As I have done for a few years, I traveled for fall break and was able to celebrate my birthday in a new city and country. It may have been the last time I can do this for a few years as the calendar is shifting and my birthday may no longer fall within the fall break holiday. BUT, this past November it did. Before I get into the trip, I want to share that it actually started at the airport here in Izmir as I watched the players of the Goztepe soccer team walk through the terminal. I happened to have a Goztepe scarf and was brave enough to ask if I could take a picture with them. 😁 ❤️ 💛 ⚽️
Originally I was to travel with my dear friend Doreen–she traveled with me to Georgia in 2023 and to in Serbia in 2024–and with my older sister, Fawn. Days before our departure life events caused Doreen to need to stay home with Hubert leaving just Fawn and I for this trip.
We missed Doreen every moment, but it was the first time, and perhaps the ONLY time, that Fawn and I would have the opportunity to travel together internationally. She would be leaving Turkiye to relocate back to the U.S. after this trip to Armenia. It was a treat having her here in the same country for almost two years, but it was time to move on and pursue other opportunities (and return to living closer to her children).
I planned the trip as I had previous ones–working to incorporate the interests and wishes of my fellow travelers. For my sister that meant visiting the oldest known winery in the world (to-date), and enjoying wine-tasting. For my friend Doreen it was visiting Lake Sevan, one of the largest freshwater alpine lakes in the world. For me it meant visiting my friend and former colleague, Anna, in Dilijan, and of course, going on a Soviet Tour of Yerevan! Here is what our itinerary looked like for the week:
Our week was divided into three segments: (1) exploring Dilijan with Anna and her daughter Emma, (2) a day and night around Lake Sevan, and (3) exploring Yerevan and going on a day trip to see Areni wine cave and enjoy a wine-tasting.
Thanks to Anna we were able to coordinate a driver to collect us from the Yerevan airport at the ungodly hour of 02.30 and drive us to Dilijan. We took a little nap and then met up with Anna. She took us into the center of the village for coffee and a walkabout showing us Dilijan. We bought some beverages and snacks and went to Anna’s apartment to relax and chat for a spell (and see Emma and the kitties). After some downtime in the early evening, Fawn and I walked to meet Anna and Emma for dinner at their local favorite restaurant.
Anna dropped us off back at our hotel where the host, Arman, invited us into his cellar to taste a variety of homegrown and homemade juices, wines, and even a brandy. It was a very full first day!
The second day in Dilijan started with Anna giving us a tour of her school just up the road–United World College, Dilijan. We walked part of campus and visited her academic building and we toured the library as well. After the school we visited an area with local street art, the Fallen Soviet Soldiers of WW2 monument, and the remnants of a Soviet era amusement park. What Fawn and I both noticed and really enjoyed was the smells and feels of a true Autumn (check out this video short of me walking through the fall leaves). There were plenty of decidous trees in the area and the leaves had begun to blanket the ground. I think it reminded both of us of our childhood in Northern Michigan.
In the afternoon we went by car to Haghartsin Monastery where we enjoyed traditional and fresh baked gata (a kind of bread). We explored the monastery complex and also took a little hike in the surrounding area. We then drove to the other side of Dilijan and walked a trail to a Medieval Monastery. We enjoyed another dinner together and said our goodbyes. Anna would be working the following morning and Fawn and I would be on our way to Lake Sevan (thanks to Artur for being our driver yet again). It had been lovely to see and spend time with a friend–I thank her for hosting us and sharing her corner of Armenia with us. ❤️ Armenia has been at the top of my list for some time–having Anna in country motivated me to do it in 2025 and I’m so glad we did.
On the way to our hotel in Lake Sevan, Artur took us to Sevanavank monastery complex which overlooked the lake. As you might be noticing–Armenia has A LOT of monasteries. When I hear “monastery” I think of monks–but these monasteries are more like what we consider churches–though far more austere than any Christian church I’ve visited in America. They hold services and people visit them regularly. We visited the Noratus Cemetery, a medieval cemetery dating back to the 10th century and with the oldest collections of khachkars (ornate carved memorial stones) in Armenia.
We visited the Mikaelyan Family Farm for a cheese tasting experience (something that had come up in the Lonely Planet Guide for the area). We bought far too much cheese 🧀 , but so it goes! After the tasting, Artur dropped us off at our hotel where we stashed our suitcases and headed out for a walk before the night set in.
We walked to the edge of the lake and followed it into the village of Sevan where I wanted to visit the Soviet era Writers House (even though it was closed for the season). We could at least look around the exterior and surrounding area. If we had been a month or so earlier, we could have rented a room in it (I had read about that on Emily Lush’s blog and so very much wanted to do it), but timing is everything. As you know, I have a strange and unexplicable fascination with the Soviet Era and enjoyed seeing this iconic site.
Fawn and I hiked past it to the Sevan Lake Monastery complex which offered a stunning view over the peninsula and lake (the selfie at the top of this post was taken there). After climbing back down into the village, we had an early dinner and then retreated to our hotel for a quiet night in. I woke early in the morning to catch the sunrise over Lake Sevan and for one more walkabout to the Writer’s House. Artur collected us one last time and drove us to Yerevan where we would spend the remainder of our travel days.
Our Yerevan AirBNB was amazing–located in a high rise apartment that provided a view over part of the city (supposedly also of Mt Ararat–but the pollution was too much during our stay) and was within walking distance of central part of the city. Sadly our “free walking tour” scheduled for that day was canceled (not enough people signed up). Not wanting to miss this type of tour to orientate ourselves to the city, Fawn and I opted to pay for a private tour which ended up being just “okay.” Our guide was a bit of an odd duck (he invited himself to join us for wine afterwards and we had to be fairly overt to ditch him from there!). But we walked the central part of the city and got our bearings. We both commented that it was an incredibly clean and well organized city. The architecture was attractive (as compared with Turkiye where it most certainly, with a few exceptions, is not).
The following day was our Soviet Tour of Yerevan (with Envoy Tours) and unlike the previous day, it was not canceled despite it once again being just the two of us to participate. We had a wonderful time with our guide, Marine. After a drive through Republic Square (which we had visited the day before), we went to ride the Soviet Era metro and enjoy a traditional soviet snack “pirozkhi”–we had a savory one made with potatoes and a sweet one with powdered sugar on it (reminded me of a funnel cake from the county fair, or beignets in New Orleans).
After the metro ride (where I was told it was illegal to take any pictures 😢), we briefly visited the abandoned factory part of town and then went on to spend time wandering the “Bangladesh market” which reminded me a bit of Turkish markets (the ones that appear one day a week in each neighborhood). There’s a story or urban legend about the name–something about traveling all the way to Bangladesh to shop as this market which is in the outskirts of the center of town. While there we did enjoy a coffee from one of the many coffee vending machines we saw around Yerevan (it WAS good). We traveled via Russian era van to the next stop which was a Soviet era planned neighborhood which had huge high rise apartment buildings that when viewed from above were the letters CCCP (which meant Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the Russian Cyrillic alphabet). Lastly we visited the abandoned Children’s Railway which during Soviet time was a gathering place for children and families.
After dinner we took a taxi to the Ararat Distillery for our scheduled tour and tasting. The place was well designed and we enjoyed trying the national drink of Armenia, brandy. I was delighted to ride home in a Russian-made Lada whose license plate had the letters “HC”–my initials.
On Thursday we had our private day trip to the Areni wine region. We booked with Jan Armenia Tours and our guide was Kristine. Of course the day also included a visit to two monasteries and most interestingly we were within view of the border with Turkiye. Our AirBNB host had recommended we visit a specific winery in the area and after some negotiations with our travel company, we spent a delightful hour and a half at Old Bridge tasting wines and enjoying their spread of cheeses, olives, bread, olive oil, and fruit.
Sadly the pollution made it difficult to see Mount Ararat clearly on our drive back to Yerevan–we could only see a hazy outline. Our driver asked what kind of music we would like to listen to–Fawn encouraged him to share some Armenian music with us. He did and it was a perfect accompaniment for the two hour drive. We asked them (driver and guide) what they were most proud of as Armenians. The driver said something along the lines of this: “our country has a very sad history but we are still here. We have persevered.”
We made it back into Yerevan and walked downtown for dinner –a restaurant that Fawn chose (I had a version of carbonara–not the best, but pork just the same!).
Friday was our final full day in the city. Fawn opted to stay back at the rental and do her own thing while I trekked through the city to hike the Staircase to Victory Park and the Mother Armenia statue. It was a beautiful cool morning and I loved it. I enjoyed a vending machine coffee at the base of Mother Armenia after which I took a cab to the other side of Yerevan to visit the Armenian Genocide Memorial and Museum.
As you may imagine, this was a sobering experience. The museum is well designed/organized. I rented the audio guide and made my way through 90% of the stations (I skipped the stations about the various journalists and people who helped in the years following the genocide). I learned a lot and began to understand better the complex relationship between Armenia and Turkiye. And I understood the sentiment shared by our driver the previous day. It was about the Genocide. It was about current conflicts or strained relationships with the countries that border Armenia (Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Georgia). Land borders are open to Iran and Georgia only.
I wrapped up my time at the memorial and went by taxi back to the AirBNB to meet Fawn. We walked down to explore the Vernissage Market where we purchased some gifts and souvenirs. I couldn’t find any Soviet Era antiques or knick knacks as I had in Georgia at the Dry Bridge Flea Market, but we still enjoyed our time exploring the various booths.
Lastly, we went to dinner that night to celebrate my 52nd birthday (which would come at midnight). We had a drink at Bar Phoenix first, and then went on to Dalan for dinner. We enjoyed a bottle of Old Bridge red wine with our meals and conversation. Fawn and I traveled well together–we DO know each other very well and could easily anticipate what the other would or would not want to do or see. We had many conversations and I feel fortunate that we were able to share this time and these experiences together.
In the wee hours of November 15 we went to the airport where I used my remaining Armenian drams to buy a beer before we boarded the plane to return to Turkiye. We parted ways in Istanbul–Fawn to Dalaman and me to Izmir. It was only the beginning of my birthday celebration–as I had a wonderful party that night at our friend’s Meyhane in downtown Alsancak. It was one of the best birthdays I’ve celebrated–with a mix of family and friend in attendance.
There you have it, a somewhat brief summary of our week in Armenia. The people were kind. The history long and complex. It was nice to explore more than just the capitol city. The one disappointment for me was the food. After enjoying the food SO MUCH in both Georgia and in Serbia, I expected something similar in Armenia. It wasn’t terrible–but it also was nothing impressive. It was just “meh.” I still have so many former Soviet republics to visit (they are nearly ALL on my list). For now I’m waiting to see WHEN the fall break will be for this year–but with November 15 on a Sunday–it’s not ideal for travel (as I predict we will be working on the following Monday). Waiting to see!