Yiasas! It was our first day in Cyprus and it was so exciting!!! We started with a wonderful breakfast of delicious croissants in the hotel. We then went on a little walking tour of the new city which smelled so good. There was jasmine everywhere! I don’t think Pittsburgh has ever smelled that good. 

Walking around the new city I saw so many clothing stores. I didn’t realize how much of a shopping area Cyprus was. We also walked past so many cafes that looked like they had great food and an amazing atmosphere. When we had our break for lunch, a few friends and I walked back to some of the cafes we saw on the tour. We got coffee at Brew Lab. I am not a coffee drinker at all but by the end of my latte I started to get why people drank it. I thought it was really funny that the coffee shop had a little diagram about ordering and it said that if you wanted syrup in your coffee that you were in the wrong coffee shop. We took our coffees next door to the bakery that Laura pointed out. We ate wonderful halloumi bread, although we couldn’t finish it. It was great to just sit and chat with everyone; it really felt like we were Cypriots enjoying our long meals.

We then ventured off to the University of Nicosia which was great to see. Being there sort of made me wish that I had gone to school internationally, but I still love Pitt. As we were walking around campus a guy in just his underwear came out onto the balcony of his apartment and waved to us. How hospitable! 

My favorite part of today was the Old City walking tour. I loved our tour guide and was so interested in what she had to say. I really love architecture so it was fun to learn about the melting pot of architecture that Cyprus is. We also learned a lot of the history of Cyprus which was really interesting because it is such a rich and complex history that we don’t really learn about in school. My favorite fact she told us was about the kiosks that people used when trying to avoid being seen by the soldiers and that they have since been replaced by open balconies now. I never would have thought the kiosks had a really important use. The city was absolutely beautiful and I took so many pictures.

We then had wonderful Cyprian mezze for dinner. The dishes just kept coming out! It was really funny that the stray cats of Cyprus could just walk through the restaurant. Adam kept petting them and I was living vicariously through him because I am so allergic to cats but love them so much. One even jumped on his lap! My favorite moment of the day was when Adam picked up an olive and asked Laura whether it was a potato or a grape and then proceeded to eat it and be absolutely shocked by the pit even though Laura warned him seconds before that it had a pit. It’s safe to say that Adam will never eat an olive again. I also learned some Greek phrases that I will try really hard to remember. For example, “efharisto” means “thank you.” Did I look that up on the sheet of translations Laura wrote for me? Yes, but I’m learning.

All in all, it felt like we lived three days in one and I can’t wait for what the rest of the trip has in store.