getting to know Nicosia

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September 11-12, 2010

Yesterday we went for a historical tour of the city of Nicosia. Our tour guide was this adorable Cypriot women who had a pink umbrella to block the sun and a matching pink dress. She talked to us about how very old Nicosia is. It is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, for about 5,000 years!

She also told us about the architecture and why some of the doorways are shaped in arches and some are rounded. Particularly when it comes to churches. She said the orthodox church used the rounded doorways and the other Christians that came later used the peaked. It was fascinating to hear how during the ottoman rule the doorways were made low and squared and balconies were made enclosed; to protect the women on the balconies from being seen and to make it so the soldiers had to dismount from their horse before entering homes. For safety.

We were shown the Venetian wall that once protected the city from Ottoman invasion for 45 days before it was over taken by the mass army.

After our tour we went to a restaurant and my companions had meze. Which is a bunch of dishes brought out for the whole table to share. I didn't eat due to the meat factor- it started with salad, then pita, then mushrooms and cheese, then meat(chicken, sausage, ribs, and maybe some pork too). It ended with french fries!

Today I made flight reservations for Egypt in October!

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Photos

Nicosia
The UN buffer and the Green Line.