High in the mountains, if to climb above Dilijan in the direction of Alaverdi, there’s located a small village named Fioletovo.

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Russian Old Believers, who were expelled from Russia in czarist days, live here.

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And I think their descendants are not very upset about this, since it’s a great luck to live in such a picturesque place.

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We travelled from Tufenkian Hotel in Dilijan to their beautiful hotel in Alaverdi, resembling an ancient manor, where local chef was looking forward to meet us.

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And every few minutes I asked to make a stop to take several pictures of the opening scenery. We were standing with Ruben, the main Chef of Tufenkian Restaurants, whom I’ve already mentioned in a previous post, and smoking in silence.

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The words were needless.

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By the way, the best Armenian pickles are in Fioletovo.

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As Ruben jokes, this is where Armenian ‘pickle mafia’ lives.
To say the truth, I’ve never tasted better pickled cucumbers before.