After yesterday, I was so ready for today! Once we woke up we went to a delicious breakfast again which was perfect to start the day. We then got on the bus to head to Famagusta where the Turkish side of Cyprus was. With a little traffic trouble, we made it and had an incredible time exploring it. We had to give the border patrol employees our passports to ensure we were good to cross. Cyprus is one of the few remaining divided nations in the country and the difference between the Greek and Turkish side was evident immediately. Upon entering the Turkish side it was very protected and barren with barbed wire fences lining every street with military signs to not take pictures of this area. It was so intriguing to see a village like this on the Turkish side that lives not even ten minutes from the other side of Cyprus. It felt like two different countries and felt very serious on every border.
Once we arrived, we saw the cathedral of Famagusta reminding us of Cathy at home in Pittsburgh. The architecture and design were centuries old making it even more interesting to see the transition of the Catholic Church into the cathedral today which is a monastery. We got to enter the monastery where the girls put on long skirts and we looked around at the beautiful sight. Following that we walked around Famagusta before heading to the ghost town on the Turkish side.
The ghost town has been my favorite thing so far as I loved learning the rich history of the Turkish side once they invaded Cyprus and how the town was left completely abandoned. We went over to the coast of the town and on the little beach, you could see many modern beach chairs and umbrellas while behind them were 50 years abandoned resorts. Our guide explained to us that there has been lots of conflict with this area since they are trying to restore it but they cannot decide who truly owns the buildings. It is causing conflict if you owned the building previously do you own it today still or now is ownership able to be claimed by a tourist industry. I was empathetic towards the Cypriots as I see both sides that those who owned the resorts before should be able to reclaim them, while also understanding how if a tourism industry bought it out, it could still bring in a lot for the area and the nation as a whole.
After this, we walked back to the bus through the ghost town where a stray dog followed us all the way back to the bus through the town which was adorable and we were so sad to leave him. We then headed to the beach! We did as lot of exploring and just soaked in the sun which was very nice. Was a little cold but still a great time. We then headed back to Limassol for dinner which was much needed after a long day. Today has been so informative and I can’t wait for tomorrow!
