Blogs from Tunis, Tunisia, Africa - page 2

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Africa » Tunisia » Tunis April 17th 2015

I was unable to download the pictures from my camera, so the next two blog entries will be picture-less. I'm sorry about that, but am hopeful that I will get the connection back on track tomorrow. Today was our first full tour day and we covered a lot to sights. Our first destination was a walk through the souk (traditional Arab market) located in the heart of the old part of Tunis. While some of our group shopped for souvenirs, I sat down to have a coffee. Our tour bus then took us to the other side of town to visit the Bardo Museum. It is famous for its huge collection of mosaics from the Roman world. North Africa was part of the Roman Empire and many of the floor and wall mosaics have survived from ... read more

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis April 15th 2015

This morning I woke up in Paris, France and tonight I am going to bed in Tunis, Tunisia. Tunisia was a "protectorate" of France between 1881 and 1956, so French is the second language here after Arabic. But to get back to this morning, I took one final walk across the Seine to see Notre Dame cathedral, then collected my bags, checked out of the hotel, and caught the train to the airport. Three years ago I flew out of Charles Degaulle airport and Air France has "upgraded" its check-in process since then. I had to navigate through crowds of passengers to use the kiosk to check in, print and tag my own luggage, weigh my suitcase, put it on the conveyer belt, and find my way to the security lines. I miss the old days ... read more

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis September 22nd 2013

Geo: 36.7899, 10.21The Tunisia National Museum and city centre bazaar and marketplace. These were todays activities on our last day in North Africa. Again, we had little option but to take the dreaded taxi. It was a similar arrangement to yesterday, a driver arranged with the hotel who would pick us up and drop us off at each location, and return us back in due course. It was a little more expensive than yesterday, caused mainly by a longer drive to reach the museum. Overall, the day was not as enjoyable as yesterday. Less history and impressive things to look at, alot of haggling and a driver that spoke even less English. Todays driver Othman, still did a good job, but there was little room for small talk or charades. We discovered we had better chance ... read more
Nat Bardo
Bardo Museum
Aurelius and Claudius

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis » Carthage September 21st 2013

Geo: 36.8565, 10.3306What a fantastic day in Tunisia. Carthage was the centre of the Carthaginian Empire in antiquity. The city has existed for nearly 3,000 years, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC into the capital of an ancient empire. This city was a major draw card in my decision to visit Tunisia. We had hoped the ruins might be walking or public transport distance from our hotel, but alas it didn't really seem to be the case. The hotel recommended we do a tour with a cab. Oh boy, here comes rip off city. Fortunately this wasn't the case. We had a great day out thanks to the guidance of our Tunisian cab driver come guide, Nourah. The hotel recommended him as their best English speaking guide. His English vocabulary and understanding ... read more
Nat Roman Ampitheatre
Roman Ampitheatre
Roman Ampitheatre

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis April 14th 2013

Strahlende Sonne weckte uns an diesem Sonntag Morgen, und durch die Fenster drangen nur dumpf die paar Geräusche, die ein gehobenes Wohnviertel am Sonntag so von sich gibt. Zum Glück hatten wir zwei ganze Tage Puffer in Tunis eingeplant, bevor die Fähre wieder zurückfahren würde. Was wir in diesen zwei Tagen anstellen würden, hatten wir allerdings noch nicht so recht durchdacht, und so wuschen wir erst einmal unsere ganze staubige Dreckwäsche im Innenhof. Bei einem landestypischen Nescafé rief ich dann auf gut Glück bei Amine an. Das war ein Couchsurfer, dessen Profil uns sehr gut gefallen hatte (Medizinstudent, Hobbyfotograf, Aktivist...), der uns aber leider wegen Überbelegung seiner Couch absagen musste. Dennoch hatte er uns gebeten, ihm Bescheid zu sagen, wenn wir in Tunis sind, damit wir uns treffen könnten. Per SMS erfuhren wir, er sei mit ... read more

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis April 5th 2013

Die Unterkunft Endlich wurden wir (diesmal durch einen offiziellen Fußgängerausgang) aus der Fähre ans Festland entlassen. Fester afrikanischer Boden unter unseren Füßen. In der Empfangshalle ging es gemächlich zu und wir standen vor unserer nächsten Herausforderung. Wir hatten von einer tunesischen Couchsurferin eine knappe Zusage ohne Adresse aber mit Telefonnummer bekommen. Auf SMS und Anrufversuch vom Schiff hatte sie aber nicht reagiert. Da standen wir nun mit unserem ganzen Gepäck auf dem Rücken und beschlossen, die Jugendherberge im Zentrum von Tunis anzusteuern. Den Taxifahrern winkten wir ab und ließen uns durch unterschiedlichste Angaben zum letztendlich doch nicht so nahen kleinen Bahnhof von La Goulette leiten. Neugierige Blicke waren den beiden großen weißen Backpackern sicher. Als wir dann im Zug waren kam ein magischer Anruf unserer Couchsurferin. Ungefähr gl... read more

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis April 5th 2013

Die Fähre Es ist uns noch nicht ganz klar, wie wir alle Eindrücke von unserer Überfahrt in so einen „kleinen“ Blogeintrag einschmelzen könnten. Aber mal sehen... Der Start war jedenfalls schon mit ein paar Hindernissen versehen. Das größte davon konnten wir spätestens am Morgen auch vor uns selbst nicht mehr verheimlichen: Wir wissen nicht wo unsere Fähre abfährt und wir wissen nicht, ob wir überhaupt gültige Tickets besitzen (nur Internetausdrucke). Auf diesen Ausdrucken stand lediglich, dass wir uns um 10 Uhr an einem Terminal 4 am Fähr- und Frachthafen La Joliette im Norden der Stadt einfinden sollten. Da auf keiner unserer Karten ein Terminal 4 verzeichnet war, rekonstruierten wir den Zielpunkt grob aus der immerhin angehängten Beschreibung für Autofahrer. Und so fuhren wir mit der Metro bis Bougainville (wie die Pflanze), erfuhren dort, dass wir zwei ... read more

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis January 8th 2013

Geo: 36.7899, 10.21When we set out on this trip oh so many months ago we had promised ourselves that we would keep the pace flexible- if we liked a place we would stay a little longer (as 3 sojourns into Australia might suggest), and if we didn't like a place, we would move on guilt-free. For the most part we've been able to get it right- there's a couple of places I wished we had spent more time in but outside of keeping South Korea short to get to Japan (school holidays and peak season made for very badly behaved domestic tourists in Korea) and a concern for the future of Nepal, we were consistently left wanting more.Then I talked DH into a Tunisian look-see!! We knew we were heading for trouble when the connecting flight ... read more
Souk
Metal Plates While You Wait
Doorway

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis » Carthage December 27th 2012

Español / Català Roman tribune Marcus Porcius Cato obsessively ended his speeches with the words: Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam, (And I think also that Carthage must be wiped out from the map). Obsession was not entirely irrational. Although had defeated twice the Mediterranean power, Rome wished to rule without restrictions western Mediterranean Sea routes. The end of the ancient North African metropolis arrived with Third Punic War. In 146 BC, Carthage and its state were devastated again by the growing power of the Mare Nostrum: Rome. And they did it to fully consciousness. Most of the ruins that remain today doesn’t belong to the Punic capital city, instead the one Romans rebuilt above. If legends are ma... read more
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Africa » Tunisia » Tunis October 15th 2012

The flight from Paris was a mere 2 hour trip, landing in Tunis/Carthage airport, I found myself one of many queueing up to clear immigration. A number of European tourists on a package tour that will go straight to their respective resort hotels, and a handful of backpackers. My line seems to be taking ages to move on, everyone is sighing and wondering what is taking so long. We later then realized that we queued up on the booth where 2 new officers are being trained and thus super slow! eventually making it to the front, the trainee does not have a clue what to do! keeps paging through my passport, scans it, looks at me, asks me something in French, I gave him a stare blank, then he starts the process all over again! Thankfully ... read more
Korbus
Tabarka
Mo's kitchen




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