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.