I truly cannot believe that my first full day in Cyprus has come to an end! Throughout the past twenty-four hours I have learned numerous interesting facts about Cypriot history, culture, and cuisine. Our first event of the day was a walking tour through New Cyprus. New Cyprus is characterized by massive buildings and modern infrastructure. We even got to see the tallest building in Cyprus which is an apartment complex that has shops on the ground floor. There is a beautiful bridge designed by Zaha Hadid that passes between New Cyprus and Old Cyprus. Later in the day, we went on a tour of Old Cyprus which was packed full with information about Nicosia’s construction. We got to see important landmarks such as the first post office, the first Christian church in Cyprus, and the house of the archbishop. Our tour guide did a beautiful job explaining how the architecture evolved through the introduction of British rule and the start of gothic architecture. What stood out the most to me was that you can tell the time period homes and businesses were built in based upon whether or not the doors had windows and if the balconies were covered or not. 

We also got to tour the University of Nicosia (UNIC) which is the largest university in Cyprus. During our tour we were given a presentation in one of the lecture halls where we learned more about Cypriot culture and our specific study abroad program. The campus classrooms were similar to lecture halls at Pitt but the cafeteria and dorms were much different from those in the U.S.. They seemed more similar to hotel restaurants and rooms than college amenities. The students at UNIC seemed very friendly despite it being finals week, and they were all dressed more formally than a typical U.S. college student.

Lastly, my favorite part of the day was getting to stroll down the streets of Cyprus during our free time in between tours. This was the first time we were able to venture off in small groups and see the city through our own eyes. We went to a beautiful restaurant in old Cyprus that served authentic Cypriot cuisine. We ordered variations of souvlaki, sheftalia, pickled vegetables, and warm pita with tzatziki sauce. The waiters were all very kind and even treated us to a dessert on the house. Overall, all of the Cypriots we encountered on day one were very friendly and loved getting to know us!