Sunny Armenia: The Story of a New Year's Journey. Part II
This article follows up on our story about our New Year's trip to Armenia.
Day 3
The third day of our trip was accompanied by work calls. So we decided to spend it taking walks in the city in between.
We decided to have breakfast at Prepa, a cute café on Amiryan Street with a minimalist interior and plenty of breakfast options served all day. We particularly liked pomegranate and orange freshes.
After a few zooms, we walked around the city center. We enjoyed the constant sunshine and warm weather, which meant we were able to walk around uncovered and eat outside in the winter.
When it got dark, we decided to go to the Christmas market next to the main square. The aroma of gluhwein wafted around us, New Year's music was playing and everything was sparkling with bright lights.
In the evening we wanted to listen to traditional music and have dinner. We went to the Taverna that had been recommended earlier. We enjoyed the food, although we thought it was inferior to Sherep's, but the singing of a traditional Armenian choir raised the place in our eyes.
Day 4
On the fourth day of our trip we decided to make our way to the famous Mount Ararat. We had read on the internet that the best view was from the Khor Virap monastery. So that's where we went. It took us about 40 minutes by taxi. Khor Virap is a holy place known to every Armenian. The monastery is located on a hill on the border between Armenia and Turkey. Earlier this was the site of the city of Artashat, the ancient capital of Armenia.
It took us about half an hour to climb the hill. At first we could not see Ararat because of the haze. Only the setting sun, which we waited for after descending from the prison where St Gregory the Illuminator, the baptiser of Armenia, was imprisoned for 13 years for spreading Christianity. The setting sun was illuminating the mountain, which we had previously mistaken for a beautiful cloud. The view was truly breathtaking.
A visit to Armenia is, of course, unthinkable without tasting its traditional sweets, namely churchella. Coming down from Khor Virap, we were dying to try it and asked at the first souvenir shop. It was not available, but we were quickly shown the place where it was. It was beautifully packaged and in the form of handmade sweets. Honestly speaking, we didn't expect much from it at first. But it exceeded all our expectations - the grape juice was juicy, the walnuts were the freshest, and the shape of the candy was the most convenient. We have never met a better churchella.
Day 5
The last full day of our trip we spent walking around Yerevan.
We took in the buildings of the Opera and Ballet Theatre and the flooded skating rink on the site of the Swan Lake reservoir, and walked leisurely to the city's main attraction - Cascus Square. It is a complex of fountains, sculptures and art galleries - a veritable open-air museum of modern art.
The cascade consists of five terraces that can be reached by stairs (more than 500 steps) or escalators inside the building. We decided to go up on foot.
From the top of the cascade there is a beautiful view of the city, and if you are lucky and the weather is clear, you can see Mount Ararat. Luck was not on our side, however: the famous mountain peak was hidden in a thick haze.
Next we walked through Victory Park, where the Mother Armenia Monument stands, built to commemorate the USSR's victory in the Great Patriotic War. The author of the monument is Rafael Israelyan, the People's Architect of the USSR.
This walk was the perfect ending to a short but incredibly emotional trip, very calm, peaceful and on the same wave. At the airport we decided that we would both like to spend more time together and in this country, visiting its nature reserves. But that, we hope, is still ahead of us.
