Kairouan, Tunisia

Before I begin today’s tales, I should note that we had originally scheduled four more days in Tunisia… but circumstances were such back at our offices that it made sense to cut four days off the trip. Now we can see why we originally had these other four days. Some of how we did the cuts related to where we had hotel reservations and also when we could get a flight over the ocean (from London) on days that were pretty popular due to New Years.. So these last two days have really been rushed and in the process of cutting we eliminated the Ksars further south, that we really wanted to visit. So, we are already thinking that next year we might return — skip the northern part that we’ve seen pretty well (and where we have New Years and the day after — in Sidi Bou Said).. Indeed we’re thinking that maybe next year a few days in Sicily and then head back to  the Tozeur area (Tamerza) and south from there. But we’ll see… maybe even include Libya.. who knows?

Anyway, our hotel in Tozeur was quite luxurious and filled with French tourists (lots of families).. I can see how it is possible (after spending that one night in this hotel quite removed from the center of town — really only one kilometer, but in experience miles and miles away) to travel here and really never see anything. Most of the hotel guests were lounging by the beautiful pool; there was a golf course down the road; children of hotel guests had all sorts of activities.. Last night we saw them having lots of fun with a “counselor” and they were all in a circle doing “the chicken dance.” On the other hand, I have to admit it was really nice to be able to take a great shower where the water pressure was strong and the hot and cold levers worked well… and the hair dryer..

Oh well.. bourgeoisie to the core.

After breakfast and checking out, we roamed Tozeur. Nearly every building in the town is made from mud bricks (made I assume from the clay of the dried lake bed/chott which we drove across yesterday.) which are laid in all sorts of interesting patterns, creating bas reliefs all over town. Mike and I split up and met at the car so that we could each go our little separate ways. Thanks to cell phones and good connections we caught up with one another. And then we headed to Kairouan which is about a four hour drive from Tozeur to the north east. Flat desert landscape for most of the drive.. through tiny towns… We stopped for gas again at one of the little “informal” gas stops…

At this one, a man and his wife both operated the station. It took a while because the guy had to go into his storage area (dozens of plastic multi-gallon jugs filled with gasoline– scary) to see if he had the right kind of gas for our car. Once he determined he had it, the process began: filling the bucket which had a cloth on it (the filter) through a funnel and a hose.. The hose goes into the gas tank. At the end they lift the bucket high to get the last ounce of gas into the car. Even though you ask to have the tank filled up.. they can’t really do that since they don’t know how much gas you have in the tank at the start and the jugs are a bit rough in terms of the amount going into the tank.  We documented the whole process; they thought it was all quite funny; all done in Arabic — no French, no English…. just Arabic here at the gas pump.

About halfway into the journey we decided we needed to eat (seems like my notes are really all about our eating patterns).. so we searched for one of those little barbecue places on the road.. But this journey was really through very desolate and rural places, so the pickings were few and far between. Stopped at one place, but they only had coffee. Spotted another place that we thought had food… and they did — sort of. They had apparently recently slaughtered a sheep (the skin and other remains were quite visible)… it was a little like going into a butcher shop.. but they had only one choice of meat (no chicken).. and they didn’t have much of it. But we were already out of the car, so we decided to give it a try. Not much French here either, so we winged it (with sign language).

They showed us the “kitchen” quite proudly.. A young guy was chopping hot peppers, tomatoes and some other stuff together into a salsa-like accompaniment.. We had some kind of meat.. sort of ribs but cut unlike any ribs we’ve had… lots of bones.. no utensils.. good bread (which is true throughout the country — fresh good bread everywhere)… and the accompaniment and the meat.. and some olives. Finding the meat on the bones required the skill of a cat to get the meat between the bone and the fat.. I pretty much gave up; Mike took the challenge head on. They also gave us some Turkish sodas (very sweet)…

Then we were on our way to Kairouan. Didn’t get lost because we stopped somewhere to ask about our hotel.. and of course some guy on a motorcycle miraculously appeared to “show us the way.” We tipped him; it was great since it’s the first time we didn’t get lost once inside the city; the tip was  10 Dinar about $6 (for 10 minutes of work), but he asked for additional dinar to “cover his petrol costs!”.. . Headed out of the hotel quickly to see the town before dusk… The medina and souks here are a real maze.. much more complicated than in Tunis or Sfax. We’ll probably head back in tomorrow (Day 11) as we visit the Great Mosque… and later in the day head to Sidi Bou Said, which will be a nice ending for our days in Tunisia (Days 12 and 13).

This hotel is challenging. It has great potential… but it’s not quite there yet. Unfortunately its prices indicate it thinks it is “there.” Soon after we got back from walking the medina, I asked about wifi, but they said it was only in the lobby, so I opted for a cable to connect in the room. Mike thought he’d try the lobby wifi. His experience is hysterical.. First they couldn’t find an outlet so they unplugged a lamp (actually outlets are few and far between in the Tunisian hotels — even the expensive ones. Generally there is just one extra outlet. I’ve taken to unplugging every lamp and television and whatever other gizmo they might have in order to charge my gear, two cameras, a computer, a Blackberry, and an iPhone (from time to time my iPod). Then there’s Mike who has a computer, two cameras, an iPod, a Flip, a Blackberry, and a Kindle… so it’s like science figuring out how to time all of this. At the moment, Mike has his computer charging in the bathroom and I’m using the only outlet in the bedroom area.. and I’ve got various attachments plugged in to my computer (charging attachments to iPhone and Blackberry.. So, in the lobby, they could not get Mike connected at all.. with several people helping.. But no luck.. then to make matters worse, when he tried to get back to the room the elevator didn’t work and he had to use the stairs but the lights were not on in the stairwell.

Dinner at the hotel. We decided to eat in, because it just seemed to be too exhausting to leave. Not surprised that dinner was about as disappointing as the hotel. So, as I was saying.. the hotel has potential. It’s the original Kasbah in the town… but the “renovation” into a hotel was not done well. This could be a fantastic place, but it’s lacking in every way.. from ambiance to heating to interiors to food… But we’re fine; we’ve stayed in a lot worse.. I just hate when they try to be more than what they are.

Several of you asked about the signs of Arab Spring.. and whether or not we’ve seen or heard anything about Mohammed Bouaziz’s self-immolation to protest  police corruption and anything about the fleeting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January to Saudi Arabia. .. given that all of the start up of the Arab Spring began in Tunisia just one year ago..  Since language is a challenge, we haven’t had any “conversations” about this.. but we do see signs and graffiti that indicate messages about December 18, 2010. Not sure people would speak easily about this even if we did speak the language, since I assume it would take a lot of trust to speak about these issues to foreigners. In any case, people do seem open. In a few cases there was mention of the fact that tourism is increasing since the elections and as a result of the current situation in Tunisia.

All is well with us.

Looking forward to two days in Sidi Bou Said and then overnight in London with Mike’s other niece and her boyfriend (whom we have not yet met).

Bon Anee..

Fern

Greetings from Tozeur, Tunisia –

Just arrived in Tozeur after a long (and probably grueling — for Mike) drive from Djerba, made much more complicated by the difficulty of finding the hotel in Tozeur (another story — later in the note). I must say that the world of the Internet has certainly changed both my capacity to track news and feel in touch — no matter where we are… I had to laugh last night as I responded to the request for funds for Barbara Lee’s re-election from Djerba, Tunisia. A bit ironic, but good!

Last night’s dinner at Dar Dhiafa was the meal that we had to order a day in advance. We had a lamb dish that gets cooked inside a terra cotta urn-shaped container that is sealed at the top with a thick pastry dough. I think the lamb, along with the vegetables and sauce cooks in the vessel for many hours. Really tasty; a good choice. The second dish was a fish couscous, with a whole fish.. also great, but struggled with the bones. A fig dessert, a bottle of Tunisian wine. and we were happy campers.

Left Djerba after breakfast and headed toward Ajim where we caught the ferry to the “mainland.” It was pretty windy, but the ferry ride was fairly smooth. It’s a short ride, and it was cold, so we opted to sit in the car. But getting on the ferry required a really, really long wait, so we were off-schedule by about an hour from the get-go. The drive to Tozeur was to take about 4 hours, but door to door it really took us about 8 hours, including stops, getting lost, the ferry, finding the hotel, etc. We decided to get gas again because we had no idea what kind of “services” we would find on the route.

Initially, from the ferry we headed toward Mareth and then back toward (but not into) Gabes and then headed west (SW a bit) to Kbili and then south southwest to Tozeur. On the outskirts of Gabes, we stopped for lunch on the roadside. A typically Tunisian place — a guy grilling kebabs on the street, with the meat being tenderized with the pollution of cars and motorcycles whizzing by; a very small inside section (maybe 4 tables) and an exterior “porch-like” area behind the barbeque and in front of the inside area…with  views of traffic. But we’ve gotten used to these little “restaurants”.. and can probably do a little Zagats guide on them. It was a busy place, and there really wasn’t a table, but the enterprising young guy found a table in a storage area and then dug up two chairs.. and we were set. Ordered one mixed kebab and one chicken.. and then waited. As we sat waiting for the food we glanced around and realized that two tables were occupied by about 4-5 Islamists (long black beards, long grey coat-like outfits)… at each of the tables. The guy making the kebabs wanted his photo taken (multiple times), but I decided to avoid photographing the Islamist guys at the tables.  Anyway, we laughed because there was a sign saying that the restaurant was “fast food”… but I’d say more like “slow food”… Took more than 30 minutes to get our kebabs. They served a really good hummus with the kebab and also a tart yogurt with garlic. Yummy with the chicken. Total cost for lunch about $3 for the two of us.

Eventually we made our way to the smaller road that would get us to Kbili when we would start our way across the Chott, the salt lake bed that we had to cross for about 45 miles. Along the way, we saw herds of camels (Naturally we got out of the car to photograph and then met the camel herder who was happy to be photographed.)  The road to Kbili took us through many, many tiny villages.. where the men sat and played dominoes, smoked, and drank coffee.. and women were less visible (and when visible seemed always to be coming or going somewhere — always in small groups). We also passed a good number of “palmeries” which seem to pop up out of nowhere — hundreds of palm trees rising from the desert… We stopped a few times en route, but were determined to reach Tozeur before dark, which was a challenge.

We approached the Chott el Jend at about 4 pm.. It’s an eery landscape… driving just a foot or two above the “lake” which is dry in many places but has water in other areas close to the road. In all directions you see a mirror-like reflection that seems to go on forever. The view was made more spectacular (and also a bit more difficult for driving) because the sun was setting quickly. Along the road there were little “hut – cafes” made of reeds… They sort of “announce” themselves by having “sculptures” made of the salt from the lake.. sitting behind or adjacent to their shops — but out in the dry lake bed.. It looks a lot like the kind of mudflat art that used to be out on the Bay by Emeryville and Berkeley. Many of these “sculptures” are camels.

Followed the signs to Tozeur and then the fun began. Tozeur appears to be a pretty busy and lively town and a bit larger than we envisioned. Anyway, we roamed and roamed to find the hotel … without success. Stopped lots of people who gave contradictory directions, and next thing we knew we were on a street that was totally grid locked because there was some kind of fair going on. We stopped at another hotel and nearly checked into that one, but then asked the reception desk how to get to our hotel.. and he gave yet different directions. In any case, we made it here… just several hours later than we had anticipated and now have to decide how to deal with tomorrow (given that we had planned to stroll through Tozeur today and then again tomorrow morning… )

The hotel is quite modern. It even has a hair dryer! A big plus since my look has changed tremendously as I’ve been pretty much a curly headed person for the last five days. And we have a television in the room.. a big flat screen (well big for us, since we have such a small screen at home), and it has CNN! Speaking of television, I failed to mention in other emails that the Tunisians seem to have a lot of soap operas that are well watched. In many shops you can see shopkeepers watching intently.. easy to spot the over-dramatized acting.

One other observation of Djerba — lots of medical facilities and many that do “aesthetic surgery” which I take to be plastic surgery, so I’m thinking that Djerba may be one of those places that has embraced medical tourism as an economic driver. Just my observation; no facts to back it up.

Had dinner at a local restaurant — Le Petit Prince (rather than the hotel restaurant which looked pretty canned and filled with European tourists — a buffet, which I really despise)..

We had a brik that was called Fatima’s Fingers (brik with meat) and the chef’s couscous (which had chicken and lamb) and the leg of lamb.. Way too much food.. a bottle of Tunisian wine, sparkling water… all for about $40 in a very upscale restaurant… Many Europeans and some Tunisians. So far we have not run into any Americans (except for the suspected CIA guy in Tunis who actually lives in London and says he has a British passport.. so he probably doesn’t qualify as an American any more).

OK… that’s it for today.

Hope all is well.

Trying to keep up with news in the states — reading NY Times most days (at least the abbreviated version that comes daily to my Blackberry). Even read the article about Jean Quan.

Fern

December 28, 2011 – Day Eight

Greetings from Djerba (more specifically from El Erriad) — where I’m sitting in one of the many nooks within the Dar Dhiafa “lobby” where I can get Internet connection — as dusk sets in — hearing the call to prayer beckon in the background.

Dinner last night was at Dar Dhiafa which is where we are staying (and– unknown to us — is in the Erriad neighborhood within one of the two Jewish sections of Djerba.)  Jews were living in Tunisia as far back as Roman times. Apparently the Jewish population of Tunisia was as high as 110,000 in the 1940s. Then beginning in the 50s, about half moved to Israel and half emigrated to France. Now, there are less than 3,000 Jews in all of Tunisia… with about 2,000 in Tunis and the remainder living here in Djerba. There are supposed to be several synagogues here, but the only one listed anywhere is El Griba (which we visited briefly this afternoon). One other point of note, apparently after the Arab Spring, the leader of the moderate Islamist party sent a delegation to meet with the Jews living in Djerba, assuring them that they have nothing to worry about in a democratic Tunisia and he sent gifts to seniors at the Jewish nursing homes.

OK.. so now for the foodies — last night’s dinner in Dar Dhiafa did not disappoint (except for the strange cocktail that I ordered — comprised of Tunisian alcohol (a vodka type of drink) with a lot of fruits blended together.. Sort of like an alcoholic smoothie). Anyway — too rich, too sweet, and too thick for a cocktail. The dining room is small, charming, and elegant.. about 8 tables for 2-4 people at each table.  Once we studied the menu and made our selections, we learned that the side of the menu we had been reviewing (with all the Dar specialties) require one day advance notice, so we ordered from the other side and made a quick decision to eat at the Dar again tonight to be able to order from the other side of the menu (a good decision since roaming around by car when it’s dark is difficult since streets are not labelled very well.) So we had an appetizer of small sizzling shrimps cooked in olive oil with tomatoes and onions and some spices (very good.. ).. and main courses of lamb noisettes grilled with fruit and stuffed with a tiny bit of cheese… and dorade – grilled and de-boned with vegetables. And a bottle of Tunisian red wine. Tunisian wine is quite good, not very strong.

This morning just after breakfast, we headed out for the day.. starting at the Homut Souk (the oldest neighborhood in Djerba, which includes the typical shopping area or “souk”).. It’s about 7km from the area where we are staying, so we drove. As we looked for parking, and were successful, we uncovered another little scam or effort to get tourists to trust someone to show them around and be a guide (Fortunately we did not buy the story.. since we had heard the same thing in Tunis and then we heard it twice more today.)… “I work at your hotel; Oh you don’t recognize me? That’s because I’m wearing a cap, see”… and then the guy knows “great shops” for you to see, carpets to buy (from his brother).. and he can take care of us all day. We politely declined and again professed not to speak English too well, since we are Finns (to which one guy asked if Finns spoke Dutch).

Oh, another interesting incident: we got pulled over by a traffic cop somewhere between the hotel and the Homut Souk area… a bit of racial profiling… Anyway, all he wanted to see was the ownership paper for the car — which we produced (thank goodness it was in the glove compartment).. and then we were on our way. No one else was being pulled over.

Strolled the souk area; stumbled upon a small woman’s collective that weaves and sews and makes table runners and other goods. Very sweet; wish we could have communicated more deeply. And I came close to buying one of those long floor length (would have had it shortened to knee length) lambs wool brown “coats” with black trim at shoulders and edges…  the men all wear .. the ones with the pointy hoods in the back.. kachabiyya (sp?).. I tried it on, and the shop keeper was willing to do the shortening.. But it had two problems.. First I thought it opened with a zipper all the way down… But the zipper only goes a short distance from the neck.. so you need to put it on over your head… Second, they seem to come in only one size, so they are extremely wide… Mike said I looked like I was wearing a potato sack…Anyway, despite the fact that I thought this would be a good souvenir for me, I wound up declining..

After this we set out to see the coast which includes vast marsh areas, and we’re told that thousands of flamingos (we saw a few) migrate to the northern edge of Djerba in wintertime. From what we could discern they migrate to a tip of the island that is reachable only by boat. Mike was somewhat intent on seeing the flamingos, but I convinced him he can see them in Florida. So we drove on.. past an area called the Touristique section (waterfront area at the north east) where extremely large hotels have been built (including one by Radisson). These hotels are like armed compounds. From what we can figure out this coast area and these hotels draw French, German, and British tourists during the months of March through October. There’s also a casino, which I believe requires a foreign (non-Tunisian) passport for entry.

The island of Djerba is totally white stucco with blue trim.. consistent everywhere.. or 99.999% of everywhere. It’s a great image against the blue sky and the billowy white clouds. The topography is flat and low-lying; villages are all a few kilometers apart and each seems to have its own character. We drove to Midoun, walked the town, and had lunch in a tiny little cafe, where they had a terrace — actually it was their roof, which we accessed by climbing a ladder leaning against the wall. Once up on the roof, where there were three tables, the dividing line between the restaurant’s “zone” and the next building was a series of old doors lying horizontally.. not much barrier at the edge of the roof. We had some brochettes.. climbed the ladder down and found our way (miraculously) to the car.

We continued our drive across the island stopping periodically in small towns, and then made our way to Griba, the synagogue (operational)…It’s orthodox and I was forced to don a scarf for my head and Mike to wear a kippa …Two elderly guys were praying, but I have to admit that it seemed a bit posed. From what we’ve read and heard there are two Jewish neighborhoods on the island (obviously both close to the synagogue so that it is walkable on Fridays and Saturdays)… one of those neighborhoods is right where we are staying; the other is about 2 miles to the north. Not certain we’d know what these Tunisian Jews would look like as I’m sure they blend in to the larger Tunisian culture.

Got back to the hotel around 6. It’s now raining pretty hard out there, so I’m glad we avoided that. Hope it clears up by morning. We have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow to Tamerza.

Ciao

Greetings from Djerba

Been quite a day!

Left Gabes (after purchasing a pair of $4 sunglasses — which is really all I deserve since I’ve lost three pair of expensive ones in the last 18 months).. a bit chaotic as we attempted to find the road to Matmata (village of troglodyte houses). After several wrong turns, (including a detour through the city dump!) we were on our way.. the road was fairly good and Mike’s becoming quite a pro — weaving in and out with the best of them… I’ve opted to be the passenger and at times the navigator, although that is a difficult job. We brought a really good map of Tunisia with us (which has been helpful — at times), but our map has Anglicized spellings and no Arabic and when we get to small villages residents are accustomed to reading in Arabic; even their French is halting… We really haven’t been able to use English much (an obvious problem for us!). Anyway, the road signs are usually translated and thus are in both Arabic and the translation.. But words and town names are not necessarily consistent. For example, today we were looking for what the guidebook referred to as Erriad, but signs said Riadh and some signs said Riyadh… so the navigator’s job is really important..and also creative.

The drive to Matmata, on small roads, reminded us a lot of other trips into developing nations. It’s here in the more rural areas that you get a better sense of the country. Tunis is a far distant place and in another level of development from these rural communities. Along the way, we saw roadside stand after roadside stand displaying recently killed sheep. Vendors were trying to sell us entire slabs of meet. We politely declined (imagine bringing that back through customs). But I photographed the guys with the sheep and Mike photographed me photographing the sheep vendors.

We made it to both New Matmata and Matmata. Naturally as we approached the “centre ville” of Matmata we were followed by a young guy on a motorcycle who wanted to be our guide.. but we declined..although he was far more persistent than the meat sellers.

We found our way to the tiny Berber Musee (located inside one of the cave houses) and explored the many rooms and courtyard… The only other visitors beside us was a  group of about 20 Tunisian women (varying in age from about 20 to 50 and with some young children. They were totally fascinated that we were in Matmata (which appeared to be a first time trip for them). They were surprisingly open and friendly and also having lots of fun on this travel adventure… taking pictures of one another and a lot of group shots.. They also liked the echo-y quality of the caves and started to sing a song in Arabic… the trilling of the la la la…

When they left the little museum, Mike and I were all alone in the place and then I was totally alone as Mike went off to photograph from the top of the mound (which is actually at grade since the caves are underground)… Then as I was exiting through the tunnel-like connection to the outside… the women were taking large group photos, yucking it up the whole time.  I was actually behind them not wanting to spoil the picture.. but when they saw me hovering behind avoiding the photo they took my hand and put me in the center of the shot with the group of 20… I was looking for Mike to take a photo so we could have a copy…but “no Mike”.. Anyway.. it was fun.. and somehow I’m in this photo with all of these women.. many holding the Koran.  One of them tried to speak English to me but the only thing she could muster was “holy book” as she held up the Koran. They seemed happy; kids were playful. We then went our separate ways.. Went to explore some other troglodyte dwellings, some still in use, others abandoned…. I think that the women’s group was tied together through some Koran study group.. at least that is what my little conversation in French seemed to reveal.

We then set off for Medenine and on to Djerba. After getting lost a few times (not being able to find the road to Medenine (still can’t figure out where we went wrong).. we figured we better head directly to Djerba, since even that would be a challenge and we wanted to arrive before dusk. Somehow we managed to be on dirt roads, roads under construction, and occasionally on a real road… but found our way to Marek (sp?) a dusty town located at the intersection of a few main roads… Decided it was the place to stop for lunch so we meandered into some little “restaurant” (really a roadside stop with tables).. menu was only in Arabic, so we just said “cous cous… avec viande..”.. and so it arrived. Tunisian cous cous is fairly spicy.. I think they use harissa which was also used in Morocco… Good thing we like spicy foods. The cous cous dish and a very very large bottle of water (quart) cost about $3. Then we attempted to find the road to Djerba (only about three mistakes this time, and asked for directions from about the same number of people)… all directions are given based on roundabouts (rampeurs?) so counting the number of roundabouts as you go is another important job for the navigator.

Along the way, on these small roads, there are little stands where men sell gas.. they pour it through a funnel into the gas tank. We’re going to get our gas that way tomorrow.. and avoid OiLybia.  (Special note for Ellen W — We’ll try to avoid purchasing from one of the guys who is smoking on the job.) Many of the guys selling gas have mattresses on the ground behind the plastic gallon jugs of gasoline… to nap when business is slow.

Since Djerba is an island, a ferry is a required part of the trip (For the two of us and our car it cost about 50 cents for the ferry.).. We shared the car deck of the little ferry with a few trucks that were transporting sheep to Djerba (perhaps to meet the same fate as all those hanging on the roadside..poor little sheep — don’t know what’s coming.). Very short ferry ride (would have been longer if we had found the right road and taken the right ferry)… 

Then we drove across Djerba to the northern tip.. to find our little 14 room “hotel.”  As we hit the northern tip and headed east (as our written Google directions explained.. iPhone GPS couldn’t locate us) we knew we were lost. We must have stopped at least ten different people along the way.. each giving us contradictory directions. By now, I was almost resigned to just find a hotel–anywhere in Djerba (and although we had consciously sought out a small place, we knew there are big resort hotels on the water – frequented by the French and the Brits… it was getting a bit frustrating and also getting later and darker).. Alas, we found our way (somewhat miraculously) to Dar Dhiafa. Had we not traveled through rural Morocco fairly recently and stayed at so many totally special and charming little historic inns, we probably would have driven right by since there’s no real signage.

But here we are.. in our little room where all the structures are hand hewn and walls are stone and rubble and stuccoed over (about 18″ thick).. lots of little corners and crevices… and nooks. The toilet is a few steps downstairs from the bedroom and sitting area.. and the shower and sink room is a few steps up from the main floor area of our room. It’s a bit out of the center, but it couldn’t be lovelier or more authentic.  Our little “apartment” (bedroom, sitting area, and bath) is probably 40′ long, with the long side facing onto the courtyard; the depth is about 8′. The public areas and the rooms were renovated about 12 years ago. Whoever made the decisions selected beautifully crafted pieces for decorations. It’s simple, but delightful. Our room faces a small courtyard with a “pool” that is classically shaped.. You can walk up exterior stairs and walk on our roof and on the roofs of other adjoining rooms.

Given how thoughtfully done the place is, we decided to have dinner here.. which gave us a chance to relax… have a glass of wine.. and avoid driving into the center. That’s for tomorrow. We are here in Djerba for two days. Tomorrow we’ll explore the market, the center, and the two Jewish neighborhoods. Apparently Djerba has been a traditional enclave for Tunisian Jews (approximately one percent of the Tunisian population). There are a few synagogues operating today, and the Jewish community here is “ultra orthodox”.. will let you know more tomorrow.

By the way, if you get this email, you’ll know I was able to connect online in the lobby.. as we cannot get Internet in the room…The hotel only has wireless in the lobby. We do however get Blackberry and iPhone connection in the room… I tried my ATT line for the computer.. but it gets a very very weak signal and nothing connects.

More tomorrow.

Fern

PS — am now sitting in one of the many little alcoves and private areas of the entry “lobby” of the Dar… hand made couches with great cushions; thick arched columns (great sense of scale.. with arches at about 6.5′ and ceilings at about 20′.. the arched columns create all these wonderful small sitting areas… which are furnished with beautiful old carved (and some painted) wooden cabinets and chairs..Can’t wait to see what dinner will be like and what the dining area looks like.

Greetings from Gabes, Tunisia

Following a buffet breakfast at the Hotel Olivier Palace in Sfax, we strolled the quite empty medina of Sfax (considered to be one of the best preserved in all of Tunisia). Apparently the Sfax medina is closed on Mondays so we got an odd sense of the place — absent the usual crowds, hawking, and goods for sale. Still we managed to chat with a few folks (broken French and broken English), including one guy who I photographed and who gave me his Facebook page so we can be “friends” and so that I can post the photo I took and tag him. Sfax is a lot like other “second cities” especially those in less developed countries. A bit dusty and worn, the remnants of some great spaces and boulevards, and the confusion of new stuff that’s been constructed in the last century. But as before, people were very friendly, helpful, and eager to know where we come from.

A few wonderful moments that defy explanation, like the cell phone stand in the centuries-old medina in Sfax playing (actually blasting) Bob Marley music… or the many stalls selling torn blue jeans… or the women wearing blue jeans under their long robes with chadors. I’ve been tempted to buy one of those long robes with the pointy collars and have it altered to be knee-length… Mike thinks it would look like I’m in the KKK… but the robes are all black or brown.  Mike’s been using his flip cam (last year’s birthday present), making little films… but he looks like a CIA spy carrying this small device close to the chest without moving…

We got on the road at about noon (after I attempted to print a few documents at the reception desk, but the printer died after the first 6 pages; will need to try to print in Gabes) and then we headed south to Gabes.

The road was good; traffic moderate (except in cities); we’re getting the lay of the land with regard to driving (although Mike has been doing most of the driving). Our little Renault definitely has some tire problems and we’re pretty certain that within the next day or so we’ll need to change at least one tire. (There is a spare in the trunk!)

It’s pretty clear that this area was originally under water. Now it’s flat, scrubby brush, and lined periodically with very small complexes of stands selling assorted goods, including food.  About an hour into the drive, we decided to stop for “lunch” at one of the roadside stands that we are now quite comfortable with. Seemed as if they were making some kind of kabobs on a barbecue. Sat at one of the plastic covered tables and ordered the chicken and also a cous cous. Chicken turned out to be an entire bird (tasty, just too much food) and the cous cous was definitely a meal unto itself. Ate as much as we could, and headed back out to the road.

As we approached Gabes, the geography changed.. you could sense we were heading toward the beach and the Mediterranean. Temperature also rose about 8 degrees. Along the way to Gabes many roadside stands appeared selling dates, baskets, ceramics, and fruit. We attempted to find Hotel Chems where we had a “reservation.”  Several wrong turns and people helping with directions… and we arrived at the rather large (several hundred rooms?) hotel, situated on the beach, but without any direct access to the water (seems as if you need to go out the front of the hotel, down the road then head to the beach… but cannot go directly from the hotel for “security reasons.”

From what we can tell, we might be the only guests here — or maybe one of just a handful. Hard to know. Decided to stroll the town a bit…. and then to relax in our room (actually I have work with me, so I focused on that)

One of the guidebooks suggested a restaurant in town called L’Oasis..but we asked at the desk about wine and learned that the Oasis was wine-free… but that there was a restaurant down the street from Oasis with same kind of food but has wine.. (They must think we are alcoholics)… so at around 8:20 we ventured out of our “compound” with some guard opening the gates (frankly we are not at all worried about those wandering the streets; more concerned about those lingering in the bar in the hotel all day. Anyway, we ventured into town (first time we’ve driven in the dark in Tunisia) and of course could not find the place, based on the directions the hotel gave us…. Stopped some people who initially thought we wanted the Oasis Hotel (which we knew we didn’t want because that is right next door to our hotel).. but then someone seemed to know where it would be .. so we turned around, headed in that direction and found L’Oasis (no wine) and the place a few doors down the street — Mazar where they had wine. We opted for the latter.. winos that we are.  Looked OK… only one other person having dinner (he was having some kind of spaghetti). Reviewed the menu and decided on a lamb brochette and a cous cous.. But they were “out” of both of those items.

Turned out they had only four items (although the menu was pages long)… Sort of like when we traveled in Russia many years ago where they gave you a 10 page menu but said “Beef Stroganoff”.. meaning that was all they actually had.. So the waiter at Mazar told us he had a filet, dorade, and guess what — “beef stroganoff!”… I opted for the dorade; Mike opted for the filet.. He kept asking for “rare”… I knew this was a pipe dream.. About 20 minutes later.. out came well done filet.. and a very nice dorade.. We had Tunisian wine..

Made it back to the hotel.. and now some television (I think they have another Tommy Lee Jones flick on tonight)… no CNN.. and then we are off early tomorrow to head to the troglodyte houses of Matmata (I think similar to the cave houses in Capodokya and also the underground cave houses in Guadix…) and then we head on to Medenine…

More tomorrow.

Fern

Greetings on Christmas Eve in Tunisia (where nary a sign of the holiday has surfaced, whatsoever)…

Last night’s dinner at Essaraya was good.. not nearly as good as the one at Dar El Jeld (where we’ve decided to eat a second time tomorrow night … our last night in Tunis). The funny part though, was getting to Essaraya. The hotel we’re in, Dar el Medina, is quite charming and the staff is very attentive. They are constantly concerned that we are walking everywhere all alone, even at night. Always suggesting they can take us or we can get a taxi (not really that simple when you’re inside the medina)… Anyway, when they made the reservation for us at Essayara (which we found in a guidebook), they said that it was close but complicated to find. We assured them we’d be fine, even thought it would be dark. So, when we were ready to leave for dinner, they told us that we should walk to the front of the mosque (about 10 minute walk from the hotel) and that we would be met there by someone from the restaurant, since the restaurant thought it would be difficult to find.. lots of turns and little narrow paths – some without names. The restaurant said we’d be met by a man wearing “traditional clothing.”

As we approached the mosque, in the darkness we spied a man wearing one of the starwars-like long robes …. carrying a large glass cube lantern with a lit candle inside…. we nearly cracked up.. It was like meeting Father Time in person. Got to the restaurant safe and sound. Started with one of those tagines again— the souffle-like frittata — this time with egg and pistachio (quite good); followed by a cous cous with tongue (which was very tasty); followed by a lamb entree (with raisins and prunes and apricots, which was a lot like a Moroccan tagine)…Biggest problem with the dinner was — No Wine!  Have to remember to ask when we make reservations whether or not wine is served. A large number of restaurants (where the owners are Muslim) do not serve wine.

Walked back to Dar el Medina — with Father Time leading the way for the first few minutes, until we convinced him we were fine on our own.

Spent most of today (December 24) trying to stay out of the rain and nurse my lingering cough and congestion. Thought I was over it before we left the states, but about the time we arrived in Tunisia it sort of reappeared.. no laryngitis, no fever; just rotten cough and drippy nose.. not being helped by travel or climate or the pervasive cigarette smoke or somewhat musty conditions everywhere.  Sought out a pharmacie today but they are all closed on Saturdays and Sundays (??)

Anyway, we took a leisurely stroll through the neighborhoods again, stumbling onto all sorts of interesting workshops and life situations. Found two guys who make boats (real ones, not toy size).. building them in a tiny two-room workshop that is just big enough to hold the boat (the boat is big enough for about 6 people fishing) and for them to walk around it as they work. To get the boat out of the workshop they need to turn it on its side and then somehow figure out all the maneuvers to get it partially into the street and back up and twist it and go forward and back many times since the distance from the door of their workshop to the wall of the building across the way is not as long as the boat… at least that is what we can figure out. Struck up very long conversation in my non-French with the boat builders who were incredibly friendly and very anxious to talk with us.. So they are avid fishermen.. and they have caught one giant fish that was 50 kilos… And he gets his hooks from Germany where the steel is better and the hooks are larger than what you can get in Tunisia (very important information)… We also heard the story of the “fish that got away”… the one that was 90 kilos… but the story was interesting since the guy lost half of his finger.. the fish bit it off.. They had to get him to shore and to a taxi to a hospital and then a very good professor of medicine at the university/ a surgeon/ operated… It’s true, and he is missing one part of a finger.  A very sweet guy… with many grandchildren — all of whom we saw pictures of on his cell phone. In the same teeny workshop he also seems to find room to produce some furniture which I think is the bread and butter work and the boat building is the passion.

Stumbled on some other worker groups… making parts of shoes (three guys in a tiny “factory” — again with just enough room for each to have a table, with piles of shoes around).. and other goods for sale. Again, everyone smoking as they work.

Everyone has been extremely friendly and helpful.. except for the street hawkers. We now say we don’t speak English.. and when they press for where we are from, we say we are from Finlandia.. which works pretty well since no one here can speak Finnish… But today when we said we were from Finland (and only spoke a little English), the guy who was trying to sell us sunglasses (in the rain — guess you sell whatever you’ve got) told us that his sister lived in Finland… We nearly died laughing at how clever he was… So we then asked (in English– after saying a few words in Finnish that were totally irrelevant) where in Finland his sister lived and he said “the capital.”… So now we’ve run into hawkers who have sisters in Texas, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Helsinki!!

Given the rain, we decided to head back to the hotel for a few hours to get some work done, and to try to pack up logically, as we start our real trek through Tunisia tomorrow morning. Not looking forward to the car rental process and getting organized with the car and driving… But it’s all part of the experience.

At about 8pm we headed to our new favorite restaurant Dar El Jeld…which did not disappoint..

We started with a platter of mixed hors’douvries including three different “briks” and several salads (including squid)… Then we had a lamb dish with raisins and apricots, and a sea bass plate steamed and served with steamed tomatoes and other veggies.. And we had wine! We’re convinced that Dar el Jeld is definitely the best restaurant in Tunisia and well worth the price (although the Tunisians think it is expensive)… It’s also the only place that understands lighting so it’s got a great atmosphere. Most other restaurants are really brightly lit.

Walked back to Dar el Medina… and we’re about to pack and get ready for tomorrow’s experiences.. Should be interesting.

Best to all of you.. Thanks for the notes.. I’m enjoying getting them.

Merry Merry

Began our next stage adventure today as we trudged along the cobbled streets of the Tunis medina wheeling our bags uphill to the Kasbah area to find a taxi to take us to the airport to pick up the rental car.  A bit exhausting. Cars can’t really get inside the medina; streets are too narrow — so the only way to get a taxi is to get to the square in front of the Kasbah (about a 10-minute walk without bags)… Made it! Got into taxi and headed to the airport (fare for the 20 minute ride was 15D (about $9).. although we had “negotiated” a fare of 35D ($20) when we went in the opposite direction! Then the fun began.

First the taxi driver didn’t understand that we needed to go to the rental car place so we circled the airport a few times. Finally, we thought it best to get out of the taxi, go inside the airport and then follow signs for rental car on foot (with bags)… Naturally the Tunis Airport (like a lot of foreign airports) requires you to go through a screening device as you enter the building… so up with the bags and through the x rays… down with the bags and off we go… But no signs for rental cars.  We went to an Information Desk where no English was spoken.. but in French we were told that EuropCar no longer existed at the airport… Undeterred, we trekked downstairs realizing that “arrivals” was downstairs and people seeking rental cars would likely be “arriving”…There we easily spotted the little Europcar office and the guy was definitely waiting for us. Knew us by name! Mike filled out lots of papers — as I went back upstairs to the pharmacy I spied as we entered the airport. Stocked up on lozenges, a throat spray, tissues, and some pills the pharmacist recommended (3 each day for two days…and then I will be fine — or so this is what I think he and I discussed in French). As it turns out the “pills” are little fizzy things that come in a small tube… You put them in water and they fizz up… and you drink it (alka seltzer like. only they are tiny pellets).

We’re sporting a mid size Renault — gold color — quite beat up, with 50,000 miles on the odometer; cigarette holes in seats; windows haven’t been washed in a while; tires seem not to be too balanced.. but our bags fit in the trunk (a plus, since then we can stop along the way and not worry about being too exposed) and it goes. The car had absolutely no gas in it when we started out and they told us to bring it back without gas! So the first task was finding a gas station (We quickly spotted OiLibya and asked to “fill it up”… but somehow we only got 3/4 of a tank). We set out to find the road to Sfax.

The drive from Tunis to Sfax was fine. We went slower than most cars and stayed in the right lane most of the time — soaking up the scenery of millions of olive trees and occasional small towns. We made a decision to veer off the route and head to Monastir (birthplace and burial location of ex-president Habib Bourguiba — although that didn’t really play into our decision). Monastir is on the coast and a bit south of Sousse. We decided to go there because it appeared on the map to be a small coastal town and we thought we could get a nice fish lunch by the sea… and we were right. As it turns out Monastir is some kind of new resort area (although fairly deserted this time of year). Several hotels and lots of restaurants (most not open in winter) and scores of yachts and huge sailboats from all over Europe (one even sporting a Florida location??)..  We walked the water’s edge looking for a restaurant called Le Chandelier which we eventually found (signage not very good here in Tunis) but it was closed.. so we wound up at what looked like a questionable place called Le Capitan which turned out to be fairly good and the woman who owned the place treated us like a member of the family.

Started with the requisite “brik” — which this time was filled with an assortment of fish and the soft boiled egg oozing inside of the pastry-like covering. And we had some kind of fish cooked “the Tunisian way.”  Then we headed on our way (backtracking a bit) to the road to Sfax.  Sfax is Tunisia’s second largest city and a major commercial center — home to what some say is the best medina in all of Tunisia (I’ll let you know tomorrow after we explore it) and a large mosque.

Finding the Hotel Olivier Palace was not quite so easy… Signs in Sfax are predominantly in Arabic (definitely no English spoken, and French far less obvious than in other places — many street signs are only in Arabic, as are building signs). Anyway, after several wrong turns, we stopped to ask a guy who was replacing a back up light on his truck…He hopped in the truck and led us through traffic to the area we needed to get to… but then somehow we got a little lost again.. and stopped someone else, and finally we stopped at a hotel that had a doorman to ask where the Olivier Palace was.. and you guessed it — We were there – doorman and all!

The Olivier architecture and interiors are a bit over-cooked, but the room is large and comfortable… and has television! (including two stations with movies that are in English!!)  This is really a stopping off point as tomorrow we head to Gabes.. but we’ll spend the morning walking around the medina, possibly visiting the mosque, and getting a bit more of a flavor for Sfax.

We ventured out of the hotel (after Mike finished watching “The Fugitive”) for dinner… a bit complicated in that we didn’t have a map of the town and neither did the hotel. We had read about a restaurant called Le Petite Navire, but when we asked about directions the front desk recommended another restaurant called Le Serene which he said was the same distance from the hotel (both walkable) but better. He then explained the route which seemed fairly simple… but somehow we went that way and couldn’t find a restaurant… came back to the hotel for more directions.. ventured out again and missed it a second time… But finally after asking some people en route, we realized we needed to cross the railroad tracks and walk near the water’s edge along the port (with big shipping containers)… a bit dark and spooky… but we finally came upon Le Serene… a local hang out.. mostly men (including one guy who might have been an imam)…. .. extremely fresh fish (really just caught) and you can go up to the counter and pick your own fish (which we did).. Cooked simply – grilled – and served with a salsa-like garnish and lemons. Quite simple, quite good…. and again no wine. (We forgot to ask at the hotel… beforehand)

All in all, things are going well. The Tunisians are incredibly helpful; you can ask anyone for directions and they will go out of their way to try to be of assistance. The country (at least what we’ve seen thus far) is welcoming, stable, proud, and productive. There’s been little to no begging and we haven’t seen more than a handful of people sleeping on the streets. Some of our walks (day and night) have taken us into some pretty seedy parts and we’ve also felt safe even as we’ve walked in desolate areas…

Take care –

Merry merry

Fern

Hi All –

Happy Hanukkah from the Medina in Tunis:

Began our day leisurely — after checking emails, doing some work, trying to figure out what we would do today, and analyzing the weather (jacket, no jacket, etc.). Weather is actually great for travel..Probably about 50-65 degrees, but it always poses the dilemma of wear/carry a jacket and then when it’s too warm for the jacket you need to find a way to carry it (made difficult when you are lugging large cameras and multiple lenses.

First the practical info.. as you can tell, Internet connection has been fairly good (at least at our hotel); PDAs are another story.. Both my iPhone and my Blackberry work only intermittently; phone seems fine, but email is sporadic (some would say this should make for a more relaxing day; for me it means constantly checking to see if I’m in a zone that is enabling connection or not).

We wound up being the only guests at the hotel breakfast… other than the American we overheard yesterday. So we struck up a conversation; he was leaving for Algeria after breakfast. Turns out he’s (or so he says) a chemist (we suspect he’s a Harvard grad, said he went to school in Cambridge — no details, and we didn’t press the issue). But he left the high tech science world a few years ago (I suspect he’s mid-40s) to join a former classmate who had left McKinsey and moved to London (as he did as well) to start a company that sets up kiosks at colleges and office buildings where they make smoothies.. using up to 50(?) different fruit combinations. From the (successful?) smoothie business they have moved onto molecular gastronomy (a term I heard a lot on a recent trip to Paris, having eaten at Pierre Gagnaire’s restaurant) — an approach to the physical and chemical transformations of ingredients that occur while cooking .  Sounds pretty effete to me. Anyway, his 15-person company is apparently dealing with “flavors.”… OK, so now we are totally convinced that he’s with the CIA, especially because of things he referred to when we started to talk about travel experiences– things that occurred before his time, which we think he would be unlikely to know (related to the Soviet KGB, Gary Powers, etc.). But he’s off to Algeria today, so we won’t learn any more.

We then took off to roam Tunis once again… this time headed away from the Medina and into the Ville Nouveau (really not very new — mostly 19th Century — but newer than the Medina which dates back to the 12th Century. Prior to approaching the gates that lead out of the medina into the new city, we strolled through wonderful and tiny courtyards in an area that was once the center of Jewish life in Tunis which and then became derelict, and is now being rejuvenated (Tunis yuppie.com). We walked through some small manufacturing shops (employing about three people each in very very small spaces). I photographed in a few of them; one trio was making the leather strips that go onto running shoes. They seemed proud of the work and anxious to have me photograph them with some finished shoe models (a la Nike).

I’m convinced that everyone in Tunisia smokes, and they do it constantly. I’m also convinced that most men don’t work. The streets (especially in the new part of the city) are packed with people — mostly men — sitting at cafes and sipping espresso for hours. Women always seem to be coming and going from some place, not sitting around having espresso. And the women, as noted in an earlier email, are dressed in a very wide variety of outfits ranging from totally western (the majority) to western with head scarf, to more traditional with head scarf to those with jihabs, and occasionally a woman with chador. We haven’t seen any burka-clad women. Men all mention that in the 1950s polygamy was outlawed and now men (who used to have multiple wives living under one roof — each having their own bedroom, hence the creation of very large houses and palaces with all those bedrooms for the women) have only one wife; they also tell you that women are equal to men “under Tunisian law.” Anyway, today I spied a young woman with a fairly traditional outfit — long black robe — and she had a shocking pink long sweater on top of the long black robe, and sported shocking pink headgear and a shocking pink purse.

Stopped for some crepes (the largest crepes you’ve ever seen) on Rue de Paris. Two crepes, an extremely large bottle of fizzy water, and two mint teas… about $5… and you can sit as long as you’d like (which we didn’t).

The new section was buzzing.. and we walked to several different neighborhoods getting a sense of what everyday life is like. We stopped in at the “main market” (gran marche) where food seems plentiful, not overly expensive and where there is  huge variety of fresh fish, vegetables, fruits, and meet… as well as the indomitable assortment of sweets- cookies, cakes, candies – all dripping with syrup and sugar. On the street from vendors you can buy a whole bulb of fennel that gets cut in half and squeezed with fresh lemon and topped with a little dill…you eat it as you walk.

We’ve been watching the driving, as we prepare to leave Tunis on Sunday by car which we will pick up at the rental place and then head out of town. Driving… looks pretty chaotic.

As we re-approached the Medina late in the afternoon heading back to the hotel, some guy appeared to know us; said he worked at our hotel. Could be, but we weren’t sure.. Anyway, he told us that there was a Berber craft fair going on in some old palace (yet another one) which would close at 5 pm today. It was about 4. We had heard about this from some other guy on a street, but assumed it might be a come on.. Mike really wanted to go, so we followed the guy through crowds in the medina.. In the end it was a big come-on to buy a carpet (but we resisted). The good news is that the palace (four floors high) had a great roof top and we could get a good overview of the medina — something hard to come by. Proudly we walked away from the “Berber Craft Fair” without any purchases.

Headed back to our special section of the medina, which is famous for these great big wooden doors which are generally painted a Mediterranean blue, or lime green, or yellow-ochre. They all have door knockers. We learned that the door knockers have all kinds of significance.. some are hand-shaped and if there is one hand-shaped knocker on the door it means that one family with a woman in it lives there; two hands means that the mother-in-law lives there as well. Other door knockers are placed at different parts of the door — some very low for children to knock, some higher for men or for women… but the knockers make different sounds – so that those inside the house know if a male or female is visiting.. because they would bang with a different knocker!

Off to dinner — more in a while or tomorrow.

Fern

P.S. for those who have asked: Food is good (except last night’s dinner was bland and only fair). They use the term “tagine” a lot, but it’s not at all like Moroccan tagine. Their “tagine” is more like a frittata or a crepe; light, fluffy, made with eggs and cheese and other things like spinach. They also have a thing for tuna so you can find tuna prepared a million ways (including in their tagines and in the crepes on the street). Kebabs have been really good, as have all the cous cous dishes. We’ve also had a lot of stuffed eggplant which has also been good. Tonight we head to some trendy fish restaurant called Chez Slah; will let you know.

As-salam alaykum (Greetings! …. I think)

Woke up to the morning call to prayer (6 am)… hard to miss it as it streams from all the mosques (and there are many, especially in the Medina where we are staying)… Now, for those of you into land use planning, I’m questioning if there has been an EIR to assess noise pollution in the Medina??  Actually the call to prayer happens five times each day.

First time I heard it was in Istanbul about 20 years ago.. but it is always a bit jarring when you’ve not heard it for a while. You hear it at dawn, midday, middle of the afternoon, just after sunset, and at nightfall (about two hours after sunset). Historically, The person (man) appointed to call the followers to prayer climbed the minaret of the mosque and called in all directions”Hasten to prayer”… But nowadays a loud speaker carries the message in most cities.

Breakfast at the Dar el Medina is a bit eclectic, but carried us through most of the day… and at this moment, we are beginning to think about dinner.

We heard the first American English being spoken — today – by a guy traveling solo and staying at our hotel.. chatting with another solo guest (a Brit) at breakfast.. talking about their travels to Syria, Iran, and other destinations far too tricky even for us. Haven’t spoken with them, but naturally we think they are either academics or CIA agents.

Anyway, we didn’t hear any more English (and certainly not American English) the rest of the day.

One thing I forgot to mention about dinner last night.. they had a guy playing a Tunisian string instrument… I think it was an oud… but could be something else…. Anyway, he played Tunisian and other Arab songs the whole night.. but then as we were just one of two tables still eating… he played “America the Beautiful” (which we assume was for us, since he could hear us speaking American English… and his decision was obviously not by our request).. Just think he thought of it himself and thought it would be nice (I also think maybe this is the only song he knows that is American. Only one other couple remaining at the place. And they didn’t seem to notice.)

OK — back to today. We’ve been walking the Medina which is like finding a needle in a haystack..But glorious when you can experience it first hand.

We walked up and down the winding alleys (much like the Medina in Fez and others throughout Morocco) checking out all sorts of goods… Periodically we stopped for tea (always mint tea) .. or checked out a mosque or a madrasa (Islamic school).. Didn’t really buy anything.. but everyone had many great deals for me… which they offered in French first, then Italian, then Spanish, then whatever other language that they can say “Madam, I have something for you…”

Actually they make little wooden painted puppets here in Tunisia– they are quite cute… I think they are theatrical characters from Tunisian plays… but no big antique or anything; just handmade. I stopped at one shop and asked what price I could get if I bought three of them); He haggled a while and finally said 300 dinar (about $200).. I had seen a lot of these in other shops and they were going for about 45 dinar (or 26 dollars)… All are very similar. So I said it was “tres cher” and walked away.. The guy came running after me asking what I would pay…then he said he’d charge 100 dinar.. then 50 dinar.. and finally 30 dinar!… so a reduction of 90% in about 4 minutes! I didn’t buy them from him… Bought them a few stalls away for 30 dinar.. less haggling..That second guy said that if we were Americans he would not reduce the price. I had been using Spanish… Hate to use English in these parts..So for these little episodes I can do it in Spanish… (mostly because Tunisian Spanish is about my level.. since everyone really speaks French, not Spanish)..

OK.. a few more little tidbits.. As we walked around, we stumbled on a little green park area..surrounded by government buildings including the Department of Finance. Well it seems as if (from what we can discern) this little park was a bit of a campsite for an Occupy-type protest…so now this little park — all 30,000 sq ft of it!! — is completely surrounded by triple layers of razor wire… and there is a tank inside the “park” and armed police sitting there. Guess that once the government decides they don’t want anyone in the park.. they make sure it is an impossibility.

Tunisians like desserts and they like them sweeeeet… They sell all these sweet things on the street.. sticky sweet.. and people buy them like crazy.. They are so sticky I can’t see how you can even pick them up. And when you get your mint tea — which is served everywhere (and you never have to ask for mint tea… it sort of arrives).. it’s already loaded with sugar… After every meal, they push desserts that are huge and sweet. Thus far we are ignoring them… Actually, not very appealing.

We walked down some narrow streets — away from the center and stumbled on an area where there are craftsman of all sorts… in little spaces behind other buildings. I managed to squeeze in and smile a lot and got to photograph them at work… OSHA would not be happy. The guy who cuts wood all day with a rather old electric saw sits with a lit cigarette dangling from his mouth.. stopping work just long enough to light the next one.. sawdust everywhere. No eye guards.. no protective nuthin! Seemed content and happy to work. Guys loading trucks are often barefoot; construction gear is unheard of. Need I say more. (Ellen Widess: I can see a whole new career unfolding for you).

Along the way, some guys stopped me and said that I should visit this building they were standing in front of… it’s the mausoleum of government leaders from the era when Turkey ruled Tunisia. Too embarrassed to say “no” we ventured into these chambers within chambers of marble boxes… all inside tiled wall rooms. Interesting, but could have passed it up easily. In any case, we made the guard happy — probably the only visitor all day or maybe all month.

Dinner was fair.. at a converted palatial home in the Medina (they have lots of these palatial homes turned into other uses (mostly hotels and restaurants; some shops). Nothing like last night. So now we are, immediately, making a reservation to return to last night’s fantastic restaurant.. again.. on Saturday – our last night in Tunis.

Tisbah ala-kheir (Good Bye or maybe Good night)

More tomorrow

Fern

Greetings from Tunis

Day One

Left London rather unceremoniously but more complicated than ever imagined. Taxi from hotel to Victoria Station; Express Train to Gatwick Airport; train to terminal… and all seemed fine (except for the ungodly hour — taxi pick up at 5:30 am). But when we checked in to the British Airways flight, they asked for proof of a return flight out of Tunisia — which somehow we didn’t have. We had paperwork for hotels, for our United flight to California, etc, but no printed confirmation for the Alitalia flight from Tunis to London. This was apparently a problem, as British Air needs to be sure (I assume the Tunisian Government is the one who needs to be certain) that we are not immigrating to Tunisia! After many rounds of discussion (Thank goodness in English!) and showing that we have a ticket from London to SFO (and it would be difficult to make that flight if we didn’t leave Tunisia!) and having the confirmation number for the Tunis – London flight, they let us move along through security. But that meant not having time to have any breakfast…

We made it to the plane… We were among a handful of non-Arabs on the flight.

Flight was uneventful, until landing — when about half the plane stood up while we were taxiing. We had experienced this before — in India — but not at this scale. Flight attendants were yelling, but it didn’t seem to matter. People were getting their bags and walking down the aisle well before we reached the gate. Imagine doing that at SFO.. I think they would surround the plane with police.

Customs was smooth; they didn’t seem to care if we had a return flight or not… and other than the fact that police had some kind of sub-machine gun kind of weapon at the airport, all was well and friendly. Naturally the search for a taxi was interesting with lots of hawking guys trying to be our “official greeter” and get tipped for walking us to the taxi station — which we ignored. But as we got into a taxi it was obvious there was some negotiation going on as to the driver tipping at least one of these guys.. Took about 30 minutes to get to the hotel, which is charming and right inside the Medina — the 1,000 year-old section of the city.  Small, delightful, and impossible to get to by car (taxi left us off at the entrance to the Medina and then we were on our own.  After walking with our bags for a few minutes, we saw two women who were most friendly and spoke English!  They didn’t know where the “Dar El Medina” was, so they immediately used cell phones and called to get directions.. We were told to just wait where we were and someone from the Dar would come to get us.. which they did. Good thinking because rolling the bags on the centuries-old cobblestone narrow paths and figuring out where to turn and when to go straight would not have been possible. Actually the Dar was quite close but needed to make a few important direction decisions at each “intersection.”

After checking in and settling in the room, we walked to the “souk” area which is just a few turns down the street… mingled in the crowded alleys with everyone trying to get the gringo’s attention… trying out every language from English to French to Spanish to Italian to Polish (“Look at this”  “I know you will like this” — in dozens of languages..)  Began the photography ritual… Unlike the medinas in Morocco..this one abuts the “ville nouveau” from the 19th century… so I strolled out of the Medina for a while (it’s connected by a great square where lots of people are walking and having coffee, talking, and just hanging out). Strolled for a few hours and then returned to the hotel where we crashed for about 90 minutes and now we are up and ready to head to a supposedly very “luxurious” restaurant.. to celebrate Mike’s birthday… More on that later.

First impressions of Tunis:

Cell phones are everywhere!

Fewer burkas than in Morocco (but maybe that’s because we’re not yet in rural areas?) Only a handful of guys in the Star Wars garb Not a single sign of Santa or Christmas; no fake snow; no tinsel (very calming and delightful).. In Morocco we saw lots of chintzy Xmas decorations.. Not here, very very little Western tourism… Hotel receptionist said foreign travel was picking up since the election.. but no real sign of it so far.

Looks more Mediterranean than Morocco did… buildings all pastels.. mostly white and beige and accents in blue.. quite charming; lots of palm trees.

OK.. just returned from tres cher dinner (as everyone told us when they recommended Dar El Jeld for Mike’s birthday dinner…Space quite wonderful — tile on tile on tile… interior courtyards.. no westerners; I assume all the diners were wealthy Tunisians… Not much English. .. we are struggling with French, since menus are so difficult to follow..

Anyway, we survived quite well..

The restaurant had wine, which was good since many of the better restaurants do not have any alcohol.

Appetizer was some kind of tagine, but not at all like Moroccan ones..It had egg and lamb and vegetables all rolled up with some thin crust and I suppose cooked in a tagine.. then we had couscous with giant stuffed squid.. followed by what we would call tagine(?) of sweet lamb with apricots, raisins, dates,  and leeks.. But they didn’t call it a tagine and it wasn’t served in a tagine. Dessert was some kind of cream smothered in cardamon powder.. They called it “black pine”… and of course the obligatory mint tea which is always refreshing and a great topper for the meal…

Oh– Tres cher by Tunisian standards, but about 50% of London standards for non-tres cher eatery… and about 30% of the cost of the super-upscale Paris eateries… so financially Tunisia is a good choice.

Walked back from the restaurant to the hotel .. taking a “short cut” amid construction and lots of cats (all of whom seem fearful of humans..thank goodness!)

OK.. off to bed.. Adventures ahead tomorrow.

Big plan is NOT to buy a carpet.. we’ll see. That was my plan in Turkey two years ago and Mike (not me) was totally succumbed and we wound up with a carpet and a long story.

Fern

PS — As you can see – wireless connection quite successful.. which is making me happy as well as office and clients. So, tomorrow.. a little souk-seeking… the grand mosque.. a little work… some great food…and we’ll see what unfolds.