Wrapping up Armenian adventures: Journal Standard

Wrapping up Armenian adventures: Journal Standard

PanARMENIAN.Net - Journal Standard's Bruce Johnson has written an article about the 'amazing trip' to Armenia he took to visit his son David who served there in the Peace Corps from 2006-08, and he’s halfway through his first assignment as vice consul with the State Department’s Foreign Service based in the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan.

According to the artice, "Yerevan is a real contrast in styles, with abandoned unfinished buildings standing next to new hotels and apartment complexes being built. We sat outside at a downtown restaurant and you could imagine yourself in any modern U.S. city, yet all around you were signs of a conflicted economy. A common thread throughout the nation is the overwhelming awe of the history around us, reflected in so many ways."

"We visited the ruins of the historic cathedral Zvartnots, which was built around 650 AD on the spot where historians claim that Armenian king T’rdat installed Christianity as the national religion in 301 AD (making Armenia the first nation to do so). On our last day we also visited the UNESCO historic site at Garni, where incredible views surrounded a majestic temple that is the only standing Greco-Roman columned temple in the former Soviet Union.

"The most inspiring site of all, in my estimation, was the incredible and ever-changing view of Mt. Ararat, rising up on the Armenia-Turkey border some 25 miles west of Yerevan. The snow-capped peaks rise up some 17,000 feet into the sky, and the mountain has been widely accepted in Christianity as the resting place for Noah’s Ark. The mountain has become a national symbol depicted on Armenia’s coat of arms along with Noah’s Ark, and we got to enjoy some remarkable views."

The author even attended his first soccer game as Armenia hosted Poland for a European Cup qualifier match in early October.

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