Even more Yerevan..

We went to Garni and Geghard (about 30-40 km from Yerevan) by minibus. The first is an old pagan temple built in 7th century BC. It was the only pagan temple not destroyed. The second is a unique church built in the 7th century AD. It consists of five little churches, three of which are carved out in the rocks and two larger ones were added to them in the 12th century. Geghard is the lance that was used to pierce Christ on the cross. This lance was kept in the church until a few years ago when it was moved to the museum in Echmiadzin. The weather was totally gorgeous – sunny, warm --- a perfect fall day.Last night, while walking around, we came across a brand new café (small one store front) selling lahmajune (which is also called Armenian pizza). They told us they were opening tomorrow and we told them we’d come back to try their pizza. After coming back from Garni, we went there for lunch but they said the oven broke down and they did not know when it would be fixed. So instead we had lunch in one of the dozens outdoor cafes near the opera. In the evening we were walking home and passed the pizza place again. The owner invited us in to join the table of ten people sitting and eating and drinking.. At first we refused but they insisted. After several vodkas we understood what was going on. Armenia still practices animal sacrifice. Any time there is a tragedy, they kill a lamb or a chicken and invite all friends to share the boiled meat (it has to be boiled, can’t be grilled or baked or fried) and accouterments. The tragedy was a fire that broke the pizza oven. We spent 2.5 hours there drinking and eating. Bo was able to talk to them in Russian comparing Polish and Armenian history and complaining about corruption in American and Armenian politics. They accused me of selectively pretending not to understand Armenian. Fortunately there were some youngsters who had English in school who could help me. A really nice evening.