Weekend Getaway to the City That Everyone (But Me) Loves: San Diego

Photo in front of a fountain. Because you always pose for photos in front of fountains.

I'm a little late and slow posting this, but I recently took a weekend trip to Everyone's Favorite City(TM), everyone but me that is: San Diego, California USA.

I went for an overnight trip even though I was completely inundated with work in what is supposed to be the wind-down phase of my career. I went for one purpose and one purpose only. Well, two purposes. To meet up with two Georgia Tech friends, one of whom I have not seen since the early to mid 1980s, before she became a superstar bio-engineering professor and certified genius, the other being someone I had not seen since in maybe close to 10 years, before the covidiocy struck America.

Pictured above is me with my friend who I had not seen in decades. She was in town for a professional conference which included, naturally, the bestowing upon of her of some prestigious (within her field) award. We only had a limited time since the Professor had a full schedule of conference events. So when I hit town Saturday, off we went to Balboa Park.

Just me this time. Only in this photo I have legs.
In case anyone was wondering if I brought them along this trip. Which I did. As you can see.

Afterwards we met up with another Georgia Tech friend who lives in "North County," as the people "in the know" call the northern part of San Diego County. We did dinner in a brew pub in the northern part of downtown San Diego, in a neighborhood that probably was sufficiently cool as to have its own name. I can't recall what the name was. We did not want to eat and drink in the Gaslight District, where the Professor's conference/convention was because, due to the combination of infrequent rain and a large population of people living on the streets, smelled of human waste. Hey. Just keeping it real.

The brew pub and the streets around it were filled with those good-looking people for which San Diego is known. I'm sure any bar in the Gaslight District would have been equally filled the young and beautiful -- a crowd in which I fit in perfectly. Yes, I know "technically" it's called the Gaslamp District, but we all kept wanting to call it the Gaslight District since gaslighting seems to be more frequent nowadays than gaslamping.

I have no pictures of dinner and drinking because none of the three of us live our lives on social media so we kinda forget to get a group photo. We were too busy have a fun conversation catching upon our respective lives to secure photograph proof of our meet-up. We're those kind of people. But at least I got a few photos of me at a fountain in Balboa Park.

A Museum and a Mosque in a Half Day of Yerevan Tourism

The fountains putting on an enthusiastic display at the monument to Stalin's bud Stepan Shahumyan

Today was only a half of a day of tourism because work duty infiltrated the vacation. It happens sometimes. And if such a thing is going to happen, better in Yerevan than in Tbilisi or Baku!

The waters were turned on in the fountains of Yerevan, which made for a nice walk to the day's first destination.

Now, if it sounds like I am not totally enjoying Yerevan and Armenia, and that enjoyed the two prior stops on my Caucasian vacation much much much much much (should I insert another couple of much's?) more, you would be right. One reason for this is that Azerbaijan and Georgia were awesome. I was expecting to really love Tbilisi, Georgia, and it exceeded my expectations. I didn't know what to expect of Azerbaijan. I visited it because I was going to be in the neighborhood. And I was wow-ed beyond anything that I expected.

As a note, it is a "Caucasian" vacation when one is vacationing in the Caucasus region astride the invisible line dividing the continents of Europe and Asia -- which really are a single continent of Eurasia -- as evidenced by plate tectonics as all of Europe and Asian -- except for the Arabian peninsula and the subcontinent of India -- are part of one super-sized tectonic plate. As for Yerevan in particular, and Armenia in general, I am not regretting visiting here. Despite all my b- and m-ing, it's not a horrible place. It is beautiful. Case in point:

And another case in point:

Beautiful architecture in Yerevan and beautiful nature in the rest of the country. Armenia is well worth visiting provided one of the following is true: (1) you are of Armenian heritage and want to experience the old homeland; or, (2) you're going to be in the neighborhood anyway. For somebody like me in the second category, the five-day, five-night trip here is proving to be too much. I would have been much happier with two full days (three nights) of tourism: one for Yerevan, one for a day trip such as the one I took the day before. Even with all of my bellyaching about the friendliness and warmth of the local population )or lack thereof), I would be enjoying a grand time in Armenia if I had scheduled a short jaunt.

 

Somewhere in Yerevan I am sure there are tourists laughing, smiling, and generally having a wonderful time soaking in the whole experience of being in Armenia. If I figure out where that is, I'll let you know.

Statues of children drinking from a fountain from which you too can actually drink. And the water will taste like fresh cold water should taste: like nothing, really, other than refreshment. And those statuary children were just as friendly, just as concerned with making me feel welcome and taking care of my needs as every other resident of Yerevan has been.

Here is an actual child and not just a statuary child enjoying the fountain.

He did not inquire as to whether I was enjoying my Armenian holiday.

In all seriousness, I am not miserable here. I am not unhappy I came here. I'm actually enjoying trying to be somewhat creative with my complaining. Although I do wish I planned a shorter stay, I'm not soaking in misery being here. The locals' attitude is running off me like the water on the umbrella being held by the statuary children in that photo above.

This is a huge, imposing statue of Alexander Myasnikian.

He was a Bolshevik. He was the first communist leader of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic after Armenian sovereignty ended after a very brief interval following the fall of czar. He died mysteriously in a mysterious plane crash of a mysterious origins in 1925. This was about a year after the death of Lenin. It also was before Stalin had consolidated control over the Communist Party in the Soviet Union, so the mysterious death probably did not come on orders from Stalin.

That said, the fact that this monument to the first communist leader of Armenia is still standing (it was built in 1980 when the Soviet Union was still in effect) is evidence of the "complicated" relationship Armenia has with its communist past. A giant statue of Lenin was torn down, but statues of other communist leaders remain. The stated reason is this is what happened in the past and there's no point denying it. The less-stated reason is Armenia remains dependent on Russia to this day: for trade, for tourists, and for protection from common enemies.

Above is the building housing the day's first destination: the Yerevan History Museum.

The museum does not occupy all -- or even most -- of the building. The collection is quite small.

Outside is a stela with cuneiform writing. Just Armenia once again reminding everyone how far back its civilization goes.

Across the street is the headquarters building of the Prosperous Armenia Party.

I don't know if the Prosperous Armenia Party is left of right, globalist or isolationist, anti-Putin or pro-Putin stooges. Regardless of their political platform, I can appreciate that their headquarters is a cool-looking building.

Entering the museum:

That is a clock (made in Georgia) that was supposed to be installed in a place of prominence in Yerevan. The glass protective cover was broken during the installation, so the clockface was not sealed off. Apparently, according to the blurb next to this display, Yerevan's crows enjoyed resting on the clock's hands, causing repeated damage. So, rather than just buy a new protective glass cover off Amazon or -- this being so far back in the past as to be almost prehistoric -- the Sears catalog, they took the clock down and moved it indoors.

The more modern era is represented by bric-a-.brac. 

I was hoping to get some insight into the communist era here in Yerevan, especially since the displays in the national museum on that topic were closed for renovation. But it was not to be. But I did learn one thing at this museum. 

This is painting depicting a market scene from a few hundred years ago.

And this is what I did not realize. Yerevan once was a Middle Eastern city. Historically, Armenia had been tied to Persian and Anatolian Turkey. It only hooked up with Russia recently -- in terms of the great length of Armenian history -- and Armenians love to remind you of how long this great length of Armenian history actually is -- with Armenia being tied to Russia only for the last 200 years. But before that? Armenian culture was Turkish and it was Persian.

Apparently they recently played a WBNA game here in the Yerevan museum.

This had been thrown out onto the floor.

There also was a section devoted to local art. This one definitely had that communist-era socialist realism feel to it.

The next stop for the day was a visit to the Blue Mosque. Across from it was this cool-looking building. Very Middle Eastern in design, which fit the neighborhood vibe.

I believe it is a shopping center of some sort.

This is the entrance to the Blue Mosque.

Note that it is blue. So why is there a mosque in the middle of Yerevan, which is in Armenia, which is the first country in the universe to adopt Christianity as its official state religion, which it did right around the year 300 A.D.?

Yerevan has been a crossroads and has historically been tied to Islamic Anatolian Turkey and Islamic Persia.

The Mosque had fallen into disrepair during the Soviet period as the communists treated Islamic with the same respect accorded other religions. Which is: none. No respect. Just systematic destruction and elimination of any gods other than Marx, Lenin and (until Khrushchev) Stalin.

But it recently has been repaired and extensively renovated, with financial assistance from Armenia's close ally.

Iran.

Note the minaret behind the building. Armenia takes its friends wherever it can find them and, right now, the Islamic Republic of Iran is at the top of its friend's list ever since its former #1 friend Russia decided to be neutral in Armenia's recent war against Azerbaijan. 

The Blue Mosque is interesting, but it's worth visiting only to snap a few pictures.

It cannot compete with the splendor of all the old Armenian Apostolic cathedrals, churches, and monasteries.

As the afternoon was ending, I decided to look for a bakery for a snack. I had eaten delicious baked goods in my other destinations on this Caucasian vacation.

I couldn't find the specific bakery I was looking, but I did find this statue: the Vardan Mamikonyan Statue near the Vernissage Market. Who is Vardan Mamikonyan? An Armenian military leader who led a campaign against -- continuing with the theme of the Blue Mosque -- against the Persians in 451 A.D. In defense of the Armenians here, when they talk about how long back into the past Armenian history stretches back, it really does go a long way back. They are not exaggerating.

Let's have a closer look:

Let the Persians among you recoil in fear.

Soviet Brutalist Architecture That Works: Yerevan's The Cascades

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting: The Cascades

Yerevan's The Cascades, which is where the bus-van tour began, is a masterpiece of Soviet-style Brutalist architecture. What is, or what are -- depending on whether "The Cascades" is one thing or several things -- Yerevan's The Cascades. It is an absolutely massive staircase connecting the residential neighborhoods above the city to the central downtown core. Now, in the post-Soviet era, the massive staircase has been transformed, reconfigured, or decorated -- choose your verb -- with the addition of museum's worth of public art.

It starts with the Alexander Tamanian Statue at the "gateway" to The Cascades.

But there is more art, of varying quality, on display past Mr. Tamanian when you are walking toward the massive staircase.

For me, the star attraction of the art display are the three large (and fat) statues by Colombian artist Fernando Botero. While Mr. Botero himself was somewhat trim (he passed away in 2023), he is known for depicting very rotund figures whether in sculpture, drawing, or painting. Fat people. Fat cats. Fat fruits and vegetables. Even his rendering of Jesus on the Cross shows a rotund Jesus.

I would not have expected to find Boteros in Yerevan, especially since the fat fullness of the statuary contrasts with the deprivation of the Soviet Era when The Cascades were built, but sometimes we find things where we least expect them to be.

Like I never expected to see this.

The bird may be fat, but I don't believe he (or she) (I was not told the preferred pronouns) is a Botero. But definitely in line with the Botero theme.

Time to ascend.

Fortunately, one does not have to walk the stairs of the giant staircase (at least not until the last flight of stairs to reach the summit). There is an escalator inside.

At each "floor" -- or landing if you want to use staircase terminology, there is a lookout area where you can walk out and check your progress on the ascent. Fountains at the first such "landing":

And artistic renderings of trees, I presume.

Perspective:

That will give you a sense the amount of territory covered by each interval in the ascent, from landing to landing.

Finally, at the top of where you ascent by escalator is this fountain.

The swimmer/diver motif works well for a fountain high above the rest of the city.

At this point, if you want to reach the summit, you have to climb stairs. No more escalator.

Is this at the summit worth the climb?

Well, if you only had to walk up one flight of stairs and not the whole massive staircase, then I would say "yes." The pillar does betray the Soviet origins of this massive example of the Brutalist school of architecture.

My legs were wearing out after the long day of bus-van touring, so it was time to descend. On the descent, I noticed this:

That is actually one massive sneaker. It's not just that somebody lost a shoe on the climb. I'm estimating three or four feet in length. Just another example of the apparent Armenian shoe fetish about which I learned on this trip.

And here is an elephant trunk emerging from a small hut:

The elephant looks like it is sporting a happy expression. Obviously the elephant is not bothered by the claustrophobia.

Dusk is settling in.

Time to get back to the hotel for the evening.

Unless you want to play in a fountain. They're functioning again all over the city after taking Tuesday off.