Today was our first full day after all of the traveling. Today we toured both the old city and the new city of Nicosia. Before the tours, we learned about some history and current facts. The center of the city is called Liberty Square. This is a park that was designed by the famous architect Zaha Hadid, and is considered one of her most famous projects. The park is built along the historic Venetian walls that used to separate the old city from the new city. It now forms more of a moat shape.

While touring the New City, I noticed that there are not very many high rise buildings. It seems that the city is extremely spread out from overhead. I noticed this when flying in. This is reflected in the campus of the University of Nicosia. They have an extremely spread out campus throughout the residential part of the new city.

The new city also has an abundance of coffee shops. The Cypriots have a strong connection with coffee and meet over it for many different things. It could be business related, family related, meeting with friends, or anything else. It is also socially acceptable to sit in a coffee shop, or any restaurant for hours and talk. It is considered rude for a waiter to bring a check without the group asking first.

Finally, I also noticed a lot of green buildings and areas. One of the few high rises had plants growing on every floor. There were also different types of trees and bushes everywhere.

In the evening, we toured the old city. Arguably the more historic portion, we walked through the streets and learned about the architecture. Something that I found interesting was the difference between British and Ottoman Empire architecture. During the era of the Ottoman Empire, it was frowned upon to be able to see into homes very easily from the streets. This was due to the types of clothing that were seen as acceptable to wear in public then. Therefore, they had high windows and low doors without windows. On the other hand, when the British took over, this practice was changed. Some buildings had lower windows and higher doors with windows.

Another interesting thing I saw in the old city was the first Cyprian President’s cars. They have kept them in perfect condition since his inauguration in 1960. He had one normal car and one bullet proof car. The bullet proof car was actually a suggestion from President John F. Kennedy of the United States. When he suggested this, the country originally rejected the proposal because of money concerns. However, a Cypriot living in New Jersey, United States donated the money to the country.