I don't know what I expected from Tunis, not much really, but something more like one of Peter's paintings I think, something a little more romantic.
We took it easy this morning. Our first coffee looking out at the port and then a late breakfast upstairs. We were finally ready at about 10.30 and caught the 11.00 shuttle bus into town.
I say 11.00. It was 11.00 ship's time, which was an hour ahead of Tunis. It all gets complicated, but apparently it was to make things easier for us. We just had to remember to keep to our own watches, and not anything local.
It's quite a drive from the port of La Goulette into Tunis. Long enough to work out I wouldn't like to drive around that city. It's pretty manic, all the cars around us were scratched and battered, and our bus driver regularly slammed on the brakes, causing us to be thrown into the seat in front, with a few bashed knees or foreheads.
The Tunis authorities seemed quite concerned about our safety, providing a police escort for our shuttle bus, and three guides, one of whom explained we needed to be careful. The only place for us to visit was the Medina in the centre of Tunis, and the guides really did not want us to go anywhere else,. They kept quite a watchful eye until we decided to go our own way.
The Medina is made up of "Les Souks", loads of little shops selling all sorts, but mostly silver, bright sparkly jewellery, rugs, and leather. It seemed to be aimed mostly at us tourists. It reminded us of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, with so many little streets off in different directions, little alleys and corners.
The guide showed us to a shop with a "Panoramic Veiw". This meant that we could go through the shop to the stairs towards the back and follow them up 3 or 4 floors. As we went up we were shown "the Kings Bed", apparently the shop building used to be a palace, and the bed was for the king and his four wives.
Then up more stairs, which brought us out onto the roof with views across the Medina and Tunis. It was an interesting view, but not really that pretty
What was wonderful however, was the rooftop itself. It was covered in ornate tiles of every pattern and colour, and laid out almost like a garden. Looking across the way, we noticed another rooftop set out in a very similar way, with others visiting. We enjoyed a few minutes up there, I was loving the tiles, but it started to rain, so we made our way back inside.
The cost of the visit to the roof was a few minutes listening to the hard sell regarding the handmade rugs in the shop. I appreciate the amount of work that must have gone into them, but they were not for me today. A quick tour of the shop downstairs and we were back into the alleys of the Medina.
We met one of the cruise lecturers, who told us that he'd been up on that other roof I'd seen, and how to get there. So off we went. Funny enough, as we went to climb the stairs, the guy there told us that the building used to be the Kings house, and showed us the Kings bed where he slept with his four wives.
The roof of this building was as gorgeous as the first, and had the added bonus of a small coffee shop, but sadly we couldn't take advantage. As we were up there, the skies rumbled, the lightening cracked and then the heavens opened. The water came down in bucket loads We considered sitting for a drink under the parasols of the cafe, but there wasn't a dry seat anywhere. We made our way down instead.
We wandered a little more around the Medina, but we were severely hampered by the rain. It kept coming in great swathes, turning the alleys of the Medina into little rivers. We tried, but we couldn't keep our feet dry. In the end our socks and shoes squelched.
So it was back to the tour bus. We tried to make it back during a lull in the downpours and failed miserably. A kind cafe owner allowed us to shelter during the worst of it, but we were still properly drenched as we made our way across the final stretch of our walk back. We'd missed the 1pm bus, but thought it would only be 30 mins before the next one left.
It wasn't. We waited on the bus for nearly an hour. In that the time, the rain cleared and the sun peered through the clouds. Humph!
The bus took us back to La Goulette and the ship. in the gift shop at the port I bought a ceramic fish tile thingy that reminded me of those beautifully tiled rooftops. I bought it at the port because it seemed easier there than trying to buy something in the Medina, although I admit that on the whole the Medina shop owners did not bother us. There was a perfume shop owner and a street seller that were both scarily persistent though, and they will stay as part of my memory of the place
At the start of the day, I really did not know what to expect from Tunis. At the end of it, I've decided I'm not that enamoured with the place. If we ever visit again, we'd probably join a tour for Carthage. But still, it was an adventure, with the rain making it an "interesting" trip.
It was about 3 when we got back, but they had kept the Grill open with a buffet, so we were able to grab something to eat, before going off to relax in the cabin.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. As part of the entertainment team, we have to have daily covid tests - so at 4pm we made our way down to the medical centre on deck 4. After getting the all clear I made use of the launderette, Peter worked on his laptop, and then we both spent time on the balcony watching, photographing and filming the Corey's Shearwaters the were wind surfing alongside the ship.
All is good. Tomorrow we are in Valletta, a place we know and like. As Peter sez..... "Bring it on!"
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