After another relaxing morning (we could really get used to this lifestyle! ESPECIALLY when a delicious breakfast awaits down the hall in the fridge!) we ducked over to grab another tasty lahmujun for lunch.
From there, we headed over to the house museum of Sergei Parajanov, a Georgian-born filmmaker and artist. After seeing only a few of his works, it was clear that he was a man who very much walked the fine line between genius and insanity. His incredible knack for balance on this tightrope was astounding, as many of his creations were very odd, yet understandable and almost familiar.
From there we ducked back over to the GUM market to pick up some “thank you” treats for Linn, our gracious AirBnB host who has more than bent over backwards for us: arranging for taxis, getting us the keys to the apartment, helping to coordinate the madness of tracking and get our bags back. We love the market and went back to the same woman who we bought from before.
Our errands continued with a quick jaunt over to the Post Office, to mail a few postcards on our last day in Armenia. More importantly, on the way to the Post Office we passed a small bakery stand, where we found one of the last Armenian food items on our bucket list: a braided sweet bread called “choreg”. Though it wasn’t exactly like the ones grandma makes, it was close enough and oh so lovely!
As we continued our wander of the city, we happened across the biggest church in Armenia – a landmark that Maria had pointed out earlier in the week but that we’d not had time to stop at previously. With nothing but time, we decided to do a little photoshoot:
And then on the way back from the church, what should catch our eye but an amazing statue of some unknown Armenian man, who was riding not one, but two horses! So of course we had to capture that, too, as he was just too much Armenia for one horse!
At this point, rain clouds were more than just ominous – they were definitely starting to spit, so we ducked into yet another café to grab a pick-me-up and wait out the storm.
In the evening, we had dinner at Ayntep, which serves Western Armenian food – a cuisine we sought out in particular as it’s where the Boyadjian family originates. We had a terrific yogurt, cucumber, and dill “salad”; salty juicy pork BBQ with pilaf; a succulent bowl of stewed lamb with veggies; and a side of puffed sesame bread.
After dinner we checked the final food bucket list item off our list: Armenian Baklava!
Finally, as capstone to our time here, we caught the hour-long dancing water and light show at Republic Square, in front of the National History Museum. It was a packed square for a Tuesday night, but for good reason! The show was full of flashes (and splashes) of brilliant colors and sound 🙂
Next stop: Croatia!
-G&J
p.s. Finally caught up on blog posts! Sneaking this one in on the same day, at 11:53pm Yerevan time!