Thursday, September 23, 2010

Armenia Day 6 - Get started, joy, happiness

Started my day by going to the Armenian history museum, unfortunately I forgot the memory card at home, so I was carrying my camera for nothing. We got ourselves a guide, which I definitely advise you to do if you visit the museum. In a nutshell, Armenia is very rich in history.

Then we moved to a restaurant called "Charentsi 28", which is actually its address. Having a very "house-like" look, this restaurant situated in Yerevan, actually offers a mixed cuisine. Meanwhile let me drop a note, Armenian cuisine in Lebanon is much richer and more delicious than the Armenian cuisine in Armenia. On the other hand, Charentsi 28, run by a Lebanese and Syrian peeps, had some very delicious dishes.

Outside of Charentsi 28

Isn't that so house like? also loved the daisies on all the tables
Izmir Kebab, very yummy, has all the sujuk spices. I also recommend the Mussaka

To wash out all this food we ate, we headed to Ararat, the cognac factory, for some cognac tasting. As soon as you get into the factory, you get high on the smell itself. I must say, I loved it, cognac is my new favorite drink.

Much much cognac
And the autumn leaves have started to fall

Fancy a bottle?
First drink is to get you in the mood, second for joy, third for happiness, and forth for craziness, and that is why you should stop after the third
That was Ararat Cognac 10 years old. The older the darker
Finally, I fulfilled my fantasy which I have been craving for since I arrived to Armenia, and that is to walk alone in its streets and have a coffee in one of its café trottoire while reading a book. So I did some shooting on my way.

Square town
Another church which I coincidently saw. Looks abandoned. It was full moon
See the reflection in Armenian alphabet?

I just love these kind of balconies, like old Tripoli back in Lebanon, or in Gemmayze
This lakes turns into ice in winter, and people would ice-skate 
Shaurma (shawarma I guess?)
It's nice to have public gardens and benches for people to rest on (latcheh lal dawle el lebneniye  hayde)
While reading "The monk who sold his Ferrari", just perfect for my trip

7 comments:

  1. So glad I'm still awake to see this. You have all my favorite thing. Can live in a cafe troittoire, drinking cognac and coffee and reading a book! Love the staircase and the balcony, they give a feeling of passing by. Great pictures. Yalla Day 7 tomorrow ou come back. Missing you ou good night :-)

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  2. the pics are so cozy and warm love the colors... hope to visit it soon :)

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  3. God I really love your pictures! I'm so insanely jealous that you're there right now :( See you on the next tweet up!

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  4. nice pics, but I have an issue: when I click on them they are slightly bigger... and I love a big picture where I can see details by zooming in.

    thanks for all those pics

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  5. Thank you so much Lilo for posting daily about ur trip. Every morning I live 5 minutes on vacation vicariously through your posts :) The restaurant style is really cool, like the traditional old houses.

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  6. Mich glad you liked today's series :)

    Sareen, well hopefully you get to go next year!

    Bahaafe, thanks:)

    Fernando, ah yes I decrease their width and height so I can decrease the size for faster upload

    Dareen, am glad I am bringing a 5 minutes vacation to your day :D

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  7. Another excellent post..reading it reminded me of our plans to go to an Armenian restaurant..now that i'm back let's goooooo!! Next time you go to Armenia I'm totally coming with..Love the reflection shot.

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