ruined?

our second full day in africa was spent outside tunis in the neighboring towns of carthage and sidi bu said. we were hopeful because the skies had cleared and we could see some blue. we set out for the train station, about a 15 minute walk. we reached it and were first directed to the metro across the street and then to the other train station across town. we were told to continue on and follow the tracks. we did, and they led us to a part of town i doubt we would have seen otherwise. along the way we saw lots of jackhammering/construction, empty restaurants, a dead dog (yeah, sorry), and an old couple wading through a small flood in their street. we were literally walking on the tracks and eventually we did approach the train station, though likely not how most people do. when we got there we realized we could have taken the major boulevard the entire way down. but we preferred our scenic route anyway.

the train to carthage, which was really more of a metro but sounded like a car, got us there in about half an hour. and our first site in this ancient city? monoprix. nothing like a french convenience store to put you in the old world mindset. at any rate we continued on to the site of the basilica (not the basilisk, as jasmine referred to it) where we found the remains of a church and some (authentic?) mosaics which we did not disturb at all. ahem. the highlight of carthage was probably when jasmine and i decided to 'translate' the historic guide we were given by making up a history of our own. the best part was when vince took a picture of the "original phoenician remains" of the stone wall under the "subsequent roman construction". it wasn't until they discovered that there was no description of the basilica that all was revealed.

the remains of carthage itself are pretty minimal, as we had heard. we climbed to the top of the hill where we could see the mediterranean as well as the ruins that remained. several columns, some statues and the outlines of buildings below. another fun fact about carthage: it contains the presidential palace, which cannot be photographed under penalty of up to three years in prison. we had heard rumors of this but saw no trace of the actual palace. nor do any come up in a google image search. we're still skeptical as to the palace's actual existence. after exploring carthage the rain began so we ducked into a restaurant where we had a lovely lunch of bread/olive oil (seems to be the standard appetizer) and pizza and pasta that we realized afterward we had eaten in silence because we were so hungry.

from there we went on to sidi bu said, a lovely little tourist trap known for its white walls and universally blue doors and windows. it was charming but would have been even more enjoyable had it not still been cold and rainy. nevertheless we wandered the streets taking pictures of strangers' doors and lemon trees. we had a look into a private home in what i think is known as the 'family house' where we enjoyed mint tea and a view from their rooftop terrace (the precise moment at which it started to rain again, naturally). the city was cold but still cute and totally redeemed itself with a lovely hookah bar that was beautifully appointed and had delicious flavored hot chocolate. we gave it 5 out of 5 smoke o's (our hookah rating system).

despite the weather, we had a fun day outside tunis and still made it back in time for the delicious hostel dinner (approximately 2 euro).