Horvath Travels: September 2025

It'll be a fun adventure, we thought. We will explore some new places, we thought. Of course, the caveats are that it's a long way and hard to get to, and it's hot. Very hot.

Here's the plan

Yerevan, Armenia

Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities in this landlocked country. As we flew in, I mentioned to the Lady Adventurer, "We'll always have Yerevan." "I left my heart in Yerevan." Not to mention, "My kind of town, Yerevan is," and other favs. Our Gate One tour called for us to spend four days in Yerevan, and that was just enough. It's quite walkable and scenic. The people are friendly, and the food and wine are excellent. We met Anna, our tour director, and our twenty fellow travelers.

Republic Square, Yerevan

Close to town, we visited the Matenadaran Museum, featuring ancient manuscripts, the Cascade —a series of limestone steps up a long hillside, the iconic Mother Armenia statue in Victory Park, and the Obelisk of Yerevan. All pretty cool in hot (96F) Armenia.

Cascade Staircase, Yerevan

Mother of Armenia, Yerevan

One solemn occasion was our visit to the Armenian Genocide Museum. Armenians were nearly wiped out by the Turks in the early 20th Century. This led to the formation of the great Armenian Diaspora. Now, many more ethnic Armenians live in other countries, including the U.S. and Russia, than in Armenia itself. Some of Armenia’s problems persist into the present day, as simmering border conflicts continue with Azerbaijan.

Also in and around Yerevan, we visited a carpet factory, indulged in some brandy tasting, and viewed the ruins of the ancient Zvartnots Cathedral.

A little farther afield from Yerevan, we visited the Geghard Monastery, which is cut out of a mountain and is in a stunning location (where we listened to beautiful choir singing), and the serene First Century Garni Temple, where we listened to a dudec flutist.

Geghard Monastery

Geghard Monastery Choir

Geghard Monastery

Garni Temple

Lunch in Garno

Yerevan Dinner and show

Tour Guide Anna at Yerevan Market

Art at Yerevan Restaurant

Zvartnots Cathedral Ruins

Goris, Armenia

Goris is in the Southern part of Armenia, and we spent one night there. On the way, we stopped at Khor Virap Monastery, situated in the stunning shadow of Mount Ararat, which lies across the border in Turkey. I thought I spotted Noah's Ark up there, but I wasn't sure. We also visited Noravank Monastery, a masterpiece for both its architecture and picturesque setting. One other enjoyable break was a visit to a cheese factory.

Mount Ararat and Khor Virap Monastery

Mount Ararat from Khor Virap Monastery

Noravank Monastery

Lunch after Noravank Monastery

Goris lies at a higher elevation, so I am happy to report that it was a little cooler for us. Nearby was the 9th-century Tatev Monastery, where Sunday services were in progress. The Orthodox Priests sure make it fun! To get there, we rode the 'Wings of Tatev', a cable car over a river gorge. It was an amazing 7-mile round trip.

Wings of Tatev

Tatev Monastery

Dilijan, Armenia

On the way from Goris, we saw some sights. First, we savored a home-hosted lunch featuring regional dishes with a family that owns a ceramics atelier. We watched a demonstration about how they create handcrafted pottery using traditional techniques passed down through generations. Afterward, we traveled along the Selim Pass to visit Caravanserai, a station on the Silk Road, and medieval Noratus cemetery. There was a long drive along surprisingly vast Lake Sevan.

Noratus cemetery

Dilijan Sunset

Dilijan is a quaint mountain resort village in the Northern part of Armenia. We visited local artisans and saw wood carving and ceramic pottery.

Dilijan

As we motored our way further North toward Georgia, we traveled through a beautiful national park. The scenery had been outstanding throughout Armenia, but this part of the Little Caucasus Mountains was the best of all.

Our final sightseeing in Armenia was the medieval Haghpat Monastery complex, a major center of learning in the Middle Ages. As expected, it was up in the mountains and incredibly scenic.

Haghpat Monastery

Sadly, it was time to say goodbye to Anna and to this appealing little country.

Tbilisi, Georgia (First Time)

The lights went out, it was a rainy night, and Georgia was on my mind, when the Devil went down there. Like Armenia, the Republic of Georgia is a small country and a former Soviet Republic. And like Armenia, Georgia is at peace, but it is also concerned about some of its neighbors, including Russia, which controls some of its territory. Armenia had been more concerned with Azerbaijan than with Russia. Armenia and Georgia have entirely different languages, alphabets, currencies, and governments, yet they have friendly relations with each other. They share strong Eastern Orthodox religious beliefs and tradition. And they both have their share of monasteries. The border crossing from Asia to Europe was okay, although Lady A. thought the line cutters and mean, sneezing border agents were a poor first impression. We met David, our Republic of Georgia tour director.

Tbilisi

Bustling Tbilisi is Georgia's capital and largest city. We're staying in the heart of Old Town. The city tour was fine. We were accompanied by some of the city's thousands of loose dogs. It was so hot that we returned to the hotel and took a siesta in the middle of it.

Tbilisi

We also visited the National Museum. It was a good taste of Georgia's history and culture. Like the Armenian Genocide Museum, our visit to the Soviet Occupation exhibit at the Georgia National Museum was a somber occasion. Whereas our impression was that Armenia's version of Russian Occupation was somewhat ambivalent, the Georgian experience seems to have been more traumatic. Uprisings and resistance were met with brutal force from Russia. The museum featured a carriage with hundreds of bullet holes. Georgians had been forced into the carriage before they were shot to death. The rest of the museum was fine, with plenty of gold, silver, and stuff like that.

Further afield, we visited Uplistsikhe, a now-abandoned ancient city of caves carved out of a sandstone mountain. It was first inhabited over 3,000 years ago, and as many as 5,000 people are believed to have lived there. Then it was on to a winery that I don't remember the name of (but it was beautiful and the food was great), and finally, the Joseph Stalin Museum. Betcha didn't know that Uncle Joe was from Gori, Georgia. There, we got an even further perspective of Georgian life in the Soviet Union.

Uplistsikhe

Winery for lunch

Uncle Joe (move'n kinda slow these days)

By the way, the food in both Armenia and Georgia has been outstanding. Breakfast buffets have been fine, mainly with a good selection of different kinds of stuff. Lunch and dinner with our group have been family-style. There are usually several kinds of salads and truly sumptuous vegetables. Some of the bowls contain unidentifiable foods, but of course, we try them anyway. They're nearly all consistently good. Meats are brought out later, and we're invariably full by that time. They are usually simply grilled chicken or pork, and sometimes fish, all without much of a sauce. Desserts have often been something like baklava. Oh, and did I mention the wine? They make it here and they're pretty proud of it. Who are we to argue? The bread is good as well. They certainly have their priorities straight.

Telavi

After our three nights in Tbilisi, we moved on to Telavi for a one-nighter, before returning to Tbilisi for our final two nights. Crazy, eh? On the way, we made some stops. In the Sighnaghi region, we visited the fortified hill town of Tsinandali and the Bodbe Monastery, which is actually a convent. Why o why are they all located in mountainous areas? To be closer to God? I wonder how that’s working out for them.

Telavi and its environs are located in the Caucasus Mountain region, North and East of Tbilisi. The Greater Caucasus mountain range here in the North is shared mainly by Russia and Georgia. At times, we were only about 15 miles from Russia, but we were not able to see it from our house. The Lesser Caucasus mountain range in the South is mostly located on the territory of southern Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. I feel an affinity for this area, since I identify as Caucasian myself.

Bodbe Monastery

Tsinandali

After lunch with wine (lots of wine), we visited the House of Chavchavadze, home of Alexander C., the "Father of the Nation," who was a key leader of the Georgian national revival.

Tsinandali lunch

Ikalto Monastery was unexpectedly closed for construction, and no one on the bus was disappointed. In fact, I think I actually heard some applause. You see, we were all very much monasteried out. There had already been a whole lot of complaining about ABC (Another Bloody Church). Now, there would be more time for wine.

Gremi Citadel is in nearby Kakheti. It features the 16th-century fortress and church. It's also very vertical, especially the highest lookout point. Afterward, we had lunch at a nice winery. They had wine. Lots of wine.

Grimi Citadel

Grimi Winery

Tbilisi, Georgia (Second Time)

Somehow, we made it back to Tbilisi for our final two nights. On our last full day, we visited our final monastery, Jvari Monastery, and church, Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, in historic Mtskheta. I don't know why, but these were among the most enjoyable of the bunch. They were mercifully close to Tbilisi, and it wasn't too hot, so this was an easy day.