My Last Weekend

My final weekend in Armenia, what can I say? A month has passed so quickly and I think it will take me many more months to evaluate my time here.

I spent this weekend trying to fit in as much of the Armenian experience as I possibly could. I even made an effort to find time and savor the views. On Friday afternoon I went to the Yerevan Zoo and enjoyed seeing all the animals, even though I felt their conditions could have been a bit better. I really enjoyed the camels, because they were more than willing to let me pet them. It wasn’t totally clear if that was allowed but no one seemed to really mind.

An elephant made of recycled water bottles

My favorite camel

From the zoo, I continued onto the Mother Armenia Statue in Yerevan. It was huge and surrounded by missile, tank, and airplane replicas. I thought the best thing about the statue was the view of the mountains. The statue was also located in a little amusment park so I stopped to shoot a bow and arrow, that made my day. Finally, I finished up the night walking down Cascade, it’s a huge staircase that offers spectacular views of the city.

The Mother Armenia

The view of the city, the mountains just visible in the background

The next day I traveled out of Yerevan and went to Khor Virap. The monastery there was built in the 17^th century. However, the site is famous because Gregory the Illuminator, credited for bringing Christianity to Armenia, was said to be imprisioned in a pit there for 13 years. Climbing down into the pit was in itself was  a big part of the experience.

Inside the Khor Virap Monastery

Beginning the climb out of the pit

The view from the Khor Virap Monastery

That night we had a Birthright party at Diamond Pizza. Which turned out to have a swanky open-air top floor. It looked right into Republic Square and I was able to watch the water show taking place in the square.

The view of Republic Square

On Sunday, I finally made it to Vernissage, the outdoor market place. I was stunned by the endless rows of paintings, jewelry, carvings, and of course left over Soviet military items. I was also slightly overwhelmed by the endless sea of people. It didn’t take long for me to empty out my wallet because I currently know exactly enough Armenian to ask, “how much?” and then I have no language skills that would allow me to haggle.