ash, unlike lava made from volcanic flow, and comes in all those lovely colors. You might remember that all the buildings in Republic Square are made of these blocks.
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Tour Day 1: “Barheev! Welcome to Armenia. This evening, there will be an important welcome meeting at 6 pm, where you’ll meet your group leader and fellow travellers. After the meeting, why not ask your leader where you can find some traditional Armenian food, like khoravat (Armenian barbecue) or basturma (cured beef).”
Introducing the tour group!
We are two Brits, two Aussies, one Kiwi, one Canuck, and we three. The tour company originates in Australia. The guide is Russian(!) because, she said, the tour company decided going to both Armenia and Georgia, Russian is the most common language. She is lovely, everyone is lovely actually. So many photos to follow in days to come.
After the get-together the group was going to go eat at a place we had already been to so we decided to try a new place and it was quite YUM too. We have definitely been enjoying the food. The restaurant picture is from the internet and the scraps of food is what was left when I thought to take a picture.
Tour Day 2: “Today, join a local guide for an insightful city tour of Yerevan. Armenia’s vibrant capital has a great mix of ancient culture and tradition with a contemporary feel. Begin at Republic Square, and then head to the Cafesjian Center – an open-air museum of modern art. Continue on to Freedom Square – a lively city hub with its ornate Opera House sitting at the centre.
“You’ll have lunch at a traditional museum-café built by Lusik Aguletsi – a lover of Armenian antiques and all things local and handmade. Here you’ll have the chance to try some local favourites, like tomatoes with goats cheese and gata (Armenian coffee cake). Take a look around to see exhibits of national costumes, carpets and rugs and other traditional Armenian wares, then enjoy an afternoon at leisure. You may like to head out for a local brandy tasting – ask your leader for recommendations.”
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Above the local guide on the left and our tour guide, Ksenia, on the right.
According to Wikipedia 98.1% of the population of Armenia is ethnically Armenian and 97% of them are members of the Armenian Apostolic Church. This is something to keep in mind, the homogeneity being like so few places these days.
This church is relatively new, Saint Gregory The Illuminator Cathedral.
You can hardly see the small red cups in the hanging lights above, but these guys took them out to refill and relight them.
On the grounds of the church this is a basalt stone statue of Andranik Ozmanyan, also known as Andranik Pasha.
A theater built “in Soviet times” now used as a market I think? Every guide uses this expression constantly..”in Soviet times”…
At the foot of Cascade Park, this is Alexander Tamanian (1878-1936), acknowledged by all to be the architect of modern Yerevan. The Wikipedia article is surprisingly concise so have a look if you’re interested.
“Lusik Aguletsi, a well-known artist, cultural figure, and collector, along with her husband, sculptor Yuri Samvelyan, transformed their family home into a unique cultural hub where everyone feels at home.” So many things.
Tour Day 3: “After breakfast, meet a local guide for a tour of the Kond neighbourhood, one of the oldest quarters of Yerevan. Kond is often overlooked by tourists, but offers up a wealth of history and character. Explore the labyrinth of narrow alleys as your local guide shares the stories of the neighbourhood. Lunch today is extra special – be welcomed into the home of a local family, living in a 300-year-old house, making it one of the oldest in Yerevan. As you dine with the family you’ll hear how they’ve lived in Kond for three generations, and try some of Armenia’s famous lavash bread.
“After lunch, check out a handmade rug factory – the designs are beautifully intricate. The rest of the day is free for your own discoveries. You may like to pay a visit to the Khor Virap and Zvartnots religious sites.”
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We took an early morning quick buzz through the market across the street from the hotel. That’s our hotel below center, and I took the picture from the pedestrian bridge crossing the big street.
Samples samples every vendor reaches out to offer samples, oh yeah.
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We had a very interesting visit to the Megerian rug-making facility. Rugs, it turns out, are made by knotting and carpets are made by weaving. The size is not part of the equation, only the technique of making the rug or carpet.
They had 20 looms here, and all the workers are making rugs.
Ksenia on the left and the local guide for the rug facility on the right.
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We are now entering the Kond district of Tbilisi where the oldest buildings are still in use. Below, a funeral for a prominent citizen.
Several murals are here on this street designed, according to the guide, to welcome tourists to the area. Notice on the right, that’s the most important image in Armenia, the two peaks of Mt Ararat. We’ve been chasing that view for days. That’s the local guide below, Anahit, who spoke Russian and Ksenia translated which made the tour longer than necessary, but I enjoyed it anyway especially because I did, admittedly, wander off a little.
I wandered away briefly for a different angle and ran into these guys who wanted to know where I was from and if I liked Armenia and etc so after our little chat I asked for this photo and I like it.
Here kitty kitty. All the street cats seem so well-fed and friendly and more surprisingly the same is true of the dogs, they are well-fed and friendly too.
What a splendid treat. So much delicious food and you know I have to try everything. Even my 13,000 step average is not going to make a dent…
This is Anahit’s husband Aram who sang a patriotic song about missing the homeland.
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Hilda found this driver to take us to two UNESCO sites in the area that I was particularly interested to see.
This is Etchmiadzin Cathedral, also called the Mother See, the headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It isn’t possible to see the inside because of ongoing renovations but I wanted to feel for it anyway. There are many buildings in the complex. “The cathedral, part of the monastery of the same name, is surrounded by walls which enclose a series of structures. They include the palace of the Catholicos, a seminary, museum, refectory, synod house, library, printing house, monks’ cells, and other auxiliary buildings.”
The grounds were quite lovely too.
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We continued on to Zvartnots Cathedral. Both these sites, Etchmiadzin and Zvartnots have centuries long histories with both being reconstructed a number of times. The inset picture is from the internet because I didn’t get this view, Mt Ararat in the background.
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On the way back to Yerevan finally we could see the whole shape of Ararat, almost…
Sunset from my hotel room. This is our last night in Yerevan. Tomorrow we head out for a long drive to Dilijan stopping along the way for temples and monasteries all day long.
