This is Prince Eugene House, which even has its own Wikipedia page, which was constructed in 1817 on the former site of the Forforosa Gate. This location is significant as it marks the exact point where Prince Eugene of Savoy entered the city in 1716 after successfully seizing the fortress from Ottoman control, marking the start of Habsburg rule.
Although the house bears his name, the military commander never actually lived there, as construction began more than eighty years after his death. The building serves as a memorial to this transition of power, featuring a prominent medallion above the doorway of the above photo that depicts a basic representation of the original gate.
Over the centuries, the property has transitioned through various uses, serving as a Jewish house of prayer, a series of private commercial shops, a restaurant and pub (my favourite usage) before becoming a theatre agency during the mid-20th century. Following the period of nationalisation under the communist regime, the building was eventually returned to the descendants of the Savici family in the 1990s.
It’s perhaps in need of some repair today, although that’s true of a lot of the grand buildings in the city, although matters are clearly improving. The graffiti isn’t doing a great deal for the look of the building to be honest….
This is the bus stop at Timișoara Airport, around a twenty second walk from the airport terminal.
It’s a long bendy bus and I was pleased to find out that it’s easy to just use contactless cards on board. The journey to the city centre takes around thirty minutes and costs 65p. The ticket lasts for sixty minutes and allows transfers onto other public transport.
There’s my friend Liam departing after kindly dropping me off at Luton Airport and it’s always a delight being back here. Well, it isn’t, but travel is about being positive.
I decided to just stay at the airport overnight, it’s not worth the faffing about leaving the hotel early to get here. And, it’s a more thrifty option. Here’s the airside area shortly after it opened.
My usual visit to Big Smoke with my Priority Pass card and it’s not often that I’m here early enough for the breakfast menu. The £18 allowance doesn’t allow a huge amount of decadence here with prices ever rising.
The poached eggs on avocado with sourdough bread served alongside a pineapple juice was a suitable breakfast for 04:00. It’s half-term this week and the airport was very busy, with Big Smoke being at capacity for much of the time that I was there.
Orange juice, latte and granola at Nolito, where I merrily waited until I got an alert on my phone with the gate number.
Coffee acquired. I’m not sure why the Wizz Air app mentioned the gate number before it was announced, as it led to several customers arriving to see no gate information and then asking staff members for help. It’s handy to get extra time to arrive at the gate though.
With the gate now announced I managed to be the first to queue up, with boarding commencing nearly immediately. This was one of the flights where Wizz Air had mentioned that there might be €100 in Wizz Air credits for volunteering not to fly. I have little interest in this, it would deny me getting any UK261 compensation if they were planning to refuse me.
There’s the aircraft positively glimmering in the morning sun.
The turnaround on these flights is something to behold, we were boarding within fifteen minutes of these passengers disembarking.
Boarding the aircraft, which was registration HA-LWQ, an Airbus A320 which Wizz Air have had in their fleet since 2012 and that I don’t think I’ve been on before.
This is one of the older aircraft in the fleet and these are the old fashioned seats that I haven’t seen in some time. I was pleased that the seating Gods had allocated me an aisle seat as the flight was just about full.
The aircraft was clean, but it felt a little rickety in places, as is perhaps evident with those yellow pieces of tape indicating the damaged overhead lockers. As for the flight, it all seemed well managed, although I was asleep for most of it so all manner of havoc could have been happening and I wouldn’t have known. I hope that I didn’t miss out on any drama though….
And safely at Timișoara Airport, a little earlier than expected. It took only around twenty minutes to get through border control, there were few British people on board and they delayed matters slightly because of the EES.
I had plenty of time at Yerevan Airport, giving me time to visit the lounge that they had here before I boarded my flight to Prague.
There were a variety of sandwiches, with the whole food selection being quite broad.
Snacks and salad. Those red wafer things were very moreish.
A selection of empanadas.
The usual generic lager. There was a self-service bar which had a range of spirits, a brandy and a choice of two different beers. It’s a large lounge and I liked that they had some higher tables rather than just low tables. There were also power points liberally dotted around, as well as as wi-fi.
Some healthy Greek salad, although that’s not entirely evident from the photo, which was my favourite thing from the food options. It’s unusual for lounges to have bottles of coke and the like available, as they must lose a lot to customers taking them away with them.
The lounge has a view over the boarding gates, which is particularly handy to see when flights are actually boarding. My flight started to board earlier than previously announced, so I decided after a couple of hours to meander down.
The online reviews for this lounge aren’t great, but I thought that it was all fine. There was plenty of space, a wide selection of food and drinks, with team members keeping the whole lounge clean and organised.
After Jonathan had left Yerevan for Milan after our two week trip, I had a wait at the airport before flying to Prague. Here’s a rather lovely artwork that was recovered from the Spitak earthquake in 1988.
There was a large seating area at arrivals which had comfortable seats, tables and power points. It wasn’t clear whether this was part of the seating area for the restaurant, but I thought that if it was they’d come over and I’d buy a coffee. One hour and twenty minutes later, a staff member came over asking what I’d like, so I requested a menu. Twenty minutes later the menu was delivered to the table, and as no-one had returned for another forty minutes, I left for my flight.
It’s not possible to use a digital boarding card as in most airports, so I had to wait for the bag drop desk to open to collect my boarding card. This is a free process and it was all suitably efficient.
After a lounge visit, which I will return to in another post, it was time to board.
Boarding the aircraft, which was registration HA-LDH, an aircraft that I don’t think that I’ve been on before.
Waving goodbye to Armenia, after a really fascinating trip to the country.
In the background is the Government’s aircraft, an Airbus A319-100 which the Republic of Armenia has used since 2007.
I had been a little disappointed that the seating Gods had given me a middle seat, but with some rearrangement, I was able to move to an aisle seat.
The airline’s planned new routes and I hope to go on some of these.
The flight was, yet again, without any incident. It was over three hours, which is about as much as I can cope for in a Wizz Air aircraft, but the crew members were professional and it was all clean and comfortable. I have very little to comment on here as Wizz Air really have everything done to a fine art and nothing was of note. The pilots gave useful updates in their announcements, including an update en route and also details of the weather and other such things.
After having arrived in Prague, the introduction of the EES system was causing delays at the border for, mostly, UK residents from other flights. I’m already registered on the system and I was at the desk for just twenty seconds, but there was a wait whilst others were processed.
And safely through border control and ready for a couple of days in Prague.
Although I’ve completed my write-up of my trip to Turkey, Georgia and Armenia, there was quite a lot that I missed out and have meant to come back to. This is one of those posts, but the summary of the trip is at https://www.julianwhite.uk/turkey-georgia-and-armenia-final-thoughts/, with a link to all the blog posts that I wrote up telling the story of that little adventure.
This rather modern and interesting looking building is Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Yerevan is a major Armenian Apostolic church complex built to commemorate the 1700th anniversary of Armenia’s adoption of Christianity as the state religion (which is traditionally dated to 301).
Construction of the cathedral started in 1997 ready for the opening in 2001, with the architect being Stepan Kurkchyan. The cathedral is dedicated to Gregory the Illuminator, who converted Armenia to Christianity from Zoroastrianism in the fourth century. There are some relics from St. Gregory, but as is common with these things, there are numerous right arms from St. Gregory around the world.
Although the cathedral is large, it didn’t feel ostentatious or excessive, I quite liked how it felt functional. The building can fit 2,500 worshippers in and there’s a basement with numerous extra rooms, offices, worship space and a library.
We entered when there was a large service on, so I didn’t want to take more than this photo as it felt a little intrusive. Shortly after this, the large curtains were swept across, it was quite a sight, although I’d better add that this wasn’t a response to my taking a photo. It all felt quite welcoming, I liked how it was a little understated but yet still grand.
Although I’ve completed my write-up of my trip to Turkey, Georgia and Armenia, there was quite a lot that I missed out and have meant to come back to. This is one of those posts, but the summary of the trip is at https://www.julianwhite.uk/turkey-georgia-and-armenia-final-thoughts/, with a link to all the blog posts that I wrote up telling the story of that little adventure.
It was the age of these items that intrigued me the most, they all date to the fourth century BC. Made from bone, they are a variety of tools, namely a hoe, a knocker and a handle. These items aren’t particularly unusual or just from this region, but I like the everyday items from this period which provide some tangible connection to the past. These are the quiet echoes of a Tuesday afternoon in 389 BC….
Although I’ve completed my write-up of my trip to Turkey, Georgia and Armenia, there was quite a lot that I missed out and have meant to come back to. This is one of those posts, but the summary of the trip is at https://www.julianwhite.uk/turkey-georgia-and-armenia-final-thoughts/, with a link to all the blog posts that I wrote up telling the story of that little adventure.
Apparently these can occasionally be found in the UK, but they’re rather delicious, a similar concept to Bueno bars. Light in taste, gentle pistachio flavour and plenty of chocolate. It might be evident that I had way too much time to think on this railway journey.
Although I’ve completed my write-up of my trip to Turkey, Georgia and Armenia, there was quite a lot that I missed out and have meant to come back to. This is one of those posts, but the summary of the trip is at https://www.julianwhite.uk/turkey-georgia-and-armenia-final-thoughts/, with a link to all the blog posts that I wrote up telling the story of that little adventure.
We only had one night in Ankara, so whilst Jonathan opted for a basement room in a nearby hotel, I went for the Ibis Styles.
The rather nice lobby.
The beer selection from which I could choose my welcome drink.
The room, which was clean, cosy and warm. So I promptly opened the window to make it cold.
They made me a coffee during the check-in and there’s the welcome snack and bottled waters.
I went for the welcome beer of the Efes Malt, which was light, malty and really rather good.
The breakfast room in the morning, when I first realised that there was now quite a lot of snow outside.
The breakfast buffet.
Delicious and healthy.
The colourful corridor.
I’m not sure I’ve seen a warning of a fine for not returning the keycard.
Anyway, this was a really rather lovely hotel with friendly staff, fast wifi (this was important), a comfortable environment and clean rooms. The breakfast choice was extensive, the stay was reasonably priced and I’d stay here again.
