Geghard And Garni, Armenia

After an overnight train to Yerevan I spent the day in the capital city - rainy weather, sore throat, and a cancelled paragliding trip...i really thought i'd go through with it, challenge myself i.e. my fear of heights...shame.

The next day I went on a trip to see the mystical Geghard Monastery, one of the three Armenian WHS sites. The misty weather actually made the whole atmosphere that much better :) The site was full of khachkars (or Armenian stone-crosses) - carved, memorial steles bearing a cross, and often with additional motifs such as rosettes, interlaces, and botanical motifs. Khachkars are characteristic of Medieval Christian Armenian art, inscribed since 2010 in the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Afterwards we visited the Temple of Garni, the only standing Greco-Roman colonnaded building in Armenia and the former Soviet Union. The structure was probably built by king Tiridates I in the first century AD as a temple to the sun god Mihr. After Armenia's conversion to Christianity in the early fourth century, it was converted into a royal summer house of Khosrovidukht, the sister of Tiridates III. I'll also remember this site because I asked a really handsome Russian guy if he could take a photo, shame he didn't know a word of English..;)

Wine Grapes Harvest In Kakheti, Georgia

 Local peasant carrying a godori (wicker basket): 

in the background Chailuri or the Niakhura Fortress.

And here is one of the main incentives why to visit Georgia in October of all months :) It is the end of wine grapes harvest season - and Georgia is actually one of the oldest wine regions in the world. The fertile valleys and protective slopes of the Transcaucasia were home to grapevine cultivation and neolithic wine production for at least 8000 years. They have preserved their special traditional ways of making wine: UNESCO added the ancient traditional Georgian winemaking method using the Kvevri clay jars to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.

Even though my wish was to take a few days for the Kakheti region and stay overnight in one of the villages, the tour company that did such a package didn't have enough people signed up to make it happen, and I had too little time to organise it on my own. So I've entered the office of an agency in Tbilisi to see if I can do something in a day - and sure enough I found a good deal, just me and a friendly gal from the Philippines with a local driver/guide, and off we go to Sighnaghi :) We visited the lovely Bodbe Monastery, a local museum, and of course the Pheasant's Tears winery for some wine tasting, yay :) It was a good day!

Wayang Shadow Puppet Theatre, Indonesia

UNESCO designated wayang kulit, a shadow puppet theatre and the best known of the Indonesian wayang, as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on 7 November 2003. In return for the acknowledgment, UNESCO required Indonesians to preserve their heritage.

Wayang kulit is a unique form of theatre employing light and shadow. The puppets are crafted from buffalo hide and mounted on bamboo sticks. When held up behind a piece of white cloth, with an electric bulb or an oil lamp as the light source, shadows are cast on the screen. The plays are invariably based on romantic tales, especially adaptations of the classic Indian epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Some of the plays are also based on local happening or other local secular stories. It is up to the conductor or dalang (puppeteer) to decide his direction.

Many thanks Shinta :)

Food Map Of Portugal

I have sent a yummy map to remind me of some of the tastiest experiences in Portugal (bacalhau/cod, francesinha, pasteis de nata, though much more left to try) - then i realised it can be seen as a Intangible Cultural Heritage postcard, as Mediterranean diet has been added to the list in 2013. Wish Croatia had some nice food postcards..!

 

Viennese Coffee House Culture, Austria

The Viennese coffee house (Wiener Kaffeehaus) is a typical institution of Vienna that played an important part shaping Viennese culture. Since October 2011 the "Viennese Coffee House Culture" is listed as Unesco's "Intangible Cultural Heritage".

The postcard shows Cafe-Konditorei Demel famous for its sweet stuffs; and the 2nd postcard a well-known Austrian dessert, popular in the former Austria–Hungary and Bavaria, called Kaiserschmarrn. It is actually made with eggs but also sugar so it can be both a dessert and a light meal..! I have made this at my sister's place in Bavaria and she has sent me the recipe to remind me :)

Japan - Bunraku, Japanese Puppet Theatre

Bunraku or Ningyō jōruri is a form of traditional japanese puppet theatre - a play is accompanied by Jōruri music, a narrative form of singing to the music played on a traditional three-stringed instrument Shamisen.

I am positive it would be an amazing experience to witness such a performance, something to keep in mind :) Thanks so much nannie for introducing it to me via postcard! xD

Addition: As suspected, I found it on the Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage list :))

Lace From Hvar

When i was a child i used to go to church a lot, which is something my mum encouraged. I enjoyed the stories from The Bible, the religious teachings...and at one opportunity, when i was visiting my cousin in Zadar as a 12-year-old, i met a really nice priest and a nun in the local church of St. Mary's Assumption. They later moved to Hvar, and i was sent these two postcards showing lace - which is made by the nuns from the Benedictine monastery in Hvar from the threads of agava leaves.

Hvar lace, together with Lepoglava lace and perhaps the most renowned Pag lace, was inscribed in the Unesco's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.