Today was the first day in Cyprus and we attempted to get over jet lag as we walked around the city. The first thing we did was take a walking tour around the new part of Nicosia. It was really interesting and cool to see the different architectures of their skyscrapers. As well as seeing all the different cafes along every corner. I knew cafes were a strong part of Cyprus’s culture but I didn’t expect there to be that many cafes. Our next tour was a couple hours later in the day where we went to the University of Nicosia and had our orientation. It was really interesting to see their campus and how similar it was to Pitt’s. For example, they had 28th October Street where a lot of students hang out in cafes which remined me of Fifth and Forbes at Pitt.
To finish up the day we took a walking tour of the Old City of Cyprus. This was a really cool part of the day for me as we got to see all the influence from different occupiers on Cyprus. For example, the great number of Orthodox churches caused by the Byzantine Empire. We also saw some more modern aspects of the old city with The Green Line, the line that divides Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Cyprus. This was a really crazy experience as there were guards on the walls facing us in case of an invasion but local Cypriots were walking right by as if it was normal. It was interesting to see that the Green Line was something the Cypriots didn’t like but had to live with due to global influences. We finished off with a welcome dinner where we tried different types of Cyprus food, all of which I really enjoyed.
Can’t wait to continue our journey through Cyprus tomorrow!