Blogs from West, Armenia, Asia

Day 23 Yerevan Armenia It’s our last full day in Armenia. Our objective today is to get inside the National Museum of Art and National History Museum, both within the same building on Republic Square. Last time we went on a Monday when it was closed, but on a Thursday we should have success. We arrive on foot and enter the front door. First ticket seller, ‘The museum is closed’. ‘No flash please’. We don’t understand, we lazily expect to have more information (in English) having acquired little or no Armenian language. She turns to her colleague who says ‘The museum is closed’. ‘No flash today’. We still haven’t understood........... but there are no lights on ............ ‘flash’ is meaning lighting / electricity. It’s the same problem we had at our first visit to the Saryan ... read more

So today we went to the Armenian Genocide Monument and Museum In Yerevan. It remembers a series of massacres an deportations of Armenian Christians by Ottoman Turks particularly in the period from 1890 - 1919. At least 664,000 and possibly as many as 1.2 million died during the genocide. Pistachio croissant for breakfast. It was decorated with green glazed stripes and filled with green pistachio custard. We had waited for good while for a No 46 on Mashtots Street, but this Rough Guide recommended transport to the museum seemed unlikely to materialise. Numbers and services change. We walk a bit and taxi driver who was on hand agreed 2000 AMD (about £4 like a ride for two on the No 1 at home, if you’re twirly for the old gadgies’ pass). So, in minutes we were ... read more

Day 4 Saturday 9th September I’m writing in the past tense today. Which do you prefer, past or present tense? After a night of disruption we woke at 8.45am feeling refreshed. Into a new day, Saturday, with hope and a rested head. We pottered with crosswords and blogs in our room until it felt time to set off and find breakfast around 10am. We shunned the cinema café opting for an exploration to find a baker’s shop. It was raining, but no sooner than you can get the words ‘Danish Pastries’ out of your mouth and we we’re upon the best bun shop in town. Baguette and Co. The place smelled great, there were trays of croissants coming out of the oven as we queued and the glass display cabinets were brimming with freshly baked bread, ... read more

Aviatic Hotel Paris. I had put the alarm on on for 6am but didn’t need it. We both woke up at intervals through the night and were only half under at best. It must be fear of not hearing the alarm and general excitement. At 5.30am we agree that we both had had enough of trying and Marion took the first shower. We are on a very full, bouncy and rackety Orlybus by 6.05am. It was full. Mostly with airport workers, we suspect. Off the bus and into the huge terminal (3). After a visit to ‘paul’ for the restorative powers of pain au raisins and coffee, we approach departure gate D. I pass through the metal detector and case X-ray test, but Marion is very closely examined by staff from both departments. Her titanium hips ... read more

Po ranajkach nazad do postele, neskor lobby kde som sfinalizoval suhrny za posledne krajiny mimo iranu. Cs zo vcera sa nehlasi tak pesibusom k pomniku 1915 genocida armenov. Zastavka v dalsej prevadzke karas na ul mashtots. Tato menej luxusnejsia ako vcerajsia. V restike ako servirka bola i plasticka barbina co uz ma najvacsu slavu za sebu. Nestihla si ulovit toho svojho ruskeho mecenasa a skoncila prakticky vo fastfoode kam sa vobec nehodi. Po jedle pokracujem dole ulicou, sem tam fontanka na pitie, to potesi v tomto teple. Prichadzam ku kanonu, dole mini riecka, trava vypalena. Z kostola prave vychadzaju zenich s nevestu. Klasika ako u nas, biele saty, hadzanie lupenov ruzi nad hlavu. Zahajujem zostup do kanonu, chodnik ma co to za sebou. Vynaram sa pri stadione hrazdan. Ten obrovsky ale najlepsie roky uz ma za ... read more