We woke up later than usual since this was our first lazy morning since the gulet cruise (endless sight-seeing is hard work!). We munched on our GUM market bounty from the day before, and rallied to start our day.
Our first stop was the National History Museum, where we learned about the entire history of Armenia, from century old archaeological findings charting the development of the Armenian (and arguably human race) from cave dwelling, to pottery, to bronze, to steel, through modern times.
The highlight of the museum was this: the world’s oldest shoe: dated to be from 3,500 BC!
Source: Thanks, Internet!
From there, we wandered over to the Vernissage Market, a weekend-only street market, where we browsed aisle upon aisle of jewelery, trinkets, and art work. We were overwhelmed at first, but after a quick ice cream and baked goods pitstop, we were ready to go.
Towards the end of our market explorations, we finally hit the art section, and found two incredible hand drawn pieces that summed up most of the history and culture of Yerevan:
Mount Ararat, Armenia’s dream mountain, plus the symbols of Armenia culture – the alphabet, the stone cross and the pomegranate!
Then, for dinner, we hopped over to Tavern Yerevan, a famous restaurant dedicated to preserving traditional Armenian cuisine, music, and culture. We had a delicious meal of: kharcho (lamb & rice soup), Tolma Yerevan (stuffed grape leaves), Khurjin (incredible lavash pouch filled with lamb & veggies), Stewed red-finned fish from Jermuk, with two glasses of lovely Karas (Armenian red wine).
During dinner, we were also seated in the area with live traditional music and dancing!
After dinner, on our walk home, we decided to swing by Freedom Square, which is a park right next to our apartment that is chock-a-block full of cafés that encircle an artificial lake (Swan Lake) and the Opera House. We enjoyed an Armenian cognac (Ararat 5*) and a local beer (Kilikia). Oh, and there was a hot air balloon; we have no idea why… but it only lasted for 30 minutes.
Lastly, we decided to finally check out Pub Cuba, a Cuba-themed bar right on the corner of our street, that we’ve literally walked by a dozen times. We walked in to a a barrage of sound, and after paying the 2000 AMD cover (~$4 per person) were treated to an intimate, but outrageously energetic rock performance.
That was just the nightcap we needed, and needless to say, crashed hard, eager to get up and go the next day!
-J&G