Tunisia March 2010

Mary Leigh awoke before dawn, and shunned all primming and beautification techniques, in order to capture Tunis at sunrise. Just kidding, she seldom awakes before dawn and almost never shuns said techniques. This is a pic of sunset from Sidi Bou Said, on our last night in Tunisia.

Moonrise over a Mediterranean cafe near Mahdia. Credit Cooper with the photograph.

The American flag flies over the American cemetery in Carthage, one of several U.S. cemeteries in North Africa from Operation Torch. This operation dealt the German and Italians (as well as the Vichy French who resisted the invasion) their first defeat of WWII, and set the stage for the eventual liberation of Europe.

At first we were denied entry, as we arrived after closing time, but the director let us in and allowed us to tour the perfectly manicured grounds. It was late afternoon, and the 2841 crosses cast long shadows in the setting African sun.

When you are travelling in a foreign country, without a guide, sometimes the hardest thing to do is get out of town via the correct road. The secret is not caring that you cannot find the road you had planned to take. We couldn't find our highway direct to the ruins at Douga, so we compromised and took Road 3 (what's behind door # 3?). Though longer, we were rewarded by finding this Roman Aquaduct stretching down our road into the distance.

City on a hill. Roman ruins of Douga, about 2.5 hours SW of Tunis, on a beautiful spring day. Pictured center is the Temple of Jupiter.

Luke meets a new friend at a house/hotel where we stayed in the medina of a coastal town. The Medina Hotel was in the heart of Mahdia, down a short, narrow alley. We had 1 room, 4 beds, a naked light bulb, and a shared bath, but the location was good and the price was right. Our favorite persona there was an older Tunisian gentleman, who continued to wear a jacket, tie, and red Fez as they did in the 40s and 50s.

Fisherman returning mid-morning with the catch of the day in the central coast town of Mahdia. Note how calm and clear the Mediterranean Sea is here this day. Octopus is an abundant delicacy here.

This is a Tunisian cemetary on Cap Afrique, down the road from the medina where we stayed a few nights. A lighthouse is seen in the distance. Twenty feet to the right of the path is the crystal blue sea.

Enjoying some coffee and juice at an outdoor cafe on the Med.

Amazingly well preserved Roman coliseum of El Jem in central Tunisia.

We noticed that outside of Tunis, local butchers and restraunteurs would hang either a sheep skin, camel head, or in this case, cow's head with pacifier in mouth to indicate that fresh meat was availabe. I sincerely doubt that the binky "pacified" the cow's final moments at all.

Doorway in Kairouan.

Cooper does his best imitation at the Bardo Museum in Tunis, which has the best collection of Roman mosaics in the world.

After over a week of touring, ruins, sketchy food, long car rides, Tunisian bed bugs, and Hannibal's Revenge, the boys blow off some steam by racing 4 wheelers at a local park in Tunis.