On a Friday evening we took a louage (shared minibus-style taxi) out to Nabeul on the Cap Bon peninsula. It took us about 90 minutes to get there and we were soon settling into our hotel and deciding where to go for dinner! The Hotel Les Jasmins was nice, despite the dreadful music on their website! The nearby Restaurant Slovenia provided a beautiful meal for a pretty reasonable price considering the plush surroundings and the efficient smartly dressed waiters. Afterwards we declined to go for a drink in the bar as it was just too smoky. No no-smoking policy over here!! [View Full Entry]

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The journey from Nabeul to Kelibia took us further up Cap Bon through some nice countryside. Once we got to Kelibia we were a little disappointed though. From the guidebook it sounded like a quaint little fishing village with a fortress built high on the hill above. In reality the town centre was quite busy and pretty much like any other town centre in the region. We walked along the road out towards the port and the fortress. On the way we called in at all of the hotels (3 of them!) hoping to find a decent price for one night. [View Full Entry]

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Not blogged for a while so we thought we would share some recent photos with you from our explorations of Sousse. In the medina you can visit the interesting fish market. Outside it, you can even see the starlings up for sale, a local delicacy at this time of year which we are yet to try!!! You can also get your hands hennaed if you wish or buy a carpet or a camel! Instead we visited an interesting museum where we learned a lot about the traditional wedding ceremony with intricate costumes worn by all. The museum was right in the [View Full Entry]

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Kairouan is an hour's ride on a louage, or shared taxi, from Sousse. It's not a particularly interesting journey but you certainly get a glimpse of the desolate countryside once you get away from the towns and cities in Tunisia. Anyway, the main thing to see in Kairouan is the Grand Mosque. It's quite impressive and for a small fee you can wander around the courtyard and glimpse into the prayer hall. It's just a shame that as infidels we cannot go inside. In Damascus (Syria) it was no problem but in Kairouan you are visiting what is apparently the fourth [View Full Entry]

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About 30 minutes North of where we live is the small coastal village of Hergla. We had heard it was a beautiful place so we decided to go up and have a look. Unfortunately we had just missed the bus which runs every half an hour so Russ but his bargaining skills to the test and got a good price on a taxi. Hergla is tiny but it has great views over the rugged coast and a splendid vista of the new Enfida airport which will soon open. The houses are mostly whitewashed with a brilliant blue trim and it is [View Full Entry]

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Merry Christmas from sunny Sousse! Well, not so sunny Sousse here on Christmas day!! It’s hard to believe we’ve only been here a month as we seem to have done so much in that short time. After blogs about our various excursions, it’s time to tell you a little about our day-to-day lives here in Tunisia. We live just a few minutes away from the teaching centre in Hammam Sousse (half way between Sousse and Port El Kantaoui) and, as we only work from late afternoon into the evening during the week, that gives us plenty of time to experience local [View Full Entry]

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A couple of hours away from Sousse by the metro train is the small town of Mahdia. It helps if the staff at the metro station put you on the right train though! Ours only went as far as Moknine, half an hour short of where we wanted to go. We had to wait a further 30 minutes to get on the correct train, frustrating but not the end of the world. A few minutes’ walk from the train and you find yourself in the medina. Unfortunately we were there on a Saturday and it was dead. There was nobody around [View Full Entry]

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An hour away from Sousse on the train is the small town of El Jem. Trains are not very frequent though: we avoided the 8am departure in favour of the more palatable time of 1141! We were surprised to find so many tourists joining us on our day out. After all, we’re not tourists, we live here now!!! On arrival everyone seemed to head straight towards the impressive colosseum. It was impossible to miss and looms above the centre of the town. We had a quick wander around the market area first though, and then a spot of lunch. Briq, pronounced [View Full Entry]

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In the early days of any teaching contract you rarely have a full timetable of classes. That’s great for us as it gives us the chance to get a few day trips in before work gets too busy and/or stressful!! Sousse, where we are living, is a touristy town but it is not alone on this stretch of Tunisia’s coastline. Nearby the resort of Monastir is probably a little better known amongst European holidaymakers. Getting there is easy for us. We just take a bus into the centre of Sousse and then another bus down to Monastir. In all it’s about [View Full Entry]

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Just half an hour by train from the centre of Tunis is the ancient Roman city of Carthage. Normally sites of antiquity are set in remote areas but here the modern city of Carthage surrounds the World Heritage Site. One ticket buys you entry into all of the Heritage Sites, but you have to pay extra to get into some of the museums. The different locations are a bit spread out but if you don’t mind a walk, it’s fine. First up for us was a climb to the top of Byrsa Hill. Up there we saw the Cathedral of St [View Full Entry]

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