Wendy and I had a lovely night sleep at Vassillis and Maria’s house. We woke up around 8:45 amazed we slept so long. We had some delicious cheese and spinach phyllo pies, and this cream pie (galaktoboureko) that Maria made. George and Carol came to the house to pick us up. George and Anne dropped us off in the old section of Nicosia to tour and shop. Nicosia(Lefkosa) is the capital of Cyprus. Its population is around 250,000. It is the administrative and financial hub of the island as well as home to several universities, colleges and other educational establishments. It also hosts most foreign embassies and offshore companies. Today people were protesting at the Ministry of Finance, but we didn’t see any of them. We did see Laiki Bank, one of the banks to be closed because of bad Greek bonds.

Our first stop was the House of the Dragoman Hadjigeorgakis. It was built in 1753. The owner, Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios, was a dragoman, the official interpreter for the Divan (Council) of the Sultan for thirty years from 1779. This title, which was one of the most prestigious titles given to the local Christians by the Ottoman authorities, gave the opportunity to Kornesios to accumulate huge wealth and power. His power brought jealousy to his enemies, who cunningly managed to have him beheaded on 31 March 1809 in Istanbul. It was an odd house primarily because amongst the antiquities, there was a modern art exhibit. Film that was woven into loom located in an armoire, and then in a pile on the floor,or pretend tea leaves molded into various shapes. But one of the interesting rooms of the house was a Turkish Ottoman style sitting room, with beautiful paintings. And there was what looked like clothes hung out to dry, but were actually his records written on linen.

We didn’t stay long, but went through the old part of the city, to the Theodosis Street where there were many shops. We agreed to go our separate ways and meet up at 12:45. So Wendy, Carol and I decided to head to the green line…The Turkish border crossing, just to see what it was like. I took a bunch of photos, and we were surprised at how informal the border felt. Carol said the last time she was there there were armed guards and a fence. We didn’t pass through, and started to head out when we quickly realized we had gone too far. The Cyprus guard told us to get in line. We briefly panicked , since I wasn’t sure I had my passport. We tried to explain that we just were looking,and were from the US. He gave us a, “oh dear god these silly American women” look and let us through. Thank alla, god or whomever.

So we shopped, bought a few things, and just walked through the streets. It was fun. Anne and George picked us up and we went to her house for lunch. She made a delicious cream, ham and cheese pie, salad and a chicken noodle dish. Gaston stopped over for lunch with little George. Afterwards, we went to Gaston’s house to see the twins and his wife. They are just 2 months old and adorable.

We got back in the car and headed back to Lemesos, to have dinner with Vera and Ricos, do some laundry and pack. Tomorrow were heading to Paphos in the morning. For dinner, Vera made pasticho (noodle disk with béchamel sauce and ground chicken) and lebanese dessert called mahalepi. It was a firm pudding with pistachios on top. And then we all had a small glass of Ricos Mastiha, by Skinos, which was delicious. It’s a Greek liqueur from the island of Chios. They also make a crystal that you can add to sweet dishes.