Tag: History
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Caucasian Vacation 11 (Armenia): Noravank
From Tatev, we backtrack to Areni in the afternoon and make a detour to one of Armenia’s most popular and most beautiful monasteries. The Noravank Monastery near the town of Yeghegnadzor is perched on a hill and backdropped by a pretty valley. The surrounding cliffs takes on a strikingly orange hue at sunset. It’s one…
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Caucasian Vacation 10 (Armenia): Tatev
After lunch, we continue our drive further east, getting closer to the border with the disputed territory of Artsakh. Our destination is actually the Tatev Monastery in its namesake village, but the unexpectedly long drive (almost three hours, plus we really took our sweet time at lunch) results in us getting around the area almost…
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Caucasian Vacation 8 (Armenia): Khor Virap
We spend the next morning doing some last-minute souvenir-shopping in Tbilisi before heading south to the border with Armenia. The whole process of visa application (visa on arrival for Philippine passport holders) and getting a permit for the van, which is registered in Georgia, takes us almost half a day, and with the additional four-hour…
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Caucasian Vacation 6 (Georgia): Ananuri
Halfway to Gudauri, along the Georgian Military Highway, we stop by the Ananuri Fortress, one of Georgia’s most iconic sights. The Ananuri is a religious complex overlooking the Zhinvali Reservoir of the Aragvi River. This scenic location and the intricate traditional Georgian architecture of the church make it one of the most popular day trips…
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Caucasian Vacation 4 (Georgia): Uplistsikhe
Just 10 kilometers east of Gori is Uplistsikhe, a once vast cave city that housed as many as 20,000 before Christianity was introduced in Georgia. The city was established in the 16th century BC and carved out of rocks, serving as a major regional center of pagan worship in the Caucasus. After King Mirian II…
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Caucasian Vacation 3 (Georgia): Gori
Another popular day trip from Tbilisi is Gori, a city known as the birthplace of Joseph Stalin. It’s a rather dubious distinction, but locals still hold a degree of respect and pride for the hometown boy. The main site here is undoubtedly the Stalin Museum, a building filled with paraphernalia documenting the life of the…
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Caucasian Vacation 2 (Georgia): Mtskheta
The next day we go to Mtshketa, 15 kilometers north of Tbilisi. The city holds great significance among Georgians as the spiritual heart of the country. It was here that Georgia adopted Christianity in 334 AD, becoming the second country in history to do so, after Armenia. Mtshketa also was the capital of the Georgian…
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Caucasian Vacation 1 (Georgia): Tbilisi
It may be trite to say this, but the truth is, I didn’t know much about Georgia (the country) beforehand. I know that it’s a former Soviet state and that it’s geographically somewhere in the Europe-Asia limbo. But other than that, all the images of the country in my mind are from the handful of…
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Odense: H.C. Andersen City
AFTER A COUPLE OF DAYS IN COPENHAGEN AND NORTH ZEALAND, Yanyan and I rent a car again to get around Denmark, with the plan of leaving the capital just after breakfast and reaching Aarhus in the evening. After a few hours of cruising Denmark’s scenic highway, we reach Odense in the afternoon. Odense is the…
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Hillerød: The Frederiksborg Castle
THE NEXT DAY YANYAN AND I CONTINUE OUR DAY TRIP with another castle visit. Our destination is Hillerød, a small town with some history behind it, although almost all visitors come here mainly for its large Renaissance castle, the Frederiksborg. Located in a picturesque setting in the middle of the lake, the Frederiksborg Castle commands…
The Tourist Gaze 