Ledra Street Opening

the opening...Greek flag on one side, Turkish on the other
see all photos »

Sunday morning I was up super early...I called Alejandra, Mexican girl living in the hall to see if she wanted to go for a jog..and she was up for it!

We ran her normal route through the Strovolos area, and it was a good way to check out the neighborhood I live in.  There are a few grammar schools, some nice churches and lots of small Cypriot restaurants!  It's so cool because if you go just a few steps away from the apartmet there are small alley ways with kabob shops and coffee houses and stores owned by Cypriots.  Overall it's pretty basic but to me its a charming residential area...

see all photos »

Later on, Alejadra, Tero (odd but funny guy from Finland) and I decided to walk over the ''Old City'' to see the opening of the Ledra street border between the Turkish and Greek side of Cyprus.  Nicosia is the site of the green line, which was first demarcated in 1964..it marks the dividing line between the Greeks and Turks (northern 1/3 is Turkish, lower 2/3 Greek).  In between is the UN-controlled Buffer Zone..which is literally a fenced area between the two sides...that is just growing weeds and really really unkept (i've read its a testament to how the world has completely forgotten about this issue) :

around the Old City
see all photos »

''Between the two worlds is a decaying buffer zone, a place that time forgot, which in its own way sums up the international effort to bring the two sides together. Weeds push through the broken glass in shops where no customer has set foot for more than 34 years, and glass bottles with 1970s labels gather dust next to more modern rotting rubbish left by peacekeeping troops. To the north is a largely tumbledown urban landscape, evidence of the economic and cultural isolation in which Turkish Cyprus languishes. The ends of the street symbolise the two communities' fates since partition: Greek Cypriots have grown wealthy on the back of trade and tourism, eventually joining the EU; while their Turkish counterparts have been mired in poverty and isolated from the outside world by political leaders who, until recently, rejected talk of reunification."

Typical colors for Cypriot home
see all photos »

From what I've read, the two communities went to war in 1974 after the Greeks made a coup on Cyprus, which set off a Turkish invasion.  During this partition..one of the major commercial streets, Ledra Street, was also partitioned.  Coincidentally, two days before I arrived, Ledra street was opened between the two sides for the first time since 1974... It was a semi-big event..You would think it was a huge deal..but the sentiments between the two communities are so bitter they just stay away.. when we were there it was mostly tourists..but it was touching to see some of the old timers just sitting there and looking at the opening...I could only imagine what it must have felt like to see the war and then to see this meager attempt at unification 30 some years later..

Kabobs
see all photos »

It was like standing in a modern, clean, and growing city, and peering over at an impoverished, run-down country through a tiny little opening...We wanted to cross over but Alejandra forgot her passport, so that was that...

Anyway, I plan on crossing over sometime next week with some friends...Kyrenia is the northern coast and it's supposed to beautiful...

After a long day of walking, it was getting dark and we decided to head back toward Strovolos...but first we stopped for some food...I finally had my first Cypriot Kabob (no lamb!) and it's soooo yummy...I can't get enough of the Tadziki sauce (cucumber yogurt)!  The lady working at the kabob stand was making fun of me cause I kept asking for more chili sauce..but she said she's used to that from her Indian customers!!!