Friday, we walked around our neighborhood (Makedonissa) with my neighbors, went to a local cafe where I had my first Greek salad = delicious!, and had my first Cypriot (found out that it is pronounced sip-re-ot) shopping experience. Pretty normal, except when you want to buy something and the directions to cook it is all in Greek....this could be problematic, especially since I can't cook in the first place. We got back and all of my roommates and made it!! That night we decided to taste what the local vineyards had to offer, and explore the night life. It was fun! The picture below is our group of girls - I love them!
Saturday, we got a tour of old city of Lefkosia - which is the walled in city of Nicosia. It is one of the oldest cities in the world! This picture is one of the 3 gates into the city. The Venetian wall and gates were first built in the 15th century. It was 70 ft tall and 150 ft deep around the entire city! But now that it is divided between the Turks and the Greeks it is almost like a ghost town (picture of the alley). Many of the houses have been uninhabited (especially close to the border) for over 30 years.
We were able to go right up to the border, what they call the "green line." There are barriers dividing the entire country from coast to coast. We would walk down the street or a small alley and all of a sudden there would be wall, so you'd have to turn around and go back. I could only take this one picture because the Turkish army couldn't see me there, if they see you take a picture of the border, they will take your camera away. The UN occupies and guards the buffer zone between the 2 sides. Our tour guide was explaining the different architecture from different time periods. On one side of an alley would be a house with a small, short door and small windows. They built these when the Turkish were invading so they could not get into their homes on horses. Later when the British ruled Lefkosia, the houses had big doors with glass and open balconies because they felt much safer. It was really interesting to see. We also were able to go into a couple churches – the picture is of one of the oldest churches that were not destroyed during the Turkish invasion, built in the 14th century. It was very gothic and very impressive!
Sunday night we had a huge buffet of traditional Cypriot food - salads, pasta, meat, etc. - it was delicious! Later this week we get a cooking lesson of other traditional Cypriot food, so we can starting making things on our own...instead of pb&j sandwiches and spaghetti.
Monday, we walked to a little bakery and tried some Cypriot pastries! I had a ham & cheese pastry thingy, a "cheese cocktail" pastry something, and a chocolate stuffed pastry! Delicious!! Oh and everyone here makes me feel like I am so underdressed. I knew they didn't wear sweatpants or typical Marie clothes, but everyone wears their designer clothes with stilettos, ick! And, my "nice" clothes are considered very casual, oh well, it's not like I blend in right now anyways!
Today, we had 2 lectures - the History of Cyprus and Geography of Cyprus; they were both interesting. Since Cyprus' first inhabitants (7400 B.C.) it has been (and continue to be) a huge geopolitical country and has been ruled by almost every empire during their dominate period of history - Egyptians, Romans, Byzantines, Alexander the Great, Venetians, France, Arab, Ottoman, and the British (there's probably a couple that I am missing). It is also the only country in the world that in order to change their constitution, they must get approval from Greece, Turkey, and Britain! For dinner we went out to Gyro Mania, and made some Cypriot sangria with lots of fruit - it was so good!
Also, we just booked flights and hostels to Egypt! There are 10 of us going (and a couple other groups from our program) from Feb 18-21. We are planning on seeing the pyramids, go on a camel ride, and who knows what else! I can't wait! :)
Great blog Marie! And awesome pictures to go with. I'll be checking back often to catch up. What are the prices like? Any Doener kabobs? You should do a re-con espionage mission to get a picture of that border! I'm so curious now!
ReplyDeleteKeep it up.
Hey Jake! Glad you like the blog. The prices are expensive :( partly because the euro/dollar exchange rate, and also since we are on an island, everything has to be shipped in...well except wine! I've heard that everything in the north part of the island is much cheaper! So we are going to venture over there soon and I will try by best to do a "re-con espionage mission." If I don't come back, I blame you.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, they have doener kabobs, but they are called gyros (at least in the south) and they are delicious!! But you guys should come visit and try them for yourself! :)