Friday 
15.8.2025 
17.34km Total: 130.67km 
The only negative thing I can say about the hotel is that it doesn't serve breakfast.
However, following a tip from the concierge, the solution to the problem is a food court just a ten-minute walk away.
The breakfast turned out to be very low-carb, as I didn't realise that rice was a separate order, but it was still a nice enough meal.
I don't mind walking when I'm on vacation, but the destinations I had in mind today were a bit too far away to be realistically walkable, so I downloaded an Armenian taxi app called gg and ordered a car to the Motherland Monument.
According to the guidebook, the monument was supposed to house a museum dedicated to Armenia's contribution to World War II (which was extensive).
Perhaps it used to be, but now, unless I misunderstood something drastically, the entire museum seems to be dedicated to the conflict surrounding Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).
Just before the exit, an old woman stood by a diorama of a World War II battlefield, lit it up and then said, almost word for word: three hundred thousand Armenians dead, donation please.
Normally, I have nothing against voluntary donations and will gladly contribute, but as a tourist with no ties to Armenia whatsoever I was not impressed by this extremely underwhelming experience at all.
From here I had planned to continue on to the memorial and museum dedicated to the Armenian genocide.
However, the taxi app had other ideas.
It is so user-unfriendly that I wonder why they bothered to translate it into English at all.
I booked a car, the car arrived (according to the app), but it sure as hell didn't arrive at my location.
In fact, I have no idea where that car went exactly.
With no other options, I had no choice but to start walking, but walking the entire distance was completely unrealistic.
After a couple of kilometres, I passed a Radisson where I marched up to the reception and asked them to call a taxi, which worked perfectly.
The memorial to the genocide was very tasteful and the museum was extremely informative and well done.
Of course, one has to apply a modicum of critical thinking when a people write their own history, but the parallels to the Holocaust cannot be denied.
Just to really illustrate how the Nazis were inspired by this, Hitler is said to have stated the evening before the invasion of Poland:
After all, who talks about the extermination of the Armenians today?
Although my stomach turned a few times during the exhibition, the hunger that now makes itself felt cannot be ignored.
I don't have to go far, as there is a restaurant in the same park as the memorial/museum.
Normally, I try to avoid deserted restaurants, but as I said, I was very hungry, so I went for it anyway.
And luckily I did, because what I got was by far the tastiest minced meat kebab I have ever eaten.
That, a portion of chips and a large beer cost about seven euros, despite the tourist trap location.
I try the taxi app again, with the result that the taxi goes to my intended destination and waits for me there, leaving me with no way to do anything about it.
The app is truly awful.
It's lucky I have a pair of decent walking shoes, because this time there was no Radisson along the way.
After four kilometres, I am charged five euros for the journey that never happened.
It could have been worse. I actually expected to be blacklisted from the app altogether.
After several failed attempts, I realise that in this app, you set a route for the driver, similar to Google Maps.
So, after clearing all the old rubbish, I make another attempt, which, lo and behold, actually works!
However, as revenge, they send ‘Karen’ to pick me up, who, somewhat unexpectedly, turns out to be a young bearded man.
After driving as if he had stolen the car and dropping me off (at the right place), ‘Karen’ continues to drive at my expense for at least another twenty minutes.
I find it difficult to understand the strategy, as he earned less than 1 euro by doing this but just like in all other apps of this type, you rate the driver, and he obviously got the rating he deserved.
St. Gregory's Cathedral was an impressive building on the outside but almost completely bare on the inside.
But after all, it is a place that serves a purpose, and its capacity to accommodate people have to be enormous.
By now I'm so close to the city center that destinations are walkable again, and I feel pretty much done with sightseeing, so I head for a lovely pint at The Beatles Pub.
But it is Friday after all and evening is fast approaching, so the place is filling up and a barmaid seems to have been tasked with packing the place like a sardine can.
Ordering food while sitting shoulder to shoulder at the bar wasn't very appealing so I start trudging back to the hotel with the idea of finding something along the way.
When I pass a restaurant (Mov) that has something called Lamb khashlama in dark beer, my fate is sealed.
It was described as a stew but turned out to be more like a soup.
But with that kind of result they can describe it however the hell the want as it tasted sublime absolutely regardless of consistency.
When I was about to order a plate of melon for dessert, the waiter said it was too much for one person and offered me half a portion, which I accepted.
I almost regretted it later because that honeydew melon was like a loving kiss from a beautiful woman.
It didn't even need to be chewed, it just melted like butter.
It was a pretty luxurious meal at a restaurant that exuded exclusivity, so the final bill of just over €29 was pretty reasonable considering.
All in all, a fantastic experience and a perfect end to the evening.
Motherland Monument
Tsitsernakaberd
Saint Gregory's Cathedral
National Museum
Evening meal at Mov
