Blogs from Tunis, Tunisia, Africa - page 4

We flew from Algiers back to tunis and arrived in familiar terrain- confused and complicated visa on arrival proceedures-taxi scrums and soon we were back in old Maison Doree Hotel. We met the group we were joining and did some shopping-dinner out-early to bed and in the morning we were off on our Oasis trip-16 of us. The route took us west and south across areas we had not seen on last Tunisian trip. First to Dougga and a wonderful Roman Amphitheatre aqnd baths. These ruins were beautiful set in open fields and well preserved. We continued on to Le Kef where we stayed at the Hotel Sidi Venereum. (Hotel venereal Disease). This place is also interesting-There is a Medina-Kasbah on the hillsside on top of which is a great fort,synagogue and fantastic views of surrounding ... read more

Next stop is Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. Tunis is located in North Africa and shares some similarities to Morocco in terms of culture. What I didn’t see were donkeys, stray cats, people begging… then again, we only went to the old town where the medina was located and a local village. Here we saw goods that were similar to what was sold in Morocco - shoes, bags, pottery, jewelry, poofs, etc… I really wanted my mom to experience a souk. Following the medina, we headed to the picturesque village of Sidi Bou Said, where we had free time to see the beautiful area. All the houses and buildings were white with blue doors. Similar to the souks, there were tons of goods being sold. After some pathetic negotiations, my mom walked away with a beautiful ... read more

Début de l’aventure Après 23 heures (de chez nous à l’hôtel), nous voilà enfin rendus à Tunis. La température est magnifique, quoiqu’un peu frisquette (un petit 14C)… parfait pour visiter. Voici l’hôtel El Mouradi, où nous séjournerons pour 2 nuitées. Dimanche 9h, départ pour une tournée vers le nord-est, après avoir visité le centre-ville de Tunis et le souk. Première visite, le musée Bardo (M.Sadok, notre guide, nous assure que le nom n’a rien à voir avec Brigitte), riche en mosaïques romaines de grande valeur et de pièces archéologiques, datant souvent de l’époque romaine. Plusieurs statues ont le nez cassé, œuvre des soldats du Vième siècle. Étant en rénovation, plusieurs salles n’étaient pas disponibles, mais vous auriez dû voir les belles photos que nous en avions prises. Mais elles ne passeront pas à la postérité car, ... read more

Having said a sad and fond farewell to our friends in Sousse, we headed up North on the train to Tunis. We were supposed to be met by a car rental agency after we had negotiated a really good rate on line. They didn’t turn up and they wouldn’t answer their phone! Oh well, the best laid plans and all that!! So we took a taxi out to the airport where Russ did some hard bargaining and before long we were on the road up to the city of Bizerte, some 40km North of Tunis. The further North we got, the more the scenery looked like England, but with sunshine and the occasional palm tree! Bizerte was a bigger place than we had imagined. It’s not exactly over developed when it comes to tourism which is ... read more

We decided to take the train up to Tunis for a couple of days to see what the city was like with a bit of hustle and bustle. Last time we were there it was a public holiday weekend and so it was eerily quiet. This time the intensity of the city hit us as soon as we got off the train! We walked round to the Transatlantique hotel which was cheap (38 Dinar / £17 for a double room with breakfast) and sort of cheerful. It’s colonial decor was faded but interesting and the mosquitoes seem to have failed to notice that it is still winter!! Half an hour on the train from the Maritime station, just beyond the ruins of Carthage, is the town of Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia’s answer to the Greek Islands. ... read more