Today was the first full day spent in Cyprus. We are staying in Nicosia, the capital city of Cyprus. The hotel we are staying in is called the Centrum Hotel. It is a fitting name because it is right next to Freedom Square, which is also called Center Square because it is in the center of the city. Nicosia is split between two parts on either side of Freedom Square. The side we are staying on is called the “Old City.” On the other side is called the “New City.” Today, we toured both the Old City and the New City. Nicosia has an old wall that was built many centuries ago. This wall runs throughout the city.

First, we toured the New City. Based off first observations, the New City has more roads to drive on, taller buildings and newer architecture. The Global Semesters lady (I forgot her name) took us on the tour of the New City. I saw lots of businesses, shops, and places to eat. Also, lots of coffee places. Surprisingly, there were not that many people out and about. However, the tour guide did say that lunch in Cyprus is not until 1, which is most likely why no one was out and about. The shops were much newer and nicer. They had name brand items and even designer items. The buildings are taller and there are more business’ than just shops. There are finance buildings, engineering buildings, and real company buildings. I will be spending money here.

Then, we had to go to UNIC for a quick orientation. This was a quick trip to see the school and tour around the campus a little bit. The highlight was seeing a man in his underwear with his girl on the balcony of his dorm. The dorms here remind me of beach side hotels. They are much nicer than Tower B.

Lastly, we did a tour of the Old City. For the tour of the Old City, we had a native tour guide. She is from Famagusta, which is on the Turkish side. The Old City is almost the opposite of the New City. There are less roads to drive on, the buildings are low (by law) and have old architecture. Also, in the Old City there are lots of people walking around all the time. The tour guide took us through the Old City and along a path that shows the history of the architecture and of the history of Cyprus. She explained that some buildings have different style of architecture based on the culture or who was in power when they were built. We went by the archbishop palace, and she explained that the archbishop was the first president of Cyprus, and he was so loved he served three consecutive terms. The tour guide explained the current conflict between the Greek and Turkish citizens of Cyprus that arose in the 70s. We saw the current “border” that divides the two with military presence. We finished with a nice family style dinner in the Old City.