A Tbilisi Synagogue

One of two in Tbilisi. There are still 3000 Jews in Tbilisi.
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Freedom square

Formerly known as Lenin Square. This is a dreadful picture. The statue replacing Lenin is St. George slaying the dragon. He is the patron saint of Georgia, the second Christian nation.
Georgia has had a rough time politically since the breakup of the former USSR. Two of its provinces (South Ossetia and Akhazia) broke off violently, it is thought due to Russian involvement. There was a ceasefire brokered by the Russians in 92-93 (even while Russian soldiers were fighting for the rebels).
In addition, political infighting led to civil war in December, 1991, with fighting right here in Freedom Square destroying the building where the Marriott Courtyards now stands (a Mormon resurrection) (to my right in the picture).

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Lunch

Georgian doner kababs. The fellow who served us was quite proficient at dicing vegetables and slicing meat. He flirted with Catherine. The meat was of unknown origin, but nicely seasoned. It came wrapped like a burrito, with onions, cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes, at your request. Lovely.
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View from fortress at Tbilisi

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Fortress at Tbilisi, Georgia

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Dilijan, Armenia

Is a resort area in the mountains that the Soviets remade into a chemical factory town. They preserved the street as a museum street and redid the rest of the town in proper Soviet style - grim.
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Border crossing

From Armenia into Georgia. Very smooth- just a little warm schlepping our luggage the 200 meters or so from one bus to the other.
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Katchkars

Found throughout Armenia are katchkars, stone slabs decorated with crosses and other symbols. There are thousands of them erected to gain blessings.
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Selim Caravanserai

We have encountered the Silk Road again, which crossed Armenia in three places on the way to Europe. We saw the Selim Caravanserai. A caravanserai was an inn or resting place for Silk Road caravans. These inns were fortified and sheltered both the merchants and their animals. This one dates from 1332 and is located at Selim Pass at 9000 feet.
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Fountains in Republic Square

At night in Republic Square there is a lighted fountain program timed to music. We watched and listened to Carmen, Elgar and lots of Charles Aznavour. It was delightful- a little like the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
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Noravank

A 13th century church complex high in the mountains not far from the Azerbijan border in southwest Armenia.
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The market at Yerevan

I bought Armenian cherries.
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The true Lance

There is one other important artifact at Echmiadzin, physical evidence showing proof of the crucification: the true lance that was used to pierce Jesus' side on the cross to see if he was dead.
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Noah's Ark

Mt. Ararat is also known as the place that Noah's Ark came to rest. Many persons, including a US astronaut, have attempted, and failed, to find evidence of this event on Mt. Ararat. But we know it is true. We have seen a piece of the true Ark at the Echmiadzin church. And you can see it too. It's behind the cross in the picture.

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JOL and CMC at Republic Square

Formerly known as Lenin Square.
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The Armenian Diaspora

Only one third of Armenians live in Armenia. The rest are disbursed throughout the world. They left Armenia over the centuries because of religious persecution, crippling taxes, communism and just to find work. Diaspora Armenians are very generous to the home country. Although the standard of living has deteriorated since the breakup of the Soviet system, and Armenians continue to leave, the countries economy has been bolstered by money sent by the diaspora Armenians. Kirk Kerkorian gave money to build roads.
Many Armenians return to retire here. The picture is of the Cascades, a newly constructed landscape and museum in the center of Yerevan. It is like a hanging garden with fountains at each level.
If you look on the upper left hand corner there is a house overlooking the Cascades. It is the home of French Armenian Charles Aznavor, a singer popular during the 60s.
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The G word

The history of Armenia is described by reference to invasions. The Greeks, the Romans, the Mongols, Tamerlane, the Ottomans, Czarist Russia, the Brits and the Soviets have all have had their way with Armenia. The Armenians have failed to be assimilated because they have refused to give up their language, writing and church. As a result they have been severely persecuted, disbursed throughout the world, culminating in the Turkish genocide of 1915, where over 1 1/2 million Armenians were killed. During the Soviet occupation, Armenians were prohibited from speaking of the genocide. In 1988, as the USSR was becoming unstable, Armenians began demonstrating. As a result this Genocide Memorial was built.
The Turks still deny that genocide occurred. The US and Britain still do not call it genocide.


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Mt. Ararat

The sacred mountain for the Armenians, Mt. Ararat, dominates the view south of Yerevan. Sadly Mt. Ararat is in Turkey. The border with Turkey has been closed since 2001.
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Armenian Apostalic Church

Christianity came to Armenia in the first century. Armenia became the first country to adopt Christianity in 301. It is called the apostalic church because 2 of Jesus' followers, Barthalomew and Thaddeus. The seat of the church is at Ejmiatsin. There the Katholikos (or pope) resides. Ejmiatsin was not destroyed by the Soviets as were most of the Armenian churches, though the church was not allowed to function.
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Wait a minute- are we back in Nashville?

No- in Garni, Armenia. It is a first century temple built by the first Armenian king. It was destroyed in the 17th century in an earthquake and rebuilt in the 20th century.
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Armenian alphabet

In the 5th century Mesrop Mashtots invented the Armenian alphabet. It consisted of 36 symbols, each an Armenian sound. He then assigned each of the first 9 letters the numbers 1-9, the second 9 letters the numbers 10,20 etc., the third 9 letters 100, 200 etc., and the last nine letters, 1000, 2000. The alphabet is still in use, although 3 letters have been added. Luckily most signs are in English since it is not possible for us to translate. We visited a manuscript museum with volumes dating way back.
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Mother Armenia

Here is a picture of Mother Armenia. People ask why do Armenians speak of Mother rather than the fatherland. Armenians say it is because Father left Armenia looking for work.
This monumental work originally was of Stalin. They removed the moustache and added breasts and presto-- Mother Armenia.
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For DAE

Before we left, Dan chided me for not learning the shape of a MIG fighter jet so I would know who was attacking us. (This is not likely since Armenia is supplied with arms for its war with Azerbijan by the Russians.) I have followed his instructions. Here is a MIG. One of the two designers of the MIG was Armenian.
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Unexpected London

My day in London was not as I planned. I had planned a walking tour of Islington, where Rebecca lived the summer she spent in London. I switched to the Victoria and Albert Museum when I heard about the Grace Kelly exhibit. However, the Grace Kelly exhibit was sold out. Then I was going to have Indian food. But the lunch service ended at 7:30 am Chicago time. I was not in the mood for Indian food.
But it was London. Who cares if it is unplanned. I saw the Grace Kelly film and a dress that reminded me that I really was not a Princess Grace fan. The theme of the exhibit was how she used clothing to turn herself from a lace curtain Irish American actress into a Princess. The dress was really pretentious.
I did see the clothing exhibit at the V + A. They had beautiful clothing from all eras. Recent acquisitions include a pearl encrusted dress from Princess Diana and an Alexander McQueen.
A trip through the food halls of Harrods with a purchase of the third volume of the Stieg Larsson millenium trilogy in paperback. Oh and I saw the Princess Diana-Dodie sculpture in Harrods. (No comment)
Finally tea with a mixed berry tart. Yum. My picture is a tribute to Ellen C.
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Arrived

Armenia 6:15 am, Armenia time; 2:15 am, London time 10:15 pm, Chicago time. I figure I had a rocky 2 hours of sleep last night and 6 the night before.
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Arrived

London Heathrow.
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Off to London to see the Princess

I wanted my picture too. Here it is courtesy of DAE.
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See you in Yerevan

Jim and Catherine left 3 hours before me. We meet in Yerevan at 6 am on Wednesday. A jaunty picture of the travelers.
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A Portrait of Catherine

As I mentioned, Catherine is going on this trip with us. Because I know that she will not permit me to photograph her to illustrate this trip blog, I have taken the liberty of attaching a really nice picture of her with her father taken at Rebecca and Jo's wedding at the Parthenon in Nashville.

If it is Tuesday, this must be Belgium

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We are not travelling on the same flights. Jim and Catherine are using mileage points, so they are flying through Belgium and Vienna to Yerevan, Armenia, our first stop. I have the direct flight through London. Both itineraries involve two nights on planes with the day between spent in Europe.
Jim and Catherine spend most of the day in Belgium. Catherine has chosen to go to Waterloo, rather than Brussels, apparently because of ABBA, not Napoleon.
I am spending the day in London. I am planning on eating Indian food and going to the Victoria and Albert Museum. They have a special exhibit on Grace Kelly.
Since I will not be stopping in Belgium, I have attached a picture of me in Brussels taken last fall.

Georgia on my mind

We are soon to be on the road again. This time to Georgia. Not Atlanta, Tbilisi. Actually Armenia, first, then Georgia and Azerbaijan.
We are taking a tour. This is probably a good idea, because Georgia is the first place we have visited that the State Department has warned is dangerous. (There may have been a warning about Uzbekistan.) You may remember the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia which is supported by the Russians. We aren't going there. Nor are we going to the Black Sea, because there is unrest in a province there. The tour carefully by-passes the dangerous parts of Georgia.
Dan is quite titillated by our itinerary. He thinks we need to take an Uzzi and a portable satellite dish. I told him they would not even let us on the plane.
Catherine, who is going with us, provided me with the State Department warning. I think she is hoping that I will carry the fear. She may be right.