Armenia: Ancient Stones

Man oh man... how do people manage to keep up with these things!?  Life in Tbilisi is trucking along faster than I can keep up, and I haven't even managed to finish blogging about Armenia.  My amazing, gorgeous, wicked smart heterosexual lifemate Chris is still here, and we have been having no shortage of good times.  I swear Tbilisi can be like a tar pit sometimes though.  It would appear that actually getting out of the city is a task I have not managed to figure out yet.  Next weekend though, we are going to Gori.  This will be something like the third or fourth time I have attempted to go to Gori.  Persistence pays?

Okay, let's knock this Armenia thing out (finally), and then maybe I'll work on getting something like caught up before the next Great Adventure.

April 16.  Monday.  Last day in Armenia.  After a few false starts, Chris and I had managed to secure two very reasonably-priced tickets for a tour to see Garni Temple and Geghard Monastery.  Apparently if you go to Armenia, these are the two things you simply must see, "or people will not believe you have been to Armenia," according to Wikitravel.  Again with the superb location, the travel agency was right around the corner from our hostel, Center Hostel.  We showed up and were shown onto a lovely, modern minibus.  Garni Temple is only about maybe half an hour away from Yerevan.  It's a pagan temple from Armenia's pre-Christian days.  Chris and I were both really impressed that it had managed to survive all these centuries, only to find out that it hadn't.  The temple is a reconstruction, with maybe two-thirds of the stones being new, filling in the (considerable) gaps between the remaining actual stones.  I'm not going to lie -- finding out it wasn't authentic disappointed me a little.  But it was very cool to be able to see how it might have looked, and as Chris pointed out, the damage and deterioration of the original temple stones was such that without the restoration, there would be no way the temple would be able to stand at all.

Also, the temple and its surrounding environs was just really, really incredibly beautiful.

I dress to match my landscape.

The tour operator was excellent.  She gave us the history of the temple in English and Russian, showed us around and to the nearby bathhouse ruins, and then let us poke around for half an hour on our own.  And then it was back on the bus and on to Geghard.

Garni Temple was beautiful and the landscape stunning, so it tells you a lot about our next stop that I loved it even more.  For one thing, Geghard Monastery is not a reconstruction.  The Monastery was built in the mountains that look almost like something from another planet.  Utterly untamed and wild.  How anyone ever got here before roads and cars, let alone built anything like this, is amazing to me.

Just like last time, the tour operator showed us around and then gave us time to explore on our own.  She showed us the site of the original Garni Temple, built  into the side of a mountain.  I climbed up and did some extra exploring!

A closeup of the original church site

And from above!  I would have gone further but there was a bus to catch.

Our tour was supposed to be five and half hours, but it ended up being more like four.  I would have really appreciated some extra time to explore around Geghard, but the earlier time back in Yerevan meant we had most of the afternoon to finish up our city sightseeing.  We headed off to the famous Ararat cognac factory for a tour and tasting, only to find that you needed to call in advance for a tour, and the tasting was 3,500 dram!!  Out of our price range.  So, bust.  Oh well.  We went instead to check out St. Sargis Church, as we wanted to see at least one Armenian church before we left.  St. Sargis was pretty cool.  Armenian Orthodox does not make use of icons, so their churches are more austere than the Georgian churches I've been used to seeing.  Still quite beautiful though.

Then, Chris wanted to find an antique store to pick up some artsy things.  We hunted around for a while, and eventually were able to find exactly what she was looking for!  I was pretty happy that worked out.  Then back to the hostel, a quick change again, and we went for our last dinner in Armenia at an "American West" themed restaurant that boasted steaks and ribs.  Hey, no judging -- a good steak is almost impossible to find in Georgia!  We shared a steak-and-rib combo platter; it came with fries and bunch of different sauces and everything was quite tasty.

For "dessert", I suggested checking out a wine bar we'd passed earlier in the day.  But to get there, we had to walk past the Italian place of much fame and aplomb.  So we never made it to the wine bar.  Instead, we were greeted by our waitress from the other night and ordered a bottle of that amazing Armenian wine and two desserts.  A wonderful last hurrah to a fantastic trip!

On the way back to the hostel, we picked up more wine and ended up talking and watching funny youtube nonsense on Chris's iPhone.  A good night all around and an amazing stay in Yerevan.  I would do it all again in a heartbeat.  I have a feeling that Armenia still has many, many things to show me.

Armenia: Day of the Jillion Stairs

So... remember how, at the end of the last post, Ryan, Chris, and I spent a quality few hours in a dark hookah bar that I'm pretty sure was also a brothel?  Welp, I left my camera on the table there, and only realized this after hot dogs had been consumed, beer had been purchased, and we were winding down at the hostel.  I was pretty upset and irritated at myself... for one thing, all my photos of freaking Armenia were on there, and of course now I wouldn't have a camera for the rest of the trip.  Plus, digital cameras in Georgia are terribly expensive, especially on a Georgian budget.  So I was not pleased.  But, the next morning the three of us were able to retrace our steps (impressive) and find the bar again.  Despite it being 10:30 in the morning, they were open.  When I walked in, the guy behind the bar (who had been there last night), just smiled and held my camera out to me.

Hooray for terribly nice Armenian bartenders in a possible-brothel!

(This is the same camera I have temporarily lost at least three or for times previous, crushed against rocks, and recently dropped in a toilet.  There is no logical reason I should have a working camera right now.  And yet.  I've named it the Battered Little Camera That Could.)

With that surprisingly excellent start to our day, we walked down to the very Soviet, very impressive Republic Square, home of the Singing Fountains from the night before.

Republic Square in the sunlight

We wanted to go to the two museums here (housed in the same giant building).  Georgia's museums tend to be relatively smallish, so I was very pleasantly surprised at both the size and quality of exhibits in Armenia's National History Museum.  The main floor includes a wealth of artifacts from prehistoric peoples up through the time of the Romans.  There's a lot there, and this floor included plenty of English captions and descriptions (which did not hold true throughout the rest of the museum).  The other floors included a room of ancient map reproductions, an extensive collection of ornate rugs, traditional Armenian dress and jewelry, and so on.  I'm a super-slow, read-and-absorb everything kind of museum goer, so Chris and Ryan frequently left me behind. :)  I could have stayed a lot longer, but the day was getting on and there was lots more to check off our lists.

For lunch, we chose at random a Chinese place nearby.  Ordered rice and a couple of chicken dishes, and had a superb family-style mini-buffet.  I will say that Yerevan does seem to edge out Tbilisi in its ability to create delicious food that is non-national in origin, but maybe it's just that my being on vacation enabled me to spend more money at nicer places than I usually allow myself in Tbilisi.

After lunch, Ryan left to check out the Contemporary Art Gallery that Chris and I had found yesterday, and we went back for the National Gallery.  Stopping first for a few minutes to capture the beautiful day!

The National Gallery proved to be just as extensive and impressive as the History Museum.  The top floor included a Tintoretto and a Donatello... and there were seven floors!  Unfortunately, it was getting late in the afternoon so we had to rush.  And then... the museum's staff started closing off rooms a full half hour before the museum was set to close! :(  Giant unhappiness.  It was one of those times I wished for language, because such shenanigans in the States would lead to a very polite, very firm inquiry from me to the museum's management.  But here, of course, I just had to suck it up and let it go.  So we probably did not see about half of the Gallery.  Big disappointment, as what we did get a chance to see was amazing.  I wish I could say "We'll catch it next time!" but seriously, when will I ever likely be in Yerevan again?

Next on this list was negotiating a cab ride (a daunting prospect) across town to the awesome ruins of the Erebuni Fortress.  The site's museum had closed for the day, but a very nice lady took our money and let us through to where we could climb up to the fortress itself.  Enter the stairs!!  But the view at the top made it all worth it.  We could see Mount Ararat in the distance!  So cool.

Erebuni Fortress is huge, and like Narikala Fortress in Tbilisi, they let you climb right on up and explore as you wish.  Chris and I actually lost each other for a little while here, among all the labyrinthine passages and rooms.  I so love wandering around ancient places like this, imagining what it must have looked like, and what kind of people lived there.

There was still plenty of daylight, so Chris and I cabbed it back to the city center and decided to visit The Cascade.  The Cascade is an enormous ziggurat-looking thing, still unfinished, that is supposed to harken back to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.  It was beautiful, although very clearly still under construction.  It is going to be really, really impressive when they finally finish it.

So yeah.  There were kind of a LOT of stairs to get to the top of this thing!  We took frequent rests under the pretense of taking photos.

About halfway up

The spire on the left is the Armenian Genocide Memorial, and to the right is the Opera House, modeled after the one in Sydney.

Finally reached the top!

And then, finally, it was time to undertake the 30 minute trek back to the hostel, to wring the sweat off us and discuss the ever-important topic of dinner.  On the way home we met Captain America.

We decided that tonight we'd try dinner at Al Shadi, an Arabic restaurant that was, again, just around the corner from our hostel.  Best location ever!  We met up with Ryan again and he agreed to join us.  But unfortunately just as we were heading out, I started to feel very ill and had to lie down... eventually took some Pepto Bismol chewables which turned out to be just the thing, because almost immediately afterward, I had to do an emergency sprint to the toilet.

So it can literally be said that I toured until I puked.

Now, most normal people, immediately after barfing, probably want to lie down and maybe sip some water and possibly take a nap.  Me, I brushed my teeth and we headed right along to Al Shadi, because I was not going to spend one of my few nights in Yerevan sitting in a hostel.  Besides, I felt better. :)  I think it was probably just my body's complaining about being overworked, dehydrated most of the day and then getting hit with a bottle of water in under a minute.  Shit happens.

And believe it or not, that was one of the smarter choices I made this whole trip.  Because Al Shadi was awesome.

We ordered a spread of Arabic food... the menu seemed to be a blending of Lebanese and Indian, and everything was delicious.  Also two bottles of Armenian wine, a red and a white.  The red was pretty good; the white was better but still not as good as the wine at the Italian place the night before!

And there were belly dancers.  Who were super smokin' hot.

So this becomes another place in Yerevan that I can recommend solidly.  The food was great, the wine excellent, and the entertainment was perfect!  We had a lot of fun here, and almost got another hookah, but eventually decided just to pick up some wine and chill at the hostel for the rest of the evening, because we had early starts the next day.  Ryan was going back to Tbilisi, and Chris and I had tickets for a tour to see the famous Garni Temple and Geghard Monastery.

One more day to go!  And we don't slow down one bit.

Sometimes, I teach stuff

Shortest post ever to let all y'all know that my second post is up on the TLG Blog.  Go forth and bask in my amazingness.

Ayo, Hadjiss -- Part 2

Those who know me will doubtless be shocked and surprised that Chris and I did not make our goal of an early start on Saturday.  But we got out of the hostel before noon, which for me still counts as a win.  We wandered around downtown looking for a travel and tour agency that would take us to Garni Temple and Geghard Monastery on short notice, with limited success.  So we headed off to check things off our list of Sightseeing Must Do's.

Four hotties.

First stop on the day's itinerary, The Blue Mosque.

We were truly blessed with stunningly beautiful weather for much of our trip, and this day was no exception.  The grounds of this amazing mosque were so peaceful.  An excellent spot to maybe sit with a journal and a cool drink and watch the world for an hour or three.

While in the garden, we were gently and politely accosted by a very nice woman who introduced herself as a Iranian Muslim expat living in Armenia.  She gave us a very detailed tour of the outside of the mosque and the library, and then let us poke our heads in to the mosque itself, although we weren't allowed in past the doorway.

Inside of the mosque, facing Mecca

And then she hit us up for some cash.  Oh well. :)  She was very nice, and gave us a Russian candy.  Chris and I both forked over some dram and were allowed to go on our way.

One of the trip's many dual self-portraits

The next stop was Yerevan's Woodworking Museum, which I wanted to see mainly for my Dad, and Chris wanted to see because she's an artist.  It was a little hard to find, and kind of small.  And if you wanted to take photos, you had to pay 1,000 dram over the 400 dram entrance fee!  Needless to say, I did not get any of those pictures I wanted to take to show my father.  But the work inside the museum was quite impressive, especially the detail work on the carvings.  Worth a peek inside, especially since there are so many other attractions right in the same area.

After the Woodworking Museum, we headed off to find the Contemporary Art Museum.  On the way there, we passed the Exoticarium, and I convinced Chris we should check it out.  I am a total sucker for embracing the random when it crosses my path whilst traveling, and in this case... well, we probably should have stuck to the plan.

The Exoticarium was a small indoor zoo, and it was very sad.  Mostly they had reptiles, birds, and small burrowing mammals like chinchillas and ferrets.  But there was one tiny fox-like creature that was both way to skinny and in a cage way too small for it.  The poor thing was freaking out completely, running back and forth from one corner to another (which basically took all of two steps).  There were also several monkeys, alternating moment-to-moment between rage and despair at their shitty situation.  I felt horrible for the poor animals, and also guilty that this depressing side trip had been my idea.  We left.  I felt too sorry for the larger animals to take any photos of the fox or monkeys, but here's the cutest shot I took in there.

Believe it or not, these two were just cuddling.

Then it was time to get back on track.  We found the Contemporary Art Museum and our spirits picked up again.  We loved this particular sculpture in particular -- "Judith."

You can't see, but she's holding the head of some dude she killed.  I dig strong women with big butts.

Long shot of the gallery, with Chris's coke bottle

Liked this one.

And THEN, it was time for a much-needed break for a sit-down, calories, hydration, and peeing.  And then off once again to see the Matenadaran, which houses one of the world's largest collections of ancient manuscripts and books.  It was a freaking hike to get up to this thing, but very worth it.

Apparently this thing is built to survive a literal nuclear attack.

We sprung the extra dram for a guided tour, which was also worth it as she spoke excellent English and had a wealth of knowledge about the manuscripts on display.  The Manenadaran is not a museum, more like a library for the research and historical elite.  There is one impressive display room and that is where our tour took place.  Unfortunately Chris and I were both too hot from our climb and tired from the day that we couldn't find it in us to ask many questions, me especially.  But fortunately I was able to perk up about halfway through.

And finally, it was time to head back to the hostel for a rest and a change.  We wanted to go to dinner at Ankyun, an Italian place just down the street from our hostel.  And I seriously cannot remember the last time I loved a restaurant so much.  Actually that would probably be Ukishima Gardens in Oki, but this place would give almost any restaurant in its class a serious run for its money.

We ordered an Armenian white to go with our meal.  It turned out to be one of the better wines I've had.

A bruchetta appetizer was followed by lasagna for Chris and seafood linguine for me, and both dishes were absolutely amazing.  It had been a while since I'd had true quality Italian food, and did not exactly expect to find it in Yerevan!

For dessert, we shared a homemade brownie (pretty good) and tiramisu (freaking transcendent), and I ordered a limoncello, because there was limoncello to be had.  It was proper limoncello too -- sweet and strong and not the least bit syrupy.  With our bill, they brought us tiny glasses of dessert wine on the house.  Love love love this place so much!!!  It might not be your typical Armenian fare, but if you are in Yerevan, you will be doing yourself an unforgivable disservice if you do not check these guys out.

After our incredible meal, we did a quick stop by the hostel again and ended up picking up another TLGer, Ryan, who was staying at Center.  We decided to go to a bar right around the corner that Chris had found good reviews for online.

Armenia is famous for its cognac.  Had to give it a try!

Cool little place, maybe a bit dark.  But the best thing about it was unquestionably THIS:

I'm just gonna leave this here.

After our cognac and a couple beers, it was time to migrate again, so we headed out -- just in time to catch Yerevan's famous Singing Fountains at Republic Square.

Twue Wuv

A quick stop at a shwarma place so Ryan could calorie up, and then we found ourselves inside a very dark underground bar in which we were the only patrons.  Sketchy?  Naw!  But they had beer... and also hookahs!  So we were happy.

And here we stayed, quite happily entertained, until the bar closed and they kicked us out.  Quick detour for an emergency 2:00 AM hot dog, in and out of a 24-hour shop for beer, and then we closed out the night in the hostel's common room.

And this was just Day One.

Believe it or not... the next couple days turn out to be just as packed! Stay tuned, lovelies!

Armenia: Ayo, Hadjiss

Well, the days just seem to be getting away from me more and more recently.  I have been keeping very busy with my assorted jobs, plus social life and even a few minutes of alone time here and there.

Big News:  Last week I formally requested a contract extension with TLG, and was approved.  So I will be coming back to Georgia this September, after a very much-needed ~3 month stateside sabbatical with all of my most important people.

Speaking of awesome people, my dear friend Chris flew into Tbilisi two Thursdays ago.  It was so incredible to see her again after a year of communicating mainly through Facebook. :)  She will be here until May 16, and there are many adventures in the works.  On her first night in Georgia, we got off to an aptly amazing start with a supra my host family threw for her in the apartment's courtyard.

The spread, my host Dad, Chris, and me

The Georgian "Drinking Pitcher"

The supra was fantastic as always -- tons of mtsvadi, khachapuri, fresh veggies, and fish my host Dad had caught the day before.  Despite appearances to the contrary, Chris and I tried very hard to take things easy amidst all the wine and toasting, because we had to get ourselves up at 6:30 the next morning, out the door, and on a marshutka to Yerevan.

Armenia Bound!

The bus to Yerevan leaves from the Ortachala station, and with a little help from our taxi driver and my Georgian (which suddenly seems to be ramping up to the next [still embarrassingly bad] level), we got our tickets and seats on the rattly little deathbox without incident.  It was Chris's first time riding in such a contraption, and she handled it like a pro. :)  I remember how unenthused I was at the idea of a marshutka ride from Tbilisi to Poti back when I first arrived!

At the Georgia/Armenia border, there was some minor bureaucracy to deal with -- some paperwork for the visa, and the fact that the Armenians only accept dram to pay for said visa.  Luckily I had managed to find a bank in Tbilisi a few days before that actually exchanged for Armenian currency (this was not easy), so I had some on me.  But within the hour, we were both legit and bumping and jouncing our way through the Armenian countryside.

View during a potty stop

The trip, including the hour or so at the border, took a little less than six hours.  Not bad.  I had booked us rooms at the well-recommended and very excellent Center Hostel.  This hostel is not easy to find -- there are NO signs... not on the main road where its street address is, nor around the back alley where you actually get in.  Not sure as to the business model on that one.  But, once again through the help of new friends and kind strangers, we eventually were unpacking in our quite basic but clean private double room (5th floor walk-up!)

And then it was time to explore!

Center Hostel is aptly named, it is smack-dab in the center of the main district, and is within easy walking distance of almost everything there is to do in Yerevan -- tons of shops, restaurants, museums, parks, churches, and cute outdoor cafes.  For our first meal in Armenia, Chris and I found a lovely place nearby and shared a spread of salad, hummus, Armenian bread, roast chicken, and a delicious plate of assorted cheeses from the region.  Not bad at all!  I would recommend this place to anyone, except I forgot to get the name!

After lunch/dinner, we met up with two acquaintances of mine I had originally met with Julie on our way back from Trabzon.  They took us to the Wild West Pub, which was basically Armenia's hilarious interpretation of what the Wild West actually looked like.  The decor featured a gigantic Confederate Flag.  Chris and I had fun attempting to explain the similarities and differences between the Old South, the Wild West, and racism.  Good times. :)

International Relations, and beer!!

Also, the bathroom in this place was a freaking riot.

I guess they don't call it the Porcelain Throne for nothing

After being introduced to a variety of Armenian beers (and bar food -- they like bowls of salted chickpeas), we called it a night and wandered back to Center Hostel to get our beauty sleep for a busy day ahead.  Stay tuned!  Four more days of Armenian Awesomeness followed by no shortage of Tbilisi shenanigans to come.