Jan 21 Last Day in Gyumri

-

The last day in Gyumri was a bit emotional, especially since I had to say goodbye to the students. After the final presentations, I played Babajanyan on the piano, which turned out to be not too bad considering the state of the piano. Then we had snacks and danced to Armenian pop music. They taught me a traditional Armenia dance, while I taught them the Cha Cha Slide. One thing that surprised me is that when I extended out my arm to shake hands with my male students, they gave me a hug instead - a cultural difference indeed.

GWOOG

Prior to that, we visited Gwoog for the last time

  • Pochov Apur - buttery red bean soup with homemade arishta. lovely butter flavor and creaminess from beans and smoothness from the noodles
  • Pork khorovats (soft) - well cooked, reminded me of pork from Moldovian restaurant
  • Tatar boraki - squares of noodles / dumplings, served with yogurt. Tatiana really liked this - maybe reminds her of some Russian style foods
YAGHLI HOUSE
  • Charlotta salad - cabbage, cheese, lettuce. not too much cheese so added nice flavor to salad. cheese was blended in with the light creamy dressing
  • Yaghli - giant fried dough, just slightly sweet due to a bit of powdered sugar


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Marseille / Les Calanques (Sept 8-9, 2025)

-
Image
Some city, some mountain, some country… time for some beach! With limited time, Nice / Cannes would have been too far; Les Calanques are about an hour from Marseille via public transit. Les Calanques are a two for one deal - go for a hike and then for a swim. The hike to beach ratio however was greater than I expected. It was about an hour hike from the bus stop and some of the rocks were a bit slippery in regular shoes. But great views in and out of the water! After swimming in fresh water all summer, I forgot how salty the ocean / sea can be. Best part was that you could watch fish swim around, just a few strokes out from the shore! There were dozens of types - tiny ones smaller than your pinky and larger ones that would fill up a dinner plate; white with a black band, striped, silvery, black and yellow, or just plain yellow; elongated or more diamond shaped. My favorite was watching a pair of small fish feeding at the bottom of - a brown / white striped catfish looking one would kic...
Read more

Highlights of France (Sept 1-11, 2025)

-
Image
Highlights of the trip: Paris - so much to see and do! Streets are jam packed with cafes, tabacs, boulangeries, bistros, and brasseries. There are also many parks, monuments, museums, etc. Glad I started my trip with this so I had the energy to explore a good chunk Lyon - the food capital of France! Rich food culture, many famous French chefs trained here Marseille - diverse culture, almost feels like a different country! Lots of food I still have to try Provence (Aix, Avignon, Saint Remy) - people are more fiery here but you can also find more charming landscapes! Every tourist shop sells candies, soaps, and lavender - take your time and you will find a reasonable price L’Ecrins (the Alps) - such stunning beauty! Trails are well-marked and lined with refuges but don’t underestimate the difficulty :) Les Calanques - such precious well-preserved nature!! Next time, I’ll bring hiking shoes to the beach Other things I noticed: People read more physical books on the train and scroll ...
Read more

Paris (Aug 31-Sept 2, 2025)

-
Image
DAY 1 Crazy how 6 hours is the flight time for both NY to SF and NY to Paris! First culture shocks upon landing were the indoor smoking (in designated areas ofc), the lack of AC, and the close quarters - specifically in the four seaters on the subway. And the hills and the classical music in the subway station instead of the usual elevator jazz. The area near my hotel (Montmartre) also reminded me of Milan in terms of architecture and street layout, though this was less so in the rest of the city. Also somehow Paris is in full blown autumn mode, while Chicago might arguably still be in summer mode, especially with the festivals still. On our way to the hotel, we stopped by a boulangerie that was focused only on the food, no bells and whistles, so that we didn’t even notice it’s English name (Urban Bakery) until after. Cardamom croissant snail was delicious! After dropping off our stuff at the hotel, we visited Notre Dame. It was our first stop since it has been closed for the past five...
Read more