Garni – Gegard – Lake Sevan

Constitution Day in Armenia. Today we had Hermine as our guide, with her two nieces from Moscow who were very anxious to visit Lake Sevan. Hermine, originally from Yeravan, now lives in Boston and helps Father Davidian with translations and anything requiring fluent Armenian communication.

Varden, our driver, had a brand new Russian Volga with a multi-fuel fuel conservation system. (On the dashboard was a three-position toggle switch that allowed him to switch from natural gas to gasoline or no fuel at all. This allowed him to use gasoline for climbing hills, natural gas for level terrain and no fuel at all to glide down hills. Quite an ingenious contraption). Varden could pass for Frank Sinatra’s Armenian half-brother.

Our first stop was at Garni, the Temple of the Sun from the 1st C AD, the fortress from 8th C BC. The site had a Greek style temple with attached bathhouse and palace overlooking Azat gorge.

The next stop was the Gegard cave monastery from the 13th C. It was a fascinating site- 2 Armenian Churches built into a cliff covered with gorgeous stone carved crosses (called Khachkars) and gavits (burial places).

We finally (not soon enough for the two little girls) got to Lake Sevan (60 km north of Yeravan). High in the mountains, it was a cool, clear turquoise lake. While the girls swam, we enjoyed the scenery and the cool air after the hot dusty air of Yeravan.

Once back in Yeravan, we finally found the newly opened Italian restaurant, Al Leoni , and had the most spectacular lasagna we’ve ever had (as well as a bottle of crisp, cold Italian white wine). Back at the hotel, we tried a 600-dram ($1.25) bottle of Armenian wine. They have a long way to go in wine production…. tasted a bit like Vermouth- or maybe varnish remover.