Getting to Armenia

Our plane flights (Columbus to Detroit to Paris to Yerevan) were uneventful which means good.  All were on time with minimal layerover - less than an hour in Detroit, and two hours in Paris.  Our one surprise was a pleasant one.  We had thought, since it was a night flight, that we would only be getting a snack and breakfast on the leg to Paris but we got both dinner and breakfast.  Food is always good, even airplane food.

Unfortunately for much of the flights it was either nighttime or there was a heavy cloud cover, so we didn't get to see much from the air. As we descended below cloud cover on our way into Paris I was a bit surprised how open the country was as we approached the city.  Charles De Gaulle Airport is somewhere around 15 miles from the center of Paris.  Yet as we were making our descent it was all farms and forests until the last few miles.  Shows how much I know!  On our Paris-Yerevan leg we did get some spectacular views of what we assumed were the German Alps from the air.

Upon landing in Yerevan (9:30pm local time, 12:30 pm Columbus time) we got through customs in less than 10 minutes.  Getting our visas ahead of time eliminated having to go through that line, saving probably 15 or 20 minutes.  Neil took longer than I did which he attributed to the agent's seeing his old Azerbaijan stamps and giving his passport a closer scrutiny.

We were then met by Karen and Arevik, two of Neil's contacts at ArdshininvestBank.  As Neil mentioned in his blog, due to a mixup in am/pm, it was the second time they had come to the airport that day.  Way to ruin a day off for them.  They are both lovely people, greeting Neil like a long lost friend.  Upon arriving at our hotel, Arevik insisted they come in with us as she wanted to be certain that our reservation was in order before leaving us.

Our bell hop gave me a smile.  His English was flawless with no trace of an accent, and he spoke and moved so rapidly, I thought I was in back in New York.

Our room is small but adequate and has the advantage of being on a corner.  After unpacking we had a quick dinner at the hotel and turned in for the night.  I was exhausted, but since the stupid mind still thought it was mid afternoon, I wasn't able to fall asleep until sometime between three and four in the morning.  Neil being Neil was sleeping peacefully within five minutes of his head hitting the pillow.  I managed not to wring his neck!