After leaving the rainy mountains we made our way to Nicosia. Nicosia is so different from any of the other cities (Limassol, Larnaca) we had seen until that point. The roads were way more complicated (did I mention that we didn’t have a GPS but we were using maps instead) and especially in city center it seemed like we got ourselves into a Mission Impossible situation.
Car Accident
We drove around the tiny alleys of the city center to find the hotel, until I had a miniature run in with a parked car in one of the alleys. The guy was furious at me that I hit his side mirror and like any self respectable woman would do, I started crying. He kept shouting in Cypriot and I had no clue what he was saying. It was quite clear that he wanted money though and I was started to frantically look for insurance papers. I called my Cypriot friend in Abu Dhabi to arrange things with the guy because I was beside myself. I sobbed so much that I could hardly make myself audible over the phone. I never bumped into anything before – but driving around tiny streets when you’re on the wrong side of the road (Cyprus drives on the left) – resulted in me doing the unthinkable. After the phone conversation the guy walked away but continued demanding money from me (from a distance). This is when the parking attendant walked over to me and asked me to call my Cypriot friend again. When I did, the parking attendant told him that the guy was not parked correctly and if I would call the police; he’d be in trouble. That’s why he walked away; he was scared that when a Cypriot was involved I would find out about the rules. So, I raced off and instead of searching for the hotel I parked in the nearest underground shopping center parking to recover my nerves. Luckily, the car I had borrowed had no scratch at all!
Centrum Hotel
We walked from the parking in city center to the Centrum Hotel. This hotel has the best location in the city. It’s right by the high street called Ledras Street. The hotel itself was clean and the receptionist was very nice. He told me where I could park the car for free, but I ignored his directions. I had had enough driving for one day.
Ledras Street
We had only one day in Nicosia, so when we walked along Ledras Street we decided to continue walking into the occupied part of Nicosia. The border crossing is hassle-free for non-Cypriots. All you have to do is present your passport and you get a free visa stamp. I’ll skip the details on the history of Cyprus, because even though I might find it incredibly interesting, it’s not the correct content for my blog. There are plenty of websites where you can learn more about the subject though.
Occupied Nicosia
The first thing I noticed when I entered the occupied part was how different it looks. There are Turkish shops all around and somehow even the buildings look different on both sides of the Green Line.
See for yourself:
This is Ledras Street….
.. and this is its occupied counterpart a few metres further.
It’s the same street but it feels completely different.
Büyük Han
Due to the short amount of time, we stuck to the city center of the occupied Nicosia, so we explored Büyük Han. This is the biggest caravanserai (roadside inn) in Cyprus and it was built by the Ottomans in the 1500s. In the middle there’s a mosque with a fountain for pre-prayer ablutions, then when the British took over Cyprus they turned it into a prison, following which it was turned into a hostel for poor families. Now it’s a courtyard with nice restaurants.
Selimiye Mosque
You can also find the Selimiye Mosque in the occupied part, this used to be the Saint Sophia Cathedral. The mosque is housed inside the largest and oldest surviving Gothic church in Cyprus.
Apart from these two sights, we only walked around to get an idea of the area.
After it became dark we felt it was time to leave. Children started to gather around us in the abandoned alleyways and we started to feel a bit uncomfortable. That’s when why walked back to the border crossing to get back into Ledras Street.
Patio Cocktailbar
A special mention for the location where we had drinks in Nicosia, Patio Cocktail Bar. It’s in the middle of city center and it has a outside courtyard inside the bar (difficult to explain but just check out the website). All along one of the walls are very quirky and colourful window lattices. This place comes highly recommended!
Conclusion
It’s interesting (and a bit disturbing) to see the differences between Nicosia on one side of the Green Line and on the other side. However, a day in Nicosia is not really enough to properly judge it. But because I was still a bit rattled after the minor accident, I was happy to leave the narrow alleyways of Nicosia to head to the sunshine in Ayia Napa. More on Ayia Napa in the next post.
