Teaching undergraduate UK geography students in Nicosia, Cyprus is an experience of a clash between worlds- the worlds of Greek and Turkish Cypriots living across checkpoints and buffer zones, and those of students eager to extract 'data' on life in a divided city. Standing on the beach of the suburb of Varosha, yesterday, our guide Georgia pointed to her apartment building, framed by two once-regal hotels, to which she she has not been able to return, like all residents of Varosha, since the Turkish army arrived in 1974. She was due to be married on the day she had to leave her town. She points out fields that once boasted dense orange groves, and speaks about the tradition of making sculptures from oranges in the shapes of dolphins and other animals. She shows us the shop that had the "best cheese sandwich of the 70s- a delicacy", and the boutique where women would buy fur coats. An abandoned kiosk marks the place where Varosha first served soft ice cream. There is an eeriness both to being in such places on a research trip, and to seeing the ruins being photographed by the numerous passerby and members of the public. Many pose in front of dilapidated photo shops and ruined movie theatres. We speak about ruins, aesthetics, dark tourism and what the gesture of taking a selfie in Varosha means. It is unseasonably warm in Cyprus, as most residents tell us- at least ten degrees above the average temperature of springtime. Saharan dust arrived in Nicosia over the weekend.