Today we went on a couple of tours around Nicosia and finished off with the welcome to Cyprus dinner. The first tour of the day was around the newer portion of Nicosia. As we walked around the city we learned about some of the buildings, looked at a residential area with very nice apartments. We passed a ton of coffee shops and talked about how meeting for coffee is a key aspect of social life in Cyprus. This first tour also helped get us accustomed to the heat and showed the importance of carrying around a water bottle. After a break for lunch, we visited the University of Nicosia. The university was super nice and is ranked 126th on the list of best universities across the world. After that, we stopped to get covid tests for our company visit tomorrow (everyone was negative).

Finally, we got a chance to go back to the hotel and take a nap before our tour of the older section of the city. Our tour guide walked us around and talked about the construction of some of the buildings, the difference between Ottoman and British architecture, and the history of Cyprus and who all had occupied it over the years. Then, it was time for our welcome dinner. We went to a nice Greek restaurant and had a ton of different kids of foods brought out to us one at a time. They were all very filling but delicious. Overall, it was a fun and very interesting first day and it got me very excited for whatever else is in store for the rest of the trip.