TUNISIA December 31, 2011: Americans in Tunisia — Day 11 (No Carpet)

Bonne Annee from Sidi Bou Said

Finally! We are at Dar Said — which is exquisite. A complex of about 20 “suites” with about three or four suites sharing a little entry court. We have a view of the Mediterranean, a canopied bed, a charming sitting room (that also looks to the sea). Simple decor, tasteful — and thus far, everything works!

This morning while still at the Kairouan hotel, it was a little comical as the shower curtain and rod fell from the wall (while I was in the shower) taking the wall mounted soap dish with it, and the wall-mounted lampshade turned upside down—all on its own. Breakfast at the hotel was buffet style; fortunately they had yogurt,  since much of the other stuff looked like it was left over from last night’s dinner buffet. The Kasbah Hotel (the one in Kairouan) had very dim lighting and in some areas of the public spaces, there was no lighting all. This reminded us of a lot of hotels we stayed at in the old Soviet Union in the 1970s. Then and now, I think it’s obvious that these countries do so much better when they encourage small hotels that can really show off the culture and the hospitality of the people. They don’t do well with large 100+-room wanna-be-Hiltons that require a different kind of maintenance, expense to operate (especially when they are nearly empty) and staffing and management style. It’s too bad these hotels feel the need to create these more American and/or European-style places, because invariably they can’t work… and probably everyone is frustrated: guests as well as staff.

Before we left Kairouan, we strolled through the medina to the Grand Mosque (every city in Tunisia has its own “grand mosque”) but this one is the oldest Muslim place of worship in Africa and is commonly referred to as the fourth holiest site in Islam (after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem).  We were the only ones there… Strolled around the town and eventually headed back to the hotel to pack up and then drive to the Tunis Airport to drop off the car (and get a taxi to take us to Sidi Bou Said — where we felt we didn’t need a car, since the town is supposed to be very walkable..) Also, in this way, we can take a taxi to the Tunis Airport for a very very very early flight from Tunis to London on Monday morning to meet up with Mike’s niece Julia and boyfriend for lunch… and then we’re off —back to the US.

The drive from Kairouan to Tunis was fine, except that it rained much of the time making driving just a wee bit more precarious — but the road from Kairouan to Tunis (a toll road costing about $2) is good, so all went well. Found the airport just fine.. but then figuring out the rental car return was a bit more complicated. Along the way to the airport, my phone rang and it was the Europcar guy.. asking where the car was. Apparently they seemed to think it would come back at a particular time of day (same time as when we picked it up a week prior). We explained that we were on the way and that seemed OK… but then I asked (in bad French) where we should bring the car once we get to the airport. He said to go to “P”arking and then to Avis and leave it at Avis. Seemed a bit odd to leave the car with a competitor, but oh well. We got to the airport, found the parking, found Avis and “double parked” because there weren’t any spots. Decided to call the Europcar guy, because now we didn’t know where to leave the keys. The guy said to wait with the car, he would come to us soon… which he did (by car)… He checked the car (mostly to see if the spare tire was still there), and then said we needed to go inside the airport to his “office” to “settle the contract.” We said we had to go to Sidi Bou Said and he said he could take us. It was raining; he drove off (I assume to park his own car somewhere); and we started to head to the airport building– walking and dragging/wheeling our bags in the rain.

I thought this was crazy. He already had our credit card number; he’d already checked the car; why would we need to go to the office? Mostly, I didn’t want to go inside the airport with our bags because as you approach the door of the airport you start a preliminary screening with an x-ray machine and you have to lift up all your bags. You don’t need to take shoes off or put cameras on the belt… but all suitcases go on, etc. So I said we should just take a taxi and leave it all alone. Mike thought we should “do as we were told.”  Anyway, we headed to the taxi stand (where we were ceremoniously surrounded by about 7 “helpers” who all wanted to help us “select” a “really good taxi.” We hopped in the first one and got to Sidi Bou Said, which even in the rain is very special. We are hoping it clears up tomorrow and we have some sun. We fully expected the Europcar guy to search for us or at the very least to call us (since he has my cell phone number). But we haven’t heard anything. We’ll see what the Europcar charge looks like on the Visa bill.

Just got back from strolling Sidi Bou Said — which is like a picture postcard.. with all buildings in the requisite white with blue trim…It’s been raining, at times hard, so we finally gave up and headed to our little home away from home — where we will celebrate the new year (and my birthday) tonight. We’re hoping for sun tomorrow — our last day in Tunisia, and our one day to really see this charming town. Will let you know how everything goes tomorrow. (We initially thought we’d eat in one of the local restaurants — of course Dar Said’s restaurant is local too, but I mean — in the town — but given the rain we’ve opted to eat here at the Dar… which we’re thinking should be quite wonderful given how well they’ve renovated and maintained the consistency of the hotel section. The restaurant is apparently across the way..

Oh — one last note regarding carpets: We were hounded everywhere to “just look” at the carpets, but resisted. Mike wound up buying the one we have on our living room floor in Oakland two years ago when we were in Konya, Turkey — and he bought a smaller one (also in the Oakland house) on our very first trip to Istanbul in the ’80s. So, it’s big news that we did NOT purchase a carpet anywhere in Tunisia. It’s tempting; many are quite spectacular… and it’s hard to resist the smooth talking salesmen and those who have “brothers” who can give us a good deal. The guy we bought the carpet from in Konya two years ago was so smooth it was scary.

More tomorrow.

Happy New Year

Kul ‘am wa antum bikhair (in Arabic)

Bonne Annee

Fern