AUA Barsam Suites Yerevan

... is a holy destination for all the Christian people around the world. As mentioned, Armenia was the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as a state religion. There is a wonderful legend connected with it, about which I'll write in my blog further.

Armenia is also called a “museum under the sky” – on its territory there are more then 4000 architectural monuments ...

... get hurt. They get into this windmill wind-up that never seems to end, hardly the perfunctory little lapel-swishing that the average Latino does nowadays. My first introduction to Armenian culture was in LA, where 'Little Armenia' is partially contiguous with 'Thai Town'. That always seemed like a strange random pairing until I finally walk the streets of Erevan itself, and the most striking thing is all the cafes, upscale and with various ...

Yes, we have immersed ourselves in the Armenian Culture, drinking much of the local brew, red wine as opposed to white, and for a little nightcap , a large shot of vodka with tomato juice and ice, actually we are having a couple -very nice. Thank you to all who have managed to hook into the Blog site, we come to Julian's and the first thing we do is check. Sunday was fabulous, Julian came to our Apartment ...

... the Armenians were Christian friends of the Muslim and under the protection of Islam. Westerners who observed the genocide reported nightmares for the rest of their lives. The State Museum was a little bit more cheerful. Happy beautiful carpets and handicrafts, stone crosses (Armenia was the first country whose government accept Christianity for the country, even before Rome), and an exorbitant number of ancient representations of fertility gods and ...

... called Prague and by the lake there is a Bohemian resort, whatever it is. Back in Yerevan I am surprised how fast one can travel in Armenia (in comparison to Georgia) and so I decide to visit Garni Temple & Geg********astery in addition. So I take marshrutka #51 from SW corner of Opera and get to "GAI Poghots" where I take another marshrutka to Garni temple. This time it's the classical old country bus from the 50th, used mainly by schoolchildren and old people who somehow manage ...

... quarters dug into the surrounding cliffs, with khatchkars and ancient symbols surrounded by Celtic knotwork abounding. The monastery blended with the surroundings and the stones of the 13th century Surp Katoghike--its conical dome and cylindrical drum and vaulted ceilings--were from the surrounding basaltic cliffs. Inside was a holy spring emanating from a rock-hewn cave called Avazan, meaning basin, another cave called Jhamatun with bas ...

Arriving at Khor Virap would have provided an amazing view of Mt. Ararat but unfortunately it was raining. The little monastery of Khor Virap looks out onto Mt. Ararat and the Turkish border. The border is a highly militarized area and the border with Turkey is firmly closed. Just to the south is the breakaway province of Naxchivan, part of Azerbaijan. This border ...

... thad se svo sterkt ad armenar geti ekki einusinni hugsad ser ad horfast i augu vid ta yfir landamaerin. Thad er serstok upplifun fyrir folk af eylandi ad sja turnana og girdingarnar medfram landamaerunum og handan vid thau gnaefa thessi tignarlegu fjoll sem einusinni tilheyrdu Armeniu, Ararat og Litla- Ararat. Vid nutum utsynisins yfir landamaerin langleidina i klaustur sem eg er ekki med nafnid a ( eg verd ad fara ad hafa dagskrana ...

... did stop for petrol every hour and filled up. This time, it seemed like a lot of us were getting used to the bumpy road and flying in the air every time we go over a depression in pavement. On the way, Heidi and Michelle warned us of how disgusting the restrooms in the churches were. Funny, when we got there, there was a modern church standing with clean restrooms! We enjoyed a lot of their hospitality; as soon as we got off, we set up ...

... and I take the metro to the center to change money. I have only 400 drams left, which is less than 1 EUR! Yerevans underground is of the same kind as ours in Prague some 15 years ago. It is old but not ugly and dirty like the one in Paris. From the republic square I am heading back to Smbat s house. He said to me on the phone that he cant go and meet me in the center, because he had a car crash. He sounds fine though so I imagine a little ...