| The Caucasus - My Journal |
Feeling at Home in Yerevan
Yerevan, 24th to 25th August
I intended to spend 3 or 4 days in Yerevan, but I had such a great time there, that I stayed for 8 nights! One of the main reasons for me travelling in this part of the world was to come to the wedding of an Armenian friend of mine, Teny. I'd met Teny when I studied in Paris for a year, and we became good friends, and was very excited when she e-mailed me at the start of 2006 to invite me to her wedding. I was about 6 years old the last time I went to a wedding, and now, not only did I have the chance to go to a wedding at an age where I'd remember it, but I also had the amazing opportunity to go to an Armenian wedding!
I arrived late on the 24th August, just in time for the stag night. I was excited about this, but nervous...what do they do? What will Teny's fiancé, Garo, and his friends be like? As it happened, the stag night was exactly the same as any English one and Garo and his friends turned out to be really friendly and they welcomed me into their group with open arms. Over my time in Yerevan, Garo, Armen (Teny's brother) and their friends acted as great hosts...in fact, they acted more like great friends! And even though I'd only known them for a matter of days, it felt like I'd known them for ages.
During my second day in Yerevan, I wandered around the city with Garo and Sarin, one of Teny's friends who now lives in Boston. Yerevan is a fantastic city and a great place to spend time in. It's much, much bigger than Tbilisi and a lot more cosmopolitan. It really has the feel of a modern, booming European city but, thankfully, it has prices that are much lower! The centre of the city, as it is now, was carefully planned and constructed and its very easy to navigate around. The busy streets link the two main squares, Republic Square and Opera. Republic Square is a huge open space, surrounded by ministries, expensive hotels and museums, and it really feels like it was stolen right out of the heart of Paris. Opera was probably once an open space, but has since been filled with dozens and dozens of cafes, literally piled on top of each other. Armenia life goes at a very casual and relaxed pace, and chilled cafes match the life perfectly. For a person like me, who enjoys relaxing in cafes, Yerevan has plenty of choice.
But my first few days in Yerevan were just a stopgap...a prelude to the wedding, the whole reason I came here...
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