I started off my first full day in Cyprus with breakfast in the hotel. It was good yet different from American breakfasts. We then went on a walking tour of the new part of Nicosia with the Cyprus 1 group, starting off in the newly redesigned main square, called Freedom Square. This square literally bridges the gap between the old and new parts of Nicosia. As we crossed through the square, you could see the old Venetian walls surrounding the old part of the city behind us, and modern shops and high-rises in front of us in the new part of the city. As we were walking past a coffee shop on nearly every block, it was explained to us that coffee is an important social event of the day for Cypriots, which is different than the U.S. where coffee is more of a grab-and-go style. I saw evidence of this during lunchtime, where many older men were gathered at a table outside a Starbucks, socializing and having a good time. We also saw places to shop, Cyprus’ tallest building, and the old town hall.
After the tour, I grabbed lunch with some friends at a restaurant down Ledra Street, which is one of the main walking streets in the old part of Nicosia. We were probably the first customers of the day, as we were told on the tour that Cypriots typically eat a later lunch, around 1-3pm, and it was only noon. I ordered a traditional Cypriot sausage dish, and it was pretty good. Another thing about Cyprus is that the stray cat population is huge, so while we were dining a very friendly cat came up to us and jumped onto our laps. This was quite different than the U.S., as you would never experience something like this.
After lunch, we rejoined Cyprus 1 and took a bus to the University of Nicosia. There, we saw the impressive main building with amphitheater-like steps in the front, a nod to the island’s Greek influence. We had a short orientation in one of the university lecture halls, then we went on a short walking tour of the surrounding area. On the tour, our tour guide pointed out to us how close the U.N buffer zone was, as it was simply up a side street. The U.N buffer zone was put into place to separate the southern Greek side of Cyprus and the northern Turkish side of Cyprus after the Turkish invasion in 1974.
After a short break, we came back to the old city to get a walking tour of the area. Compared to the new city, the old city was drastically different, with shorter buildings and narrow, winding streets. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and explained the architectural differences of buildings between British and Ottoman rule, as well as the difference between the materials used to build buildings depending on how wealthy you were. Combined with the conversion of several ancient churches into mosques centuries ago, these differences lead to a mesh of architecture throughout the old city. She also explained how Cypriot citizens vote in the archbishop, which is the only country in the world to do so.
We then had a traditional meze dinner in the old city to end our day, coincidentally at the same place my friends and I had lunch at. Meze is a type of dinner that is served family style, with lots of food brought out, and is also treated as a social event, as Cypriots often spend hours chatting over a meze dinner. Overall, the wide variety of food was pretty good, and our first day was fun.