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!