Travel Review Northern Cyprus Day 2: The last divided capital of Europe - Nicosia!

future24 (75)in #travel • 5 years ago (edited)

Hello dear blog readers and Steemians,

On my first morning in Cyprus there was a cool surprise ... The day started with a great sunrise and nice weather!

At first I went in a good mood to the restaurant of the Kaya Artemis hotel with a very rich buffet. There was everything your heart desires, from salads, breakfast eggs, fried eggs, omelette, a variety of bread and roll varieties, fried sucuk sausage, to desserts. Actually, I'm not a breakfast person and normally I do not eat much in the morning, but with this large selection, I also ate a lot. : D

After breakfast, I visited the beach of the Kaya Artemis Hotel Resort by day and then we started to the first excursion destination a bit later.

The first stop was a miniature museum with a small garden, where many of the most important sights of Northern Cyprus were exhibited in miniature format.

Here some examples:

We also had the opportunity to drink an original Turkish mocha coffee and of course other drinks, such as Turkish tea (çay). I enjoyed a delicious Turkish mocha.

The weather was a bit cloudy at the time, but compared to Germany, it was still quite warm with up to 15 degrees without sun.

Then we went to the city of Nicosia (Lefkoşa), the last divided capital of Europe. On the way there we could see the great landscape of northern Cyprus, take look at interesting buildings and we could already see the so-called Green Line, which is the border of North and South Cyprus. This closed area can be described as a biotope, since everything is untouched here and thereby vegetate numerous different plants.

Arrived in the city, we went with our tour guide Nurkan Tolunay to the Selimiye Mosque and have received many interesting historical information about this cathedral. At that time, this mosque was called St. Sophia Cathedral, it was opened in 1209 and is the former Christian cathedral of the city of Nicosia.

The next spot was the magnificent Ottoman caravansary "Büyük Han" with a great oriental flair. Here many travelers and merchants came together to seek refuge for the night, and to shelter against robbers behind the thick walls. The Caravansary in Nicosia was built in 1572, shortly after the conquest of the island by the Ottomans, and is thus generally regarded as the oldest Turkish building on the island.

In the lower part of the animals were housed then. In the upper area were the sleeping quarters of the travelers and the large courtyard served as a trading post for numerous goods from near and far. Even today, there are a few small shops with souvenirs for tourists and craftsmanship, as well as a very popular restaurant right at the entrance.

After visiting the Ottoman caravansary we had a few hours of free time in Nicosia and were able to explore the beautiful city on its own with a labyrinth of tranquil streets. There were many shops with various goods, great restaurants, tea rooms and a very famous coffee roaster. If you wanted, you could also cross the border into the south of Cyprus and look at the southern part of Nicosia.

Interesting info at this point: Turkish citizens living in Northern Cyprus can not just go over to the south! In order to travel to southern Cyprus, they would first have to fly to Turkey, enter there properly with a visa (so not just just intermediate landing, as we have done) and from there they can then enter only with another visa to southern Cyprus...

** Here is a photo of the border crossing from Northern Cyprus to southern Cyprus in Nicosia: **

In the afternoon we went back to Kaya Artemis Hotel Resort with the modern coach. In the evening we could again enjoy the rich evening buffet and treat yourself to a drink or two at the bar. There was also a free SPA area with sauna, steam room and an indoor pool, which unfortunately I discovered only the next day. But better late than never! xD