Second Week, Sunday - Geocaching

Today we slept in late then set out to the Cascade. The Cascade was originally designed to be a large artificial waterfall tumbling down from a monument which commemorated fifty years of Soviet rule. It was not completed before the demise of the USSR. A foundation has taken over the work and opened an art gallery in the part of the Cascade which is finished.

At present the cascade extends about three quarters of the way up the hill - without the waterfall, of course. Then there is an empty area beyond which is a large plaza. At the back of the plaza is the monument.

You can get from the bottom up to the plaza by walking up the steps of the cascade or by taking escalators inside the cascade to the top of the completed part and walking the rest of the way. We elected to do the latter both to save our feet and to take in the art museum which is inside the Cascade.

As we were buying our tickets the ticket seller asked us how old we were. When we answered fifty-nine, she said "Today you are sixty." and sold us senior tickets. I never complain about saving a little money.

If I recall correctly there were five galleries each on a different level. You took an escalator up. Then you got on an elevator and went down to a gallery. Once finished you got back on the elevator and went up to where the escalator originally left you off. Then you went up the next escalator and repeated the process several more times. Was that confusing enough?

At each escalator landing you had the opportunity to go outside where there would be a courtyard with sculptures and/or gardens flanked by the steps of the cascade. And, of course, there would be the view of the city down below getting further and further away.

At the base of the Cascade is a small square with lovely knot gardens of herbs and flowers surrounded by some eight or ten sculptures. Surrounding this are lovely apartments with small shops at the street level. We had a most wonderful breakfast at one of these shops, Mokka Cafe. The coffee was wonderful and Neil thoroughly enjoyed his walnut pie. I had a plain muffin topped with powdered sugar. Sounds boring, eh? It was FABULOUS.

Though it was hazy, the views at the top of the plaza were lovely. We also got some unique views of the homes built along the side of the hill.

Lover's Park was our next destination and we could see it down below. We opted not to backtrack and instead headed off to a tiny road which seemed to head in the right direction.  The tiny road got tinier and turned into a path which turned into . . . pretty much nothing. Still we got to where we wanted passing a mixture of decrepit houses, luxury apartments both completed and in the process of being built, and lots of rubble.

Men playing Backgammon

Lover's Park was a delightful spot and worthy of its name. We saw a wedding party as well as quite a few couples entwined on the park's benches. The non-lovers included a group of ten or so men playing backgammon in a small shelter.

While at the park we stopped at a cafe for lunch. Again a winner meal - a pasta salad for Neil and a hearty bean and beef soup for me. Since it was too late in the day for me to have coffee, while Neil enjoyed his coffee and brownie, I had a glass of wine for dessert.

We left the park and headed a block up Baghramyan Street to the American University in Armenia in order to search for another geocache.

For those of you who do not know what geocaching is, let me explain. People hide containers, known as caches, ranging in size from a pencil eraser to a toaster. They then record the GPS coordinates along with other information on a geocaching website. Other people then search for these caches and when found sign a log contained inside the cache. You also log it at the website.

Neil and I are new to this and enjoying it thoroughly. Our thanks to Steve Ross at The Nature Conservancy for getting us started.

There is another cache on our way back to the hotel and we head for it.

This cache has been placed by a German-Armenian couple at Saint Zoravor Church where they were married. On the map it appears to be smack in the middle of a block of buildings. Before the past weeks wanderings in Yerevan this would have perplexed me but now I know better. Much of the city is behind the street buildings, through the archways. As we approach mid block we start to look for openings. There it is! And in we go.

Saint Zoravar Church is enchanting and it apppears that a wedding is in the works. Fortunately the cache is outside and everyone else is inside. We find the cache in short order, sign the log, take a two cent euro, and leave a dollar coin. (I forgot to mention that oftentimes there are tradable items.) It even has a trackable which we take. Trackables are items with a unique code on them. People drop them off in caches and, via computer, watch them travel around.

Upon getting to the hotel, I log my taking of the trackable and learn that it started out in Austria and has been to various places in Germany, Switzerland, and, of course, Armenia. Now it's going to get a ride across the pond.

I'm pretty tired and we're both not that hungry so we decide to get pizza at our hotel. The most adorable waitperson takes care of us and assures us we can get any kind of pizza we want. Too many decisions there for a tired Nancy and evidently my face shows it. After a few questions she ascertains that we should have a Pizza Diablo. She is right and it is fabulous. We now have our go to meal when we are tired, not very hungry, or both.

Another ten mile day, almost.