Les Oliviers Palace Sfax

... sun – the golden hours for photography.

We pull into our hotel in Sfax at about 7pm, exhausted from the long drive and many sights today. Fortunately, dinner is buffet style in the hotel, so we are able to finish by about 9pm and get to bed early for another early start tomorrow. A very diverse and interesting day of touring!

giusto un rapido aggiornamento per una giornata dedicata soprattutto al trasferimento. Abbiamo viaggiato per una valle splendida da matmata a ksar hallouf, posto consigliato da due emiliani incrociati a matmata (figura orrenda, la prima cosa che ho chiesto alla "lei" è stata se erano già andati a vedere il set di guerre stellari, 3 minuti e almeno 5 coltissime citazioni storiche dopo scoprivo che la tizia in questione era una prof del classico ...

Photo Essay of Mosaics- worth looking at, they say they are the best outside of the Vatican..... and the most amazing Coliseum in the world. Well I thought so. Also the location of Hotel Splendide, the most inappropriately named hotel with the worst beds in the world. You could literally feel the coil springs. Man you could ...

... town. Trivia for the day: the word AFRICA is derived from the "Afri" tribe of people that the Romans met when they invaded this area in the second century B.C. As the Romans expanded their empire to include much of modern-day Tunisia, they began to refer to the area as "Africa," and the name then became used to describe all of the Roman conquered areas of north Africa. 500 years later, the entire continent was referred to as Africa.

Sunday, May 25, 2008 South to Sfax via Hammamet, Sousse, Monastir, and El-Djem Dear Readers: Our first stop today is Hammamet, the site of a massive 15th century fortress. We clamber around the fort and take some free time to have coffee or wander along the beach. One of us has made a date via the internet with a professor in Sousse, so he peels away from the group once we arrive and enjoys a private tour as we explore the medina of Sousse, with its ornate mosque ...

Today, we transferred to Sfax, the reason being that our flight was to leave from Monastir, so we needed to go North. At the same time, we had already visited the Sousse/Monastir area on a previous trip, and wanted to see something else. Also, I had read that there were few tourists who went to Sfax, and that the medina was therefore very authentic and untouched by the tourist trade. The activity workers at the hotel had looked amazed when I said ...

... to drink beer. On our last night in Tunisia, we learned of another beer, called Stella which I'm convinced is one of the main reasons Tunisians don't drink beer. Our waiter at the bar for the Hotel Karawan is another good reason not to drink beer in Tunisia, but that's another story :) Tomorrow we return to Italy. Tunisia has been great and we've talked alot about how we'd spend a return trip.

... waiting, I manage to put down another two Capusins. Somehow, our man oversold the seats, so a little argument unfolded. A few push and shoves happened, and then we were on our way back to the gare in Sfax. Once there, back into the crowd we went. Gabsa, Gabsa Gabsa. Sousse, Sousse, Sousse. Djerba, Djerba, Djerba. That man was our new *****. We dumped our bags, bought some tickets, and celebrated in the only way how that I knew. Two Capusins. We sat for quite a while. We ...

Hotel Ennasr rue des Notaires Sfax - 25 Tunisian dinars per night - walk-in - no breakfast - same room we had in 2005! Although the price had almost doubled. - clean, twin beds, blankets supplied - communal clean bathroom - hot water shower - great location within the medina - staff do not speak english. Arabic and french only. - great views from roof top which is also a great place to chill and read

... that it would take 4 hours. But we knew that we would't get a seat and that everyone would be chaining on the ciggers and that we'd possibly die of asphixiation so it would be the louage. It's luxury compared to the mini vans of Pakistan and the grande taxis of Morocco. One person in each seat and speeding as fast as the ******* would take us. We only slowed for the many police check points, but as he had us whities in the rear we got ...