Happy Birthday to Catharine of Bohemia, Orville Wright, Ogden Nash, Coco Chanel, Malcolm Forbes, Frank McCourt, Bill Clinton, Kyra Sedgwick, Satya Nadella, & me. :(I’m 66): Like Barbie, the Cuban Revolution, the states of Alaska & Hawaii, Nepalese women’s suffrage, Lee Kwan Yew’s Singapore, UNCOPUOS, and the end of Billie Holiday, the Marx brothers TV show and the Dalai Lama’s Tibet back in 1959.
Here’s some stuff I’ve snapped since returning from Armenia earlier this month (the day my Uncle Byrns would’ve been 100 – August 4th). First up, a hike with Dr. Burr in the La Honda Creek Open Space…
Here are some pix of the SCCS Fashion Show hosted by Ben & Dave…
A recent haul from the library and me sporting some B-day presents…
Hopefully, I’ll figure out how to add some videos (that aren’t time lapses) to show Charlie’s fiddling with Bundy Browne at PAFF, etc.? In the meantime, I’ll go ahead and post to mark the day.
In fact, I’m considering bringing RandomVail.com to a close. It has been a decade since I started this blog, and it may be time to wrap it up? If this is the end, thanks for coming this far!
While on my tour to Garni Temple, I met a Romanian guy, Alex, married to a Russian gal, who recently moved from Buenos Aires to Madrid. We seemed to have a lot to talk about, so we did over dinner. He wanted to go to this restaurant, Dolmama, visited by a variety of celebrities, and it was excellent (and not unreasonable). Once again, this experience was proof that it’s not just the places you go and the things that you see, it’s the people you meet…!
I should do this in every country, but I had the time and most (but not all) the bills to take pix of Armenian Drams (not be confused with all the other meanings of “dram”). I was particularly moved to do this having learned the story of the guy on the 10,000 dram note: Komitas, a sensitive soul and famous musician who personally archived a whole lotta Armenian folk songs. (Here’s more about Komitas.) Doubtless, the other people on other bills have meaningful stories as well…
The next day, my last in the Caucasus before flying home the next night, I went to Erebuni Fortress. Like Garni, this was suggested by Chris Melekyan, Harut’s Dad. Unlike Garni, which was very well cared for, Erebuni, and the accompanying museum, need a little more love.
However, it is important in Armenian history, and hearkens back to the 8th century BCE. In fact, Yerevan gets its name from Erebuni and you can see that the planned city has a big street leading up to it.
Also, when I was there it was hotter than Hades which made walking through the ruins (exposed on a hilltop) a challenge. But building and ruling Urartu was probably more of a challenge…
It was tricky to find a taxi in the vicinity of Erebuni, but I managed, and went to visit Vernissage, and do a little shopping. Part tourist shops, part local flea market, it really is the best place to get some souvenirs of Armenia. The two selfies were with a couple vendors from whom I bought some items. As with many other places in the world, my favorite souvenirs are photos of souvenirs – it’s like buying everything…?
After Vernissage, I took a walk back to my hotel, stopping in the Beatle’s Pub, and then walked up into the neighborhood on the other side of the street. Nice cars next to sketchy digs…?
My destination on this mini-excursion was Lovers’ Park, and it didn’t disappoint…
A few more views of Yerevan, including my hotel and the street in the evening, before turning in. I was up in the night, off in a taxi, and home to Californa via Frankfurt…
Finally, some pix shared by Pavel post-trip – our group & his girlfriend et al. – and some last snaps heading home…
Back in Yerevan, same hotel, different room – see the view. Zoom into the second pic and read Saroyan. Blue thing = fountain (see the water frolic). Freshly carved Khachkars (BTW, every one of them is unique – even from centuries ago!)!
And, a walk to our farewell dinner, at which Pavel continued to educate us about the Caucasus…
Now that I’ve been on many Intrepid tours, I’ve had a lot of tour leaders. Here’s Pavel – thanks bro’!
My Intrepid tour over, I signed up for another one. I’d asked some Armenian friends from LAUSD advice, so I took it. Zepure Kivork said to use Hyur Travel Service. Chris Melekyan suggested going to Garni. So, I took a Hyur tour to Garni – and several other places. Just getting started that day…
Our second stop was another monastery – Geghard – featuring caves, carved rooms, and more features of the Armenian Apostolic Church, etc.
Next, we went to an amazing geological site – the “Synphony of Stones” in Garni Gorge, near Garni Temple.
After leaving the gorge, it didn’t take long to get to Garni Temple, identified as a pagan temple built by King Tiridates I in the first century AD as a temple to the sun god Mithra. It was rebuilt after an earthquake, but the adjacent Christian church was not. Also, visited a bath house built during Roman times…
Right after leaving the temple, we went to a restaurant for class on making Lavash, Armenian bread. Mostly, we ate some with herbs and cheese…!
This old Soviet radio/phonography deserved some acknowledgement…
After two nights in Yerevan, we drove an hour to get to Khor Virap, a monastery close to the Turkish border with a view of Mount Ararat.
The legend of Gregory the Illuminator, the founder and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism to Christianity in the early fourth century (traditionally dated to 301), making Armenia the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion, and the reason that Armenians are the original Christians – apart from Catholicism and the Orthodox churches – started here at Khor Virap. Allegedly put in hole in the ground, filled with snakes & scorpions, for 13 years, he eventually survived to start the earliest Christian church here.
However, the hole in the church I went into might not have been the right one, seen here. After exploring the area – as you can too – I went back to go into the other hole, much deeper and steeper and scarier, but it was crowded and we were out of time. Check the last pic…
You can see from the Maps screen shot that Khor Virap is just across the border from Mount Ararat. After driving back through Yerevan, we went to a Molokans village to learn about their history and to have lunch. Vaguely similar to the Quakers or the Amish, these folks from central Russia started migrating here over two centuries ago, in the early 1800’s…
We finally made it to the mountain community of Dilijan where we stayed in a guesthouse and had our third scheduled wine tasting of the trip, after which we took a short tour of the town…
The next day, we left Dilijan to drive to Lake Sevan (the largest body of water in both Armenia and the Caucasus region) for another stay in a guesthouse.
First however, some, but not all, of us went on a hike in Dilijan National Forest. Eric was our guide and we went to two sites of ancient monasteries, the first which was built in 1247, almost 800 years ago. Note the sign to that effect, and the fellow who was the caretaker of the place (?!)….
We went back for a shower, then set off for Lake Sevan. Here’s a timelapse from the next day – some mountain driving!
A stop at a huge roadside rest (food court and grocery store)…
We made it to the guesthouse, a funky spot on the shore of Lake Sevan. After resting and bantering with Arman the barman, who took pleasure in collecting some new jokes, I took a long swim. Afterwards, we had a nice dinner of local fish…
The next morning, calm and clear, I took another swim, jumping off the pier and going around the sailboat (in the first pic). More of our guesthouse, some flowers, and image-worthy images…
On our way back to Yerevan, we went to one more monastery, Sevanavank. Originally built on an island, it is now a peninsula (see the green part?!).
Pavel had waited until to tell us more about Khachkars, a unique “carved, memorial stele bearing a cross, and often with additional motifs such as rosettes, interlaces, and botanical motifs. Khachkars are characteristic of medieval Christian Armenian art.”
And, he told us about the unique depiction of Jesus as Asian with braids in the big picture, perhaps to preserve this monastery from the Mongol hordes? More of this site, ending with cops sprucing up this thing I wasn’t allowed to go to…?!
