Monday, July 22, 2013
The Europe Hotel was filled with several members of an extended family who arrived in Yerevan from several different countries to attend the wedding of a cousin. The wedding took place yesterday and lasted late into the night, so the dining room was empty this morning. This gave me an opportunity to take photos of the breakfast room.
One End of the Breakfast Room
The Other Side of the Breakfast Room
The Lobby
The Business Center
I had read that the museums in Yerevan were closed on Mondays, but one directory stated that the Erebuni Fortress was open. It’s located on the outskirts of the city which is too far to walk. We found a taxi on Republic Square and negotiated a price of 1000 Drams. The driver was a congenial older man who chatted with us and waved to many friends in the streets along the way.
Erebuni Museum
Unfortunately, the Erebuni Museum was closed and we had to find another taxi to return to the center of town. We asked him to take us to a busy street near Republic Square because Francoise wanted to find a market which she thought was nearby.
Art Gallery
We found a small private art gallery which so we entered and looked at the paintings in the collection. It was well past lunchtime, so we walked to the Yerevan Tavern which had been recommended to us by Gagik’s wife, Anna. There were many unusual items on the menu and food was very good.
Interior of the Yerevan Tavern
Street Art
Tomorrow, we were planning to go on a bus trip with Hyur Tours to Karabakh. Armenians refer to the region as “Artsakh” which was the ancient Armenian name for the provence. Karabakh is the remote mountainous area which serves as a border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The two countries fought a bitter war over the region in 1988. The Nagano-Karabakh Region is not internationally recognized or sanctioned by the United Nations. At this moment, it is an independent ‘micro-state’ which is closely allied to Armenia. We spent most of the evening packing and preparing for the three-day adventure.