Our first ‘real’ day in Cyprus started out with a light breakfast at the hotel. Whereas in America, where we’d generally have cereal, oats, or sausages, Cypriots breakfast consists generally of meat slices, cheeses, pastries, choice egg dishes, and coffee. While not what I was used to, the breakfast was quite good and the managers where helpful and kind.
After breakfast, we took a walking tour of the more ‘modern’ side of Nicosia. Immediately, I was starstruck at the vast differences between European cities and American ones. Where our cities are full of people at all times of day, noisy, and dirty, Nicosia could not of been further from that. While it still contained a couple choice skyscrapers and office buildings, the streets and sidewalks were almost empty. Green plants and trees were planted all along the sidewalks and all over the cities, and almost no litter was lying around.
One other thing I noticed throughout the tour was the relevance of coffee shops-they were literally everywhere. You couldn’t walk more than one or two blocks without seeing one. Coffee is a huge part of Cyprian culture and cuisine, and it’s common to meet over coffee and talk for multiple hours. Besides coffee, the cuisine here has Greek roots. Meat slices & cheese platters are common sites: especially Cyprus’s specific type of cheese, Halloumi cheese.
After lunch, we visited the University, took a tour of its doors, and saw a rather unique individual relaxing on his dorm room patio. I was impressed at the unique architecture seen in the University’s dorms, it brought on a very modern feel to an otherwise historic city.
Speaking of history, we concluded the day with a tour through the old city. Our tour guide explained the cultural roots of the different architecture, and explained the history behind a few specific buildings we saw. The tour really opened my eyes to all of the lush history of Nicosia.
At the end of our tour, we encountered the green line that divides Nicosia between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. It was quite sad to see people our age guarding the border, and hearing how our tour guide had been ripped from her home when the Turkish army invaded the country.
We concluded our tour with a family-style dinner, which was unlike anything I’ve seen in the US. We saw multiple cats patrolling around the city, and a few let me pet them at the restaurant. Overall, it was a great first day in Cyprus and I can’t wait to see what the coming days have in store for us.