Our final day in Armenia was a whirlwind tour of some of the most beautiful and historical parts of rural Armenia on another wonderful coach tour.
Beginning at the Gerghard Monastery, a brilliant retreat literally carved into the side of a mountain, we were treated to a large dose of Armenian religious history, as well as an ancient spring legendary for its healing powers and some moving examples of khachars, the Armenian memorial cross-stones.
We continued to the Temple of Garni, a reconstruction of an ancient Greek temple in the heart of Armenia. It is a bizarre contradiction in terms - a very classical ancient temple with Ionic pillars and the iconic look of ancient Greece - but in the oldest Christian nation in the world. Often described as the the most eastern remains of the Greco/Roman age, walking around this temple and the grounds is a magical experience (although it was the most touristy of all the places we visited).
After this we were taken to see (and eat) the baking of Armenian lavash bread. Lavash bread is enshrined as an expression of Armenian culture in the UNESCO Intangible Heritage list, and I can see why - it is quite a uniquely thin and delicate bread, used more for wrapping food rather than forming a protective crust (pun intended). It goes brilliantly with crumbling cheese and the sharp Armenian purple basil.
We were all exhausted so further trips out of Yerevan were out of the question, but we did manage a whistle stop tour of the Armenian History Museum (some fascinating articles, including the first recorded shoe in human history) as well as a bit of souvenir shopping at the large open-air arts and crafts market known as Vernissage.
We were then treated to dinner by the very kind Yerevan Chamber Theatre in a street-side table of a rather fancy restaurant where we exchanged all sorts of contact information with all the various academics and artists that we had met (and if any of you are reading this, we miss you!).
As we sat in the tiny Armenian airport (it really is tiny) at 1am, we considered our trip home and found we had made a wild decision to come halfway across the world, to an academic conference with people we had never met, at only a few weeks’ notice. And yet, neither of us regret a single moment - it was a truly brilliant experience, one I long to repeat, and all the people, places and things that we experienced were truly one-of-a-kind, and we thank everyone who made it possible.
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