Sanahin and Haghbad Weekend
So this weekend we went to Vanadzor, Haghbad and Sanahin. It was a great trip! We first arrived at Vanadzor at the Jambar there. This place was amazing! There used to be more than thirty Jambar’s in the area, however due to the Spitak earthquake of 88 only one is working! Imagine! And that one that is working is actually a Chemical company that stopped working and was turned into a camp. The kids there were reallllllly cute! They had the prettiest eyes..from grey to green! Well they were very excited to see us. Once we checked into our rooms we left to go to Haghbad.
Haghbad was also a very beautiful church. We hung around the premises and checked out every tiny corner. I loved the fact that there was so many tiny chapels around the main church!
Finally we went to Sanahin last but it was raining by the time we got there! We made sure to stop on our way there and take a picture of the smokestack from the factory there. The city is supposed to be one of the most polluted! Once we got to Sanahin we actually had to, well kind of “nudge” the gates open. It was BEAUTIFUL inside. We were the only ones there and we could hear the rain outside. It was kind of dark but very peaceful. We took a bunch of photos. I was looking around me thinking of all the thousands of people that had walked in before me. However there were probably very few that got to be in there when it was closed!
Once we got back to the Jambar we ate again and went to bed..after spending some time making fun of Areen for his HUGE cosmetic bag that he carries around everywhere with its sterile environment! The boy is hilarious!
The next day we went to Zaxkadzor, Alaverdi, Oxzun, and Gyumri. We stopped at the Gyumri church where they were having a wedding. There were a bunch of people there that were convinced Chris was one of the actors from a novela that is shown here. That was funny, they kept whispering about him as we were taking photos and walking around. At the outskirts of Gyumri we stopped at a restaurant and ate there. They were also having a baptism celebration at the same time so we got some entertainment on the side. It was also Areen’s 20th, so we drank, ate, and sang happy birthday in English, Armenian, Russian, Persian, Spanish, and Arabic (It was very international! :))
We also passed through Spitak wich I thought was very interesting. I can’t believe how much an earthquake can do. The city seemed like a ghost. There were houses that were built after the earthquake but you could tell that it had never really recuperated.
The last place we went to was the church at Talin. It was from the 7th century. The frescos were still visible on it! We climbed on the side (yes I know bad, historic site!) and took photos. I think next to Tatev Vank its my second most favorite church.
Ok I have to get to work now! More later!
July 18th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
HI LUC!!! You finally broke your silence and wrote a blog! I’m VERY proud of you! Sounds like you guys are having a fabulous time!!! We missed you out here at the wedding though, but we took pictures and I”ll show them all to you, she looked GORGEOUS but I have NO IDEA how her 95 pound self held up that 100 pound dress! what are you guys up to this week?!?! I wish I went with you! See you soon!!!!!! Miss you guys! AAAE ~Lorz~