Final days in Yerevan, Thursday and Friday, Sept. 10 and 11

These last two days were quiet days where we got to visit a few more places and get our stuff together for our early morning departures on Saturday - I had to leave the hotel at 2:00 a.m. for my 4:25 flight to Vienna and everyone else at 4:00 a.m. for their 6:30 flights to Kiev, Ukraine, and Moscow, Russia.

We visited the  Yerevan Ararat Wine-Brandy-Vodka factory.  We had tried to schedule one of their free tours, but that did not work out.  We were left with visiting their store and buying some samples to bring home.  This was only a ten minute walk from the hotel and on the way back, we stopped at this monument to Alexander Myasnikyan.  According to Wikipedia, he "was a prominent leader in the government of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. His role in history goes down as critically important in the creation of state institutions and the economy of the new state. The prominent location of the statue sheds light on the importance of Myasnikyan in history."  We had passed the monument many days in the bus, but did not have a chance to learn more about the monument until we stopped and explored.

Norm and I had not gone on the group tour to the Armenian Genocide Memorial and Museum, so on Friday, we took a taxi there and learned more about how out of some 2.5 million Armenians before WWI, there were less than a half million after.  To this day, Turkey refuses to acknowledge the genocide, even though they now occupy more than half the land that was part of Armenia and where no Christian Armenians live today.

The Eternal Flame at the Memorial

The Museum and Memorial are high on the surrounding hills and have a great view of the city, including Hrazdan Stadium

Friday afternoon, we took an 80 minute bus ride to the town of Idrin - this is where Boots and Ramsay led a Fuller build in 2013.  We got to visit with the homeowners and to see the very nice house they had for us - and got to partake in a great feast that included wine and many toasts with vodka.

Rosehips - they gave half of them to Boots

Flowers next to their patio

Their vegetable garden

The feast before we sat down and before they brought out the summer dolmas and other hot foods

Three generations live there - grandma, the two daughters, pregnant mom and the 42 year old dad

Home made stove for burning cow chips to heat the house - there are no many trees in the area, so they do not burn wood

And then we made the 80 minute ride home - it is hard to believe that they made this trip each day for two weeks of the build in 2013, but that is part of building in Armenia.

And so this part of the adventure ends.  As I write this, I am in the airport in Vienna, Austria, waiting for my flight to Budapest and a week of speaking English with Angloville.