Sfax to Tunis

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This morning we left Sfax and drove to the city of El Djem in order to see the ancient Roman ruins. The museum has some well-done and well-preserved mosaics (see picture), but the major sight here is the amphitheater (see picture). It was the third largest of the entire Roman world and could seat up to 30,000 spectators. (The Coliseum in Rome was the largest.) They primarily had wild animal fights in El Djem, but some gladiatorial combat occurred, too. For lunch I had two items that are typical of Tunisan fare: barley soup and brik (see picture). You can guess what the first one is, although it can be a little spicy, and the second one is a piece of filo dough that is wrapped around a raw egg, then deep fried until the egg is cooked. It is really quite good and I have had several during this trip. After lunch we drove to the city of Sousse where Uncle Jim and I visited the "ribat", a Muslim term meaning a fortress monastery (see picture). This one was built in the 800's AD. We hit the road again and headed back to Tunis. Along the way we stopped at a Roman aqueduct from the 200's AD (see picture). Our last stop of the Tunisia portion of the tour was the upscale seaside town of Sidi Bou Said. It is famous for its blue and white color scheme and cool sea breezes (see picture). We had our farewell dinner overlooking the Bay of Tunis.

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