Renaissance La Marsa

... Capitol and Forum and the sprawling layout of this huge city. It is considered the best preserved Roman city in all of North Africa. We spend several hours wandering through the site, then have lunch and begin the drive back to Tunis.

Along the way back we stop briefly at the War Cemetery for English lads who died in the Second World War. Heartbreaking to see their ages, and the ...

We say goodbye to one tour member this morning. At 10am several of us go with the guide into the medina again. Two of us break away to visit a local hammam. This is an experience more like the one in Morocco, with hard skin scraping and back cracking.

I shop for birthday gifts for one of our tour members, then return to the hotel to get awards and tips organized. The party begins at six ...

... site we will not make it to Kairouan before the noon closing of the Grand Mosque because today is Friday, the Islamic day of congregational prayer. Knowing that takes the pressure off us and our driver, and we can relax and enjoy the Roman site at a leisurely pace.

Arriving in Kairouan we eat lunch, then visit the famous sites in the city including the Aghlabid Basins, built in 860, the tomb of Sidi Sahab (a ...

Our first visit today is to the dramatic ruins of Carthage. We visit the remains of the Punic city, the hilltop museum and cathedral, and the elaborate Roman baths by the sea (in the shadow of the Presidential Palace).

Next stop the Mediterranean-style village of Sidi Bou Said, with its bright white buildings with blue doors and shutters. We visit a house of a famous lawyer which is now a museum, then ...

... China, but obviously aspiring to it. It was illegal to take any photos in this direction, and we warned that guards were waiting in the wings, ready to pounce and arrest us if we so much as turned our ...

... in the hilltop village and ate a reasonable meal for around $10.00. Beers are less than $2.00 and wine around $12.00 a bottle. It is easy to long for the clean shops and hotels in Rome. Tunisia is not a country to visit without some personal antiseptic. Day Rating, Part 1: 7/10 part 2 3/10.

... The second we stopped walking (to look at our book, to get bearings, to pull up socks), someone would approach us, wanting to help us, sell us something, or propose marriage to Lisa. That last bit proved difficult in the long run and speaks to the manner in which women - all women, but especially non-native women - are subject to intense attention on the streets, consisting mostly of long impassive stares from the men in the cafes ...

... around the medina. We stopped off for a couple more capusins, and just sat back, talking in a mixture of English, French, German and Arabic. It was fun In the morning, we went to see the Mosque. We paid, entered and then found out, thay don't even let you into the courtyard. We couldn't see the prayer area or the mirab. I was pretty ****** off to say the least. We did some more walking and then went to and from Sidi Bou Said. Once back, we ...

... interesting sites we did not have time to visit as well as a few really cute beach towns we drove through. Tunisia is a place we would really like to come back to in the not-too-distant future. A few cardinal rules we have learned (or had reinforced) so far on this trip: 1) Be very hesitant to trust a cabbie or give them the benefit of the doubt, especially if they are at an airport!!! Even though we are pretty cab-savvy, of the 14 cabs ...

... am Sonntag beklaut und dementsprechend tief hängt mein Gemüt. Der Arsch oder die Ärschin hat wahrhaftig 160 Dinar (100 Euro) abgegriffen. Ich kann von Glück reden, dass man hier kaum bis garnicht mit Kreditkarte bargeldlos einkaufen kann und auch dass mein Pass nicht dabei war. Trotzdem habe ich mit einigem Zusammenreissen noch am selben ...