Exploring Yerevan

Monday, Sept. 22, 2014--Yerevan, Armenia

Although my apartment is nice, I discovered two problems last night and this morning.  First, the bed is horrible!!  It is a cheap mattress that creaks with every movement and is worn enough that the wire coils can be felt through it.  I tried to find a way to avoid feeling the coils, but it wasn't possible.  Finally, I changed my bedding to the long sofa in the living room and slept there all night.  Tonight, I may try to make a pallet on the floor, since I have several blankets and comforters in the closet.  The sofa is a bit narrow, but it will be fine if the pallet doesn't work well.  Second, I noticed this morning that the floor was dirty.  I found the broom and dusting pan and swept it.  I was amazed at how much I swept up--hair, crumbs, etc.  But now that I have done that, it is fine.

I walked for 4 hours exploring the city today, then I spent another 30 minutes exploring a large supermarket.  It was fun, especially since this city seems so different from all the other cities that I have visited on this trip.

I needed local currency, so I stopped at an exchange business and changed 10 Euros and 10 Lari (Georgian currency) that I had left from previous travels into Armenian Drams. That gave me money for at least today and maybe tomorrow. 

My first stop was the beautiful building that used to be the central market building here.  I thought it was still the market it used to be, so I hoped to find a bakery stall and maybe some fresh fruits.  But when I got there, I discovered that it has been turned into a small shopping mall with a large supermarket in the center of it all.  The building has ornate exterior metal work and wonderful glass fixtures along the tops of the walls inside.  I left planning to return later in the day to buy some things for the apartment, since it is only one long block from where I live.

Just at the end of the block where the old market building is located, I found about 4 local bakery establishments.  I bought a triangular-shaped pastry that the man said had chicken inside.  It was a blend of shredded chicken, parsley, carrots, etc., in a bit of a thick sauce.  It served perfectly as my lunch/breakfast and cost only 63 cents US.  

From there, I wandered the major streets in the center of town.  I went by the Opera Building, a two-faced building with the opera and ballet having one entrance and the philharmonic orchestra having another entrance.  Getting there and beyond, I passed many parks; the city has parks located everywhere to make it easy for residents to be among the trees and to have a place to relax outside their apartments.  One was the Cascades Park which is topped by a monument to the USSR victory in WWII and, unfortunately, is undergoing restoration.  It has sculptures by famous artists and has an art deco version of the hanging gardens of Babylon. 

As I wandered down Abovian Steet, I passed Katoghike, the oldest (and very small) survining church of Yerevan.  It's a tiny chapel.  But old churches in Armenia are OLD.  Armenia was the first country in the world to adopt Christianity, and it has been the religion here since 301 A.D.

Eventually, I returned to Republic Square where I visited yesterday.  Yerevan was a planned city by the architect Tamanian, and it is an amazing example of GOOD Soviet architecture.  There are few good examples anywhere.  This square (which is really an oval) is beautiful with its pink stone buildings.

I headed southeast from there down a local shopping street.  I say "local" because it consisted of less expensive shops than I have seen in the central area of the city.  This led me to the former Cinema Russia that today is  what we would call a mini-mall or a flea market at home with individual stalls operated to sell whatever merchandise that seller thinks will sell.  The building itself is a Soviet monstrosity with a swooped roof.  It reminded me of the market building I found in the Podil area in Kiev.  What's amazing is that this ugly area is only about 2 blocks away from the beautiful Republic Square!

I stopped at a park to read for a while after that.  Then I headed back to the old central market building to shop at the supermarket.  I bought a bottle of Armenian red wine and two Armenian half-liter bottles of beer from two different breweries.  I bought a jar of tomato sauce to use in cooking some pasta I still have from Ukraine.  I got some cookies similar to what I bought in Lithuania--filled with an apple mixture.  I got a bar of dark chocolate.  And I bought a 2-liter bottle Coca Cola Light, something I have not had for ages.  Wes used to buy them when he was travelling with me, and I would occasionally have a swig or two of his after we ate sandwiches I had made for our travelling.  This is the first bottle I have bought for myself on the whole trip.  The amazing thing is that all of this cost less than $10 US!

I'm going back out tonight.  I seldom go out at night when I am traveling, but there are things that are recommended at night here.  I'll write tomorrow about what I see and do.