Tabarka, Tunisia

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Again today I have no pictures to share, but I am hopeful for tomorrow!This morning we had an early start because we did a lot of riding in the bus today. We drove out of Tunis toward the west. First stop was Testour, a town where we walked up and down the main street which was largely taken up with a very busy market. Uncle Jim pointed out that it is Friday, the Muslim holy day, so few people are working and everyone is free to socialize, shop, and be out on the street. The locals mostly ignored us. Our group certainly stood out because of our ethnicity and clothing...and cameras. I took a photo of people harvesting orange blossoms for use in fragrances and cooking. We drove on to Dougga, a well-preserved ancient Roman site. The most impressive building is the Capitol Temple whose columns are each one solid piece of stone (not made in pieces) and which have never been knocked over since they were put up 1800 years ago. This northern area of Tunisia is greener than the southern region and today we saw lots of farmers' fields, cork forests, and many small herds of sheep. We are lunch near Dougga and then drove on to the next stop: yet another ancient Roman site. Bulla Regia is famous for its underground villas which stayed cool in the heat of the summer. The Romans cleverly slanted the windows so that direct sunlight would be admitted in the winter, but only indirect light filtered in during the summer. There used to be above-ground portions of the villas, too, but pretty much all that has survived is the underground parts. We drove on to the north coast of Tunisia, arriving in the city of Tabarka as the sun was setting.

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