City Post: Tunis

We were both looking forward to Tunis a bit. Tunisia hadn't exactly lived up to our expectations or our friend's hype, but Tunis was the capital city, so surely we would have a better time. And we did, but still not up to the hype.

One thing we both loved, though, was our Airbnb. It was HUGE and cheap. We didn't just have our own rooms; we had our own ends of the apartment! We couldn't even hear each other from the other side. And it was located pretty centrally to the main commercial drags. Major score.

Naturally, we wanted to explore the souks and the medina while we were there. They were not too far from our Airbnb, and were much more what we were expecting than compared to Hammamet and even Sousse. Shops lined the old city streets, shop owners heckled passers-by to come to their shop, and locals were haggling over spices, clothing, shoes, and even school supplies. Weirdly enough, we both liked that environment more than the half-experience we had in Hammamet.

A guy Jo met told her we should check out the beaches over at Sidi Bou Said, so we made our way over there one afternoon. The water was REALLY cold, and it was windy, so we didn't stay in our swimsuits for long, but we did enjoy hanging out at the beach. Tunis made three for three cities of choosing a beach day that was supposed to be beautiful, but then the clouds and wind rolled in. Ah well. It was November, anyways, so we could only be so hopeful, right?

We had been encouraged to explore the medina of Sidi Bou Said as well, although it was quite a ways away and uphill from the beach, so we came back two days later (there is no public work on Sundays in Tunisia). This medina was beautiful white and blue, clearly kept up. Although not very big, it was certainly more lively than both Hammamet and Sousse. Plus, being on the hill, it had spectacular views.

Sidi Bou Said was located near Carthage, the old Phoenician and, later, Roman, city we learn about in high school history classes. Jack wanted to explore the ruins, so we spent the afternoon doing that after eating lunch in the medina.

Unfortunately, the ruins of Carthage are not well-preserved. In fact, to call them preserved at all would be pushing it (except for the theatre). In reality, they were just gated off to prevent access without a ticket. The ticket wasn't expensive, though, just 12 Tunisian Dinar (about 4 USD), and it included every Carthaginian site, including the museum.

We walked the Carthage Archaeological Site, and we both commented that it felt weird and wrong to be walking amongst the ruins. But, as we said, they were hardly preserved in the first place. The theatre next door was remarkably well-preserved, but that was mainly because they renovated it to host shows and concerts there in modern times. This was by far the most impressive of the sites.

Eventually, we ended up in a taxi with Ali showing us the rest of the sites we could easily get to before they closed (we'd already walked quite a bit that day). The amphitheatre was probably impressive in its day, but, after 2,000 years and no meaningful preservation work, was thoroughly not so for us. The same went for the other sites we saw. But, hey, it was worth it to walk in the shoes of such a formerly great empire.

Ali ended up taking us to a little inlet where locals fish to take some pictures. He was excited that we wanted to include him in them. He was also adamant that we should get married and have babies. Well, Ali, you can't win them all!

Our last night, we decided we would watch a bullfight on Onetoro.tv seeing as we had good internet. To do that, we (Jo) would need alcohol (wine). We FINALLY found a place not too far from the Airbnb that sold it. It was a supermarket, and we SCOURED it trying to find the alcohol section. It was right by the exit. We (Jo) may have, possibly, hypothetically, accidentally broken a bottle of wine all over the floor. The cashier was PISSED and came at us INSISTING that we pay for it. As soon as Jack said, "Oui, oui, nous payons, ne pas probleme" ("yes, yes, we pay, no problem"), he backed off. The other cashier, who we ended up with, found it funny and even tried to not charge us for it, but we insisted. Not because the other guy wanted us to, but because we broke it and believed we should.

Apparently, though, Jo picked out a really good wine, because everyone at the restaurant we stopped to eat at was enthralled with it. They even uncorked it for her and allowed her to drink it at dinner!

Leaving Tunis for Cairo was a long process. We had to check out of our Airbnb by 12h00, but we couldn't even check in our bags until 20h30. Well, we knew there was food and free bathrooms in the unsecured portion of the airport, so at noon we got a taxi and spent the afternoon hanging out, being bored at the airport.

Such is the life of a budget traveler!

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