Category: Armenia

This was part of the Louvre special exhibition at the museum and this is something of a significant piece of stone which dates to the fifth to seventh centuries. It was found in the Cemetery of Armant in Egypt and is part of the collections of the Louvre.

The symbolism is important as it’s an early piece of Christian art and it’s in really rather a decent condition. The fish represents the sea monster that gobbled up Jonah, whilst the cross is a reference to the Resurrection.

And, apparently, “the style of the carving, with its heavy outlines and textured patterns on the dolphin’s body, is characteristic of the expressive and often folk-like art of the Coptic Christian community during the Byzantine period.”

It’s a key. But, this was particularly interesting to me as it’s the key to the fortress in Erzurum and we had visited this castle when we were in Turkey the previous week. And that’s something that has been a real revelation to me on this trip, it’s opened up a whole new history to me of a region that I didn’t know much about.

The key dates to 1829 and so was likely pinched by the Russians when they invaded the city in that year, unless this is perhaps the new key that had to be made because the old one went missing. When the Russians took the castle, it was the first time in over 500 years that Christian soldiers had occupied it, although the Treaty of Adrianople a few months later gave the city back to the Ottoman Empire.

This is one of the most remarkable shoes in the world and it even has its own Wikipedia page. This shoe is 5,500 years old and even the lace has remained intact. It has the claim to fame that it is the oldest surviving leather footwear in the world and I must admit that it was quite exciting to see this.

The shoe was discovered in the 2008 archaeological dig at the Areni-1 cave, with the grass inside being from the period. They don’t know whether the grass was there to help cushion the shoe and make it more comfortable, or whether grass was placed in the shoe when it wasn’t work to preserve the shape.

Our first choice restaurant for the evening was fully booked, although we were able to dine there the next day, so we instead went to this on-trend looking outfit, Black Angus.

This is the dining area on the first floor and they had a few seats on the ground floor, where the open kitchen was located. The venue felt modern, welcoming and the team member helpfully gave me the wi-fi password so I didn’t have to panic.

Far too jovial….

Firstly, the beer is the Paulaner wheat beer, this is one of my favourite things that this German brewery offers, banana notes, fluffy and light. The chips were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the interior, but onto the Mexican burger. This had some heat to it with the jalapenos adding positively to the arrangement, but the burger surprised and delighted, meaty, rich in flavour, suitably seasoned, this was all really very good.

Jonathan went for a salad, but I didn’t say anything.

I also ordered myself some onion rings, which were crispy with a spicy coating, another positive addition.

Overall, I very much liked this venue as it was clean, the service was friendly, the team members were attentive and we were rarely left waiting for long. The prices were slightly towards the higher end of the scale, but I thought that it was worth it for the quality.