To find the right words to explain what Nicosia has meant for me is a big, big challenge. I came here with the expectations, thinking to find a normal European capital whereas my mind was dreaming exotic countries. Well, Nicosia completely surprised me.
I remember my first afternoon in the city, it was very sunny despite it was middle of February and what impressed me suddenly was the different people I could see walking around me. It was a mix of people from the Middle East and Europe with many other “colours”. I started to love the city since that moment.
Nicosia has a particular story and today it’s the last capital in Europe divided by a border. This characteristic made the city very interesting for me and I wanted to learn more and more.
During my first weeks here I had a lot of free time, not yet many tasks in the shelter and no internet at home. I went around very often; I explored the perimeter of all the Green Line inside the city walls, the old town on both sides of the city and even further spots doing some impossible trips by bus.
I met many people very kind and nice, who didn’t hesitate in offering me a tea or a coffee, willing to talk, curious about me and why I was in Cyprus. I felt a welcoming that I have never experienced before. The weather was perfect for having walks and the vibration of the city captured me.
Slowly I started to see the cultural offer of this small and special capital: events, conferences, movies projections, workshops, concerts. You will never have enough time to go everywhere. I have never got bored in Nicosia.
At the beginning of my stay, I preferred to walk by myself, exploring the places slowly and following my sensations. Though, during my last week in Cyprus, I decided to visit many things in Nicosia that I haven’t seen before and to go again in places where I have already been.
The Nicosia Tourism Board offers different guided tours of the city completely for free, so easily joinable for an EVS volunteer. Going in February gives the possibility to join these tours with very few other participants and with the city not crowded at all.
I believe that finding the time in these last days to explore more the city where I have lived for one year is the minimum that I can do to honour Nicosia. Each street where I go has a meaning for me, and I truly enjoy the sensation that I feel when a stranger tells me old stories about the past of this contradictory and beautiful city.
