Breakfast surprises for today included steak lasagna, hot dogs, buckwheat and steamed broccoli. Thank goodness they also offer fresh fruits, breads, cereal and cake!

We hired Hyur Service to bring us sightseeing in the morning. Our guide Nacelle was very knowledgeable, pointing out sites in Yerevan as we were leaving the city and explaining everything in great detail at each location. The driver, Levon, was also skilled at driving on the uneven roads, avoiding a cow that randomly stopped traffic in the street, and the speedy city drivers equally.  

Our first stop was the Arch of Charents, an archway designed to frame the view of Mt Ararat. We could see Mt. Ararat in the distance, but it doesn’t show up well in the pictures.

The second stop was the Pagan temple of Garni, the only remaining pagan temple in Armenia, originally built in 77 AD. There are Roman baths from the 4th century and ruins of a church from the 7th century as well. The temple survived because the sister of King Tiridates the Great thought it was beautiful, whereas the rest of the Pagan temples were destroyed when the country converted to Christianity. (This is the same King’s sister who had the dreams about Gregory healing her brother, the King.) She had quite a bit of pull!

We arrived well before the crowds, which was nice, and saw the tour buses pulling up as we were leaving. With each bit of sightseeing that we’ve done, I’m amazed at the tour buses. I didn’t expect it and remember the sites being empty when I was here previously. 

Our third stop was the Symphony of Stones, a natural monument where symmetrical hexagon and pentagon basalt columns were formed by volcanic lava cooling. These stones hang against gravity and resemble an organ, 50 meters high.

And finally, we ended at Geghard, a 4th-century monastery carved into the side of a mountain. The word Geghard means spear, and legend has it that the spear which pierced Christ was brought to this monastery for safekeeping by the Apostle Jude. Geghard is a series of interconnected buildings all carved into the rock – a main church, chapels, caves where monks lived, and there are crosses of varying types everywhere. Additionally, there are some Arabic design elements included purposely to help ward off invaders who may want to destroy the site. Today it’s a protected UNESCO heritage site.

Back in Yerevan, at the recommendation of D, we had pork and chicken shawarma and fries at the chain Tumanyan Shaurma and it didn’t disappoint. 

Before heading to D’s game we went to the Sassooni Tavit railroad station to see the David of Sassoon statue. David of Sassoon is an Armenian folk hero, and the image of him was on my Armenian School textbooks as a kid so I was excited to find the statue and see it in person. Unlike the stiff, stone Soviet statues that are all over Yerevan still because they are registered in Russia as historic monuments, the David of Sassoon statue is copper and has fluid movement.

By 3pm were in the gym to see the Eastern USA “A” team beat the Australia “A” team by thirty points. The team is on to the semifinals! D had a great defensive game and it’s been fun to watch him play. 

Before dinner, Paul and I grabbed an Armenian coffee at the hotel lobby — hooray for good coffee! The bartender made it in a copper pot (jezveh) and heated it up in a traditional sand pot. The best 1980 dram (US $5) we’ve spent all trip!

Completing the Armenian pop-culture celebrity trifecta, D went to see Super Sako tonight instead of joining a group of us for dinner at Rehan. We shared muhammara (spicy walnut and roasted red pepper dip), sou boureg (a cheese boureg but with wider noodles/more casserole-like), fatoush salad, manti with chicken broth and yogurt, and a platter of grilled meats and vegetables. It was all delicious.