For this trip, we’ve been consistently seeing more and more information about how great Tbilisi was, so that was our starting point. Due to conflicts in the region, and our desire to stick with major airlines, we decided to route through Istanbul both directions, and then finally, Armenia was new-to-us and nicely tucked between a few countries not on our short-list, so we figured we had to visit while we were nearby.
Istanbul, Turkey
We arrived late from Lisbon and checked into the Katelya Hotel, then found a close highly-rated restaurant named Marbella for dinner. I had a delicious clay pot chicken that was cooked and broken-open table-side.
The next morning we started with brunch at the hotel before venturing out on a walking tour booked through the hotel. We started at the famous Hagia Sophia, which has been converted from a museum back into a mosque. Our guide said that there are plenty of mosques so it was done just for political reasons and no locals go there. Next up, we went to Topkapi Palace, which is a huge place that needs a full day if that’s your kind of thing, so we just toured the free gardens which was enough for us. We then strolled over to my famous attraction, the Basilica Cistern. It’s underground, full of pillars in every direction, and has some very unique carvings that take you back in time. As all tours in Turkey must include, there was a heavy-sales part at a Turkish carpet dealer. We needed a new doormat so we quickly picked one and got out of there. We ate lunch at a locals-spot with our guide while a small parade marched down the street outside before heading over to the massive Grand Bazaar. We wandered the endless narrow paths and got lost a few times, then found one of those ice cream shops that do tricks which got a lot of laughs from the kids. The tour continued with a short boat ride across the river to visit both the Egyptian and Spice Bazaars. The Blue Mosque was unfortunately closed (or so we thought) so we ended the tour there and worked our way back. The dinner the first night was so good that we just went back there again, and the wait staff warmly welcomed us back.
We left the hotel early the next morning to visit the Blue Mosque, which is such an amazing building with so much history. After soaking in the culture, we headed to the airport to catch our flight to Georgia.
Tbilisi, Georgia
We had another late arrival at Tbilisi, so we quickly checked in and had our first Georgian dinner at an Irish pub, of all places, named PUB 44. We had the popular “pizza boat” dish and a few drinks before going back towards the hotel. We stopped at the crooked clock tower on the way, which was also visible from our hotel room.
Georgia is known as the world’s oldest known winemaking region, so we booked a full-day wine country tour, which turned out to include a lot of incredible cultural sites too. We started at the David Gareji Monastery, where it was insanely windy, and our poor guide kept apologizing for the wind. Most of the structures there were carved into the mountains in the 6th century. It was the biggest “awe” of the trip! It’s also right along the Azerbaijan border, so we were warned to avoid certain areas. On the drive out of there, we took a quick photo op at the nearby Rainbow Mountains, and then continued onto Vellino Winery. The family that owns and operates it were extremely friendly and even let Lydia had her own wine tasting. We then drove another hour to walk along the Sighnaghi Wall and have an amazing lunch at Pheasant’s Tears Winery, where we also sampled their own wine. The last big stop on the tour was the Bodbe Monastery Complex where we wandered around and admired the architecture and scenery. After a quick refresh at the hotel, we walked to dinner at Sarke Georgian Kitchen where we had incredible meat skewers on large swords.
Our second full day in Tbilisi, we did our own city tour. We started by crossing the beautiful Bridge of Peace into a large park area. There we attempted to ride the air balloon and ride the cable cars up a mountain but they were all closed due to wind. Back in town there were police everywhere, which turned out to be from a visit of the Azerbaijan country delegation. We walked through an area of town full of thermal spas, leading back to the serene Leghvtakhevi Waterfall. It’s hard to believe you’re in the middle of a city back there. Next, we took a few taxis to visit several different parts of town that were just a little too far to walk. First up was the famous Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, then Stamba, a sort of mall with a huge courtyard and great bakery, then stopped for a few drinks at a warehouse-turned-coworking-mecca named Fabrika. We wandered around back roads for a while, ate some amazing dumplings, and ended the city tour at the Meidan Bazar, a smaller underground shop with a lot of interesting souvenirs.
The next day, we took a funicular up the mountain but unfortunately the amusement park up there was closed, so we just strolled around a bit before taking a cable car down from a different side. We went back to the park to try the air balloon again, but it was still too windy to run. Fortunately those previously-closed cable cars were running this time, so we took them up to visit a large Mother of Georgia statue that overlooks the city, and then went back down the cable cars again. We had an afternoon food tour where we sampled a lot of foods we wouldn’t have known to try on our own, so it was a great time. We had more dumplings of course too, drank the local liquor (cha cha), and attempted to buy bread out of low windows at the sidewalk-level but kept missing the sales times. Overall we fell in love with Tbilisi and are so glad we visited. It was the perfect mix of grit, history, great food, expats everywhere, and charm. We think this must be what Lisbon felt like 20 years ago.
In the morning we took a “transfer tour” to Armenia. This is where they drive you to a different destination and stop at attractions along the way. We stopped at four amazing places: Haghartsin Monastery, Old Dilijian, Sevanavank Monastery (this is the monastic complex you’ve likely seen on any tourism articles about Armenia), and Lake Sevan, where I bought a unique stone only found at the bottom of the lake.
Yerevan, Armenia
The transfer tour took us right to our hotel, so we checked in and briefly enjoyed the amazing views over Republic Square before walking to “dors craft beer & kitchen” for dinner.
For our first full day, we strolled down a huge boulevard near the hotel which had many water-spouting statues, saw a show at the Planetarium, and then met with the guide of our walking tour. She took us to the last remaining mosque in Armenia (or maybe just Yerevan), stopped by the Hakob Kojoyan Educational Complex, viewed Mount Ararat (currently in Turkey), strolled past the Yerevan History Museum, and ended up on the same boulevard we started the day exploring.. We went to the Beatles Pub for lunch, strolled through the surprisingly-modern retail district, and had Wendy’s frosties (which the kids were insanely excited about). In the evening, the adults went to a quirky old courtyard for drinks at the 13:20 bar to end the night.
On the second full day, we started at the Armenian Genocide Memorial, where we learned about the history and troubles of the region. To lighten the mood, we went to the Museum of Illusions next, and then had house-made alcohol infusions called tinctures at a a Russian bar named Дружба. We strolled down some more and ended up at InTempo Italian restaurant for dinner.
Next we did an all-day tour all around southern and eastern Armenia, which included the Khor Virap monastery along the Turkish border with a cool dungeon the kids explored, followed by a photo op at the Azat Reservoir. After that we visited the rebuilt 1st century Garni Temple and then the nearby Symphony of Stones natural monument. This was a highlight for me — it’s comprised of thousands of massive, symmetrical columns up to 150 feet high. We then had a great lunch at Sergey’s Place then continued onto the Geghard monastery which is built on a natural spring and you can drink water from a well within the building. Back at the hotel, we drank some famous Armenian brandy at the bar before venturing out for another round of frosties.
On our last day, we started across town at a large set of stairs that interweave with ornate gardens and art called the Cascade Complex. The adults took the old Soviet-looking escalators on the interior while the girls ran up the stairs outside. At the top, we visited the Memorial to 50th Anniversary of October Revolution, and then had a late lunch at Dargett Brewpub. We were pretty exhausted from the trip and had a midnight taxi to the airport so we went back to the hotel and relaxed for most of the evening. Overall, the kids like Armenia more due to the shopping and chain restaurants we don’t have in Lisbon. Our flight back was uneventful except that it left at 3am, and we had Arby’s in Istanbul’s airport at 5am.