Sunday, March 13, 2011

Just get me to the church on time!!

Last weekend a bunch of TLGers and I took a trip to Armenia. A year ago I probably couldn't locate Armenia on the map let alone visit there so it was quite an experience. All I knew was that Armenia claims to be the first Christian state, and that the Kardashians and Cher are Armenian. So I could expect to see a lot of churches (which I did) and women that look a lot like Kim and Cher (which I did too). 


As we walked through the streets of Yerevan I could not help but notice the diversity of restaurant, shops, and people. I no longer felt like I was in a former Soviet Republic, but in a European city! The change wasn't completely drastic to Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, but it was definitely noticeable. It was almost like a sneak peek into how Tbilisi would be in 10 years. We explored all different types of food including Lebanese, Chinese, Mexican, and American style. We even went karaoking one night haha. I felt like I was back in NY!


A beautiful brand new church in downtown Yerevan




Yerevan's central square


Over the course of the weekend we were able to take several days trips to beautiful sights outside of Yerevan thanks to our marshutaka driver Roman, and Michelle's fabulous Russian language skills.


Geghard Monastery




Garni Temple




Echmiadzin (like the Vatican of Armenian Apostolic Church)
Armenian Genocide Memorial


One day we went to the Armenian Genocide Museum. This is a brand new museum that was created in order to educate people on the genocide of over 1 million Armenians that took place in 1915 during the Ottoman Empire or present day Turkey. It was an extremely moving exhibit, and it made me grateful to be able to visit Armenia and enjoy its people, places, and culture.
Noravank, set in a breath taking mountainous valley
Samtrediettes <33




Mt. Aragats in the distance

Were jumping for joy at Lake Sevan
Abandoned building...love the color contrasts

3 comments:

  1. How did you get your pictures to like up like that? Is that a setting on here?

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  2. Click on the picture and then an option will pop up to "add caption" when you write a caption on it, it will show it like that!

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  3. That's exactly what I thought of Yerevan -- Tbilisi in ten years. Nice pictures!

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