Welcome to Tunis

October 2, 2008

I had done very little research before the cruise and just allowed ourselves to be taken by the moment and just enjoy each new discovery and that has worked very well so far. However, with Tunis a bit of research may have been a good thing. It is an interesting city and extremely large but also very confusing.

When we disembarked around 2:00pm we first saw three camels that were giving passengers rides around the marina. They were so cute but I dared not go over to pet them as I believe they like to spit. We left the customs are and were greeted by a man who took us and several of our shipmates to a tour van and explained that it was 15 Euros per person for a full city tour and return to ship. We went along and for the most part it was fun. He was a very loud man and would summon us once we got off the van by using an excruciatingly loud whistle. It got a little nerve racking after the first few stops.

The only thing I can say that was absolutely not a pleasant experience was the visit to the Souk El Bay which is an intricately woven succession of buildings with dozens and dozens of little shops selling everything from shoes to rugs on the bottom floors and in the multiple passage ways. We were so blessed to be there on a national holiday as only half of the shops were open so that meant fewer men accosting us to buy their wears. It was a very overwhelming experience and not something I would like to repeat. I did buy some jewelry and a small glass cup that was hand painted. Our tour guild clearly has connections and took us directly to his favorite shop which let us walk up to the third floor where the balcony afforded us some good views of the town center. We also had the wonderful pleasure of watching a woman weave a rug.

We finally left that souk and made our way to Carthage, the ancient Roman ruins that were worth the trip and were very much enjoyed. We even bought a small piece of crystallized African desert sand which I really loved and will put on my desk when I get home. I also loved the orchid of pine trees that were next to the ruins which made such a great picture.

We drove by a mosque and saw a Catholic cathedral in the distance. There were surprisingly several Catholic churches in the city which our tour guide attributed to the time when France ruled Tunis.

We quickly passed the American Cemetery from World War I and World War II and I am sorry we did not have the opportunity to visit it as I understand it is a moving site.

We did see more Ancient Roman ruins and this time it was an aqueduct and these almost intact and enormous tunnel like tubes that were used around 100AD to store the drinking water that was brought down miles and miles from the mountains. It is incredible to see how ingenious they were at that time and how well these structures survived time.

Our last stop was the Medina Souks which is up a hill and surrounded by gorgeous bright white buildings with blue window accents and doors ornately decorated with black detailing. I loved this area and our tour guide introduced us to a private home where the inhabitants currently live as well as generations of their family in the past. The Wife and husband greeted us and for a nominal entrance fee you enter their magnificent home and are welcome to tour around. They have turned it into a museum and it surprised me to see that everything was not only functional but brightly decorated with tiles, paintings, iron gates, mirrors and so much more. I fell in love with this house and can see why they choose to share it with visitors who want to get a sense of what family life is like in Tunis. We were permitted into their prayer room as well as the other domestic living spaces and their inside courtyard was so beautiful I just wanted to sit for hours and admire all the art and other treasures they had placed around. They even served us Tunisian tea which was highly enjoyable and very flavorful with exotic spices.

We were soon summoned by the whistle to get on the bus but in all the confusion of the merchants outside the crowded streets we lost one of our tour members so her husband, both visiting from Switzerland with their two boys, went frantically looking for her. We waited a half hour but then the husband said to go and he would take a cab back when he found her. We were all very distraught at the idea of leaving him behind but he insisted. I did take all his many bags from all their purchases that day and his room number and assured him I’d get them to his room safely. The bus driver was kind enough to call around to all the other tour vans and found out she had mistakenly gotten on the wrong bus. All turned out fine and the husband made it back safely and on time before we departed for Malta. So much excitement for such a quick visit and we were fortunate to meet a couple for Washington D.C. and four people from England who helped us appreciate the craziness and laugh about it all