two to tunis

our next and final destination in the country was tunis so we woke up early hoping to make our way back to the capital. we'd hoped that going to a bigger city might make catching a louage a bit easier. it wasn't quite so straightforward, unfortunately. we made our way to the station only to be met by big crowds and a tiny ticket office. i left JR to stay with our bags near the louage marked 'tunis' while i went to buy our tickets. (why we couldn't buy them on the louage itself here was unclear.) i jostled for a spot in line outside the station near a ticket window only to learn, several minutes in, that i'd have to order a ticket for tunis inside. of course the inside was packed with people jammed up in lines. the line was interminably slow but i did only see a few arguments break out and a couple of people jump to the front of the line for whatever reason. fiiiinally i got our tickets and went to join JR at our louage. we had a bit of time to get some last minute snacks at a kiosk before our van was full and ready to go.

asla (meaning honey), our temporary pup

the trip itself was largely uneventful and in a few hours we were back in tunis. now it was a matter of finding our airbnb. while it wasn't in the labyrinthian streets of the medina it was just out the city walls in a small alley which turned out to be perhaps even harder to find. after a number of (probably expensive) confused phone calls to our host and plenty of frustration we finally made it. happy to drop our bags - and the wrapped up carpet that poor JR had lugged all over - we said hi to the friendly dog and tried to relax a bit. our host left before we got the wifi password from him (oops) but we tried to make a plan for the day with the maps and info we did have at our disposal.

we had once again managed to miss the typical lunch hour so finding food was proving difficult. in the bustling streets outside the medina we managed to find a little stall where someone was making what looked to be savory crepes, but the meat was some kind of nondescript flat, red circles and the cheese came in a little foil wedge. whatever, it would do and it at least had harissa on it. with some food in us we were a little less hangry and ready to take on the rest of the afternoon. we hopped on a local train to take us out to carthage, just a quick ride across the water.

overlooking carthage, or what's left

from the station it was a bit of a walk to the historical site (which you'd think would be better marked, right?) but we managed to find it. once there, we tramped around the ruins of carthage (such as they were) in the late afternoon sun, enjoying identifying what was left of the various buildings and store rooms. it really was pretty well decimated. the museum on site had some great mosaics and quite a few interesting artifacts but we only had about 45 minutes to enjoy it. JR was eager to find more ruins (and, indeed, there were random roman columns and sprinkled all over the place without sign or ceremony) and so we tramped around in search of old things.we managed to stumble across some aqueducts, a possible temple (well, columns) and an old amphitheatre. most had no signs whatsoever and were littered with garbage.

sunset views from cafe essaude

we found another train station and hopped on the train a few more stops to make it to sidi bu said, which we'd wanted to hit before the sun went down. it was just starting its descent so our timing was fairly good. the town was full of tourists but we made our way through the busy street to a cafe advertising a rooftop terrace (i, of course, wanting to catch the sunset from a nice vantage point). this one fit the bill - it had mint tea and cocktail shisha. we lingered a little longer and JR tried his first turkish coffee - served with a syrupy 'flower water' that was delightful. leisurely sipping out drinks and chatting into the night was definitely a highlight of the day for me.

by around 8pm we figured we should probably try to head back to tunis before it got too late. we made the short walk down from the town's main drag and caught the next local train. there were some young guys inside goofing around, trying to jump in and out while the train was still moving. we watched but didn't pay them much mind. then all of a sudden as we were approaching a station one of them grabbed for my camera bag and started to run. luckily i had it and my purse secured under my arm (as i nearly always do when traveling) and of course i held on tight. he pulled me up off my seat but i kept my grip tightly and eventually he fell backwards onto the platform. JR immediately jumped up ready to put up a fight but it all happened so fast and almost as quickly as he had lunged for me he was on his back in the station. no harm done really but we were a little shaken up. just a good reminder to always secure your stuff and be aware of your surroundings!

the next metro ride was short but we sat in the station forever just waiting for the train to move so we didn't end up getting back until almost 9. the streets of the medina were dark and nearly deserted - it was a little eerie, to be honest. at some point we were walking through a dark passage with little light to see the dirty ground.. and i managed to slip in whatever was covering the ground (likely at least some percentage of that was poop). fortunately i fell forward onto my knee and not onto my back, but still - ew. nothing seemed to be open so clearly we missed mealtime once again. eventually we passed a few open cafes but JR was nervous and anxious to get back (probably a good idea to follow your instincts in such scenarios) so we stopped at a little kiosk near our place to grab some chips, sodas and a snack that was 'oriole' flavored (we think they meant oreo..). back at the airbnb we realized we still didn't have the wifi password so our attempts to watch a movie were thwarted. all in all not our best day but still an adventure.

classic view of tunis' rooftops

the next day we slept in all the way until 9.20 - what luxury! our host, hamza, offered to take us to breakfast in the medina. anxious to get a meal at the appropriate time we acquiesced. he took us to a fabulous little cafe filled with antique chairs, rugs, and various textiles and lanterns covering every surface. most people around us were start in on the shisha but we decided to stick to coffee and tea accompanied by some little almond cakes he snagged at a kiosk around the corner. we had a nice conversation about his work and travels - all in french. funny, while he said he's learned spanish, italian, and russian he said he'd never managed to learn english. i translated as best i could for JR. of course we weren't getting away without being taken to a few carpet shops, many of which feature rooftop views of the city and the signature minaret of the great mosque. having secured our major rug purchase already we listened politely to their spiel but demurred when they urged us to buy another. hamza was very gracious and made it clear we weren't being pressured to buy anything. back in the medina he took us past his friend's perfumerie. here i got suckered into buying some argan oil (which i'm positive was incredibly overpriced, but we wanted to be nice). in fact it was apparently so overpriced that they threw in some perfume oils, which i appreciated.

cafe mrabet still life

here hamza left us and we explored the souqs on our own for a bit before it was about lunchtime. we were in the middle of the medina and - miracle of miracles - actually found a restaurant open and had a proper meal. our host had recommended el ali cafe and it was indeed very nice - clearly where folks have business lunches or rich housewives come for a break. we had a 'brik au thon' (flaky fried pastry with egg and tuna) along with 'briwettes' with shrimp, almost like an eggroll but perfectly fried in flaky dough. for our entree we shared a plate of what was essentially tunisian bolognese. it was huge and quite tasty, with a bit more red pepper than the italian version. from lunch we wanted to pop into the mosque but (once we eventually found the door on the giant structure) were told it was closed for prayers. logical, since it was still around lunchtime. we were told to come back at 2.15. to pass the time we stopped in some more souqs and took a little break at the historic cafe mrabet, with its landmark red-and-green painted columns. people were stretched out, lounging over shishas and lemon drinks. we got lemonade with mint and shisha although eventaully all the smoke (from cigarettes as well) started to give me a headache.

i like any place that gives tiles their due

we left and went by the mosque again - closed for prayers, we were told. (really??) we swung by the airbnb to drop off our purchases and use the wifi (we had the password, finally!) only to discover that the internet wasn't working. still, we tried to find our way to the sidi qasim zelliji zawiya - a mausoleum for a famous tilemaker. anyone who knows me knows this is right up my alley. we had vague directions and between that and the map on my phone we were eventually able to find the place, but not without getting turned around several times. there was actually a little workshop going on so we were able to see some artisans at work and the small place itself was indeed covered with tiles as promised. from here we figured we'd have enough time to get to the bardo museum before it closed at 4.30. the cab ride took about 15 minutes so we got there at around 3.45... only to discover the museum actually closed at 4. argh! definitely a disappointment missing that. we got out of the cab here, figuring we could hop on the metro instead. well this turned out to be a mistake. the metro came to a halt before we had even made it one stop. it finally did move again but at a snail's pace. instead of taking it all the way to the main transfer point we got off and grabbed a taxi to the station where we could get on the local train for carthage. all of this took nearly an hour.

one of the crowded punic cemeteries we explored

eventually we did make it to carthage. JR had found a few more sites he wanted to try to see. one was something called a trophet, which as far as we can tell is a place used for child sacrifice, a practice done in the punic religion. it was walled off with a little guard station but we were able to walk right in and see the little chambers and stones, whose purpose we could only guess at (there was no signage, naturally). we walked on, the sea just to our left, and passed a number of other ruins that we admired through the iron bars that walled them off. JR still really wanted to see the american cemetery though, realizing that not much or any of it may be visible. after a lot of walking we did find it, discovering that it was closed (although it was unclear if we would have been able to enter even if it hadn't been). unfortunately the big wall around it made it virtually impossible to see any of it. from here we tramped through a large field (full of snail shells, we noticed) in search of the nearest train station. figuring we'd rather get a meal rather than head back to tunis and be disappointed, we set off again for the touristy town of sidi bu said. we went up the now familiar main drag and settled on the place we'd been to the night before because at least we knew they had food and a view. here we had a a panini and a waffle with nutella (basically your universal tourist fare) and of course enjoyed our last shisha of tunisia. we lingered over our drinks as the night grew darker and just enjoyed each other's company. before leaving the town we popped in a few of the souvenir shops to get some gifts and spend some of our last tunisian dinars.

so, all in all, we learned that things tend to take longer than expected in tunisia. we certainly made some mistakes and if we'd had it to do over again we definitely would have done some things differently. but overall we enjoyed a beautiful new country together and i'm so glad JR got to see a different part of the world.