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Tradition finds me once again opening my journal on a flight inbound to Yerevan.  On board an Aeroflot Nord Tupolev 134, I’m about to take off from St. Petersburg, one of my favorite cities.  After a 4-hour layover in Moscow, I’ll be flying on to Yerevan.  The cosmopolitan charms of St. Petersburg, wide awake now after a 70-year slumber, captivated me for the last six days.  Now, though, I project my thoughts forward, to Armenia.  My visit will be a brief five days, tacked on to the official portion of my trip attending a space science conference in the Northern Capital.  The total length of my trips nowadays are no longer governed by whimsical or monetary considerations, but by the length of time I can afford to be away from my family, just to quench my thirst for photographing Armenia.

One thing I have to mention before I return to reading Machiavelli (yes, I’m in that kind of mood!) is that for the first time, passing through multiple x-ray machines has had none of its flustering effects on me:  I’m not carrying any film!  I’ll use a digital camera for the very first time in Armenia.  The instant feedback I’ll receive from my digital camera, along with its super-fast autofocus for the shots I’ve routinely missed while driving through villages, will hopefully balance the sense of loss I feel for not using Fuji Velvia. 

I’m as excited as ever, and even though I don’t have firm plans or a pre-set itinerary, I know that for every monastery I’ve seen, there are ten that I have yet to discover, and for every crag and gorge that has revealed itself to me, there are tens of others waiting patiently for my arrival. 

Aircraft wheels rolling on the tarmac, I begin my journey to Armenia once again.