Tunis: Around Town

We liked walking around Tunis looking at the many interesting buildings both in the medina and new city, this time as much as the last time.

However, we had to concede that, in terms of street food, Ramadan is a terrible time to come to Tunisia. There is pretty much nothing until 8 or 8:30pm when people come out after iftar. It was a good thing we had a very nice apartment kitchen and the central market had all manners of vegetables and fruits, otherwise we'd be losing weight: peas, tomatoes, fava beans, green peppers, oranges and grapefruits (Tunisia has the best ever).

However, we never bought dates (1st below). ;-)












One night we went out at 8:30pm and had a couple of bambalouni (deep-fried doughnuts). Tasty!




We wandered through the souks in the medina several times. The main "streets" were always busy.








One day we strolled around town, visiting places we missed in 2022, like the clock tower (1st below),the brutalist and closed-since-2000, Hotel du Lac (2nd), the Museum of Modern Art (3rd), Villa Yvonne from the Atlas Obscura (4th), and a courtyard in the medina (5th).










We did not ride the tram this time.


An atmospheric courtyard in the new town.


The Modernist ENICAR Building and Clock Tower.


The Art Nouveau Azerm Building with its fish-shaped windows is under renovation.

Tunis: Punic Kerkouane

Kerkouane is not a photogenic site, but was inscribed by UNESCO in 1985. Since it was abandoned after the First Punic War, it is the only Phoenician/Punic site remaining today that is unadulterated by the Romans.

The site is well preserved enough to make out what could have been the prototypes of later Roman houses; center courtyard and finished floor. Furthermore each house has a bathtub and basin; an obviously prosperous sophisticated civilization, destroyed by Rome.

It was not a waste of time as I had half expected. I even had an epiphany - Roman won the Punic Wars over the Semitic speaking people, but in the end adopted Judeo Christianity, a Semitic religion. Maybe that's the reason Christianity never seemed congruent with Europe to me, because it is really Roman at its core: conquest, subjugation, and hierarchy, as the new Punic War wages on.

The first stage of our visit to Kerkouane is a 2-hour louage (long-distance shared taxi/van) ride from the Bab Aliwa Louage Station in Tunis to El Haouaria. Below is the busy Bab Aliwa Station.


We passed Rades Olympic Stadium.


In El Haouaria, we took a brief look around town, before taking a taxi to the Kerkouane site turnoff. I was surprised to see an old cinema with a mural of Charlie Chapline as "The Tramp". And we walked towards the famous caves for a look at the Mediterranean Sea.




A glimpse of the old ways from the taxi.


From the turnoff, it was a 3km walk to the site.


The compact site museum (below). Check out the downspout ornament (2nd below) and Aerial Photo (3rd)






As one enters the site, there is an excellent map with a marked route and a legend.


Our first stop is the "Sign of the Tanit House". Check out the terraza-like floors and the "Tanit Sign" (close up is 2nd below)




The house also has a distinctive, and very cool IMO, red "hip bath" that seems to be in every house throughout the site.


House Doorway.


The so-called "House with a Courtyard and Peristyle" located right at the water's edge, and its hip bath.




One of the two Public Squares in Kerkouane.


"House of the Priest" signage and another hip bath. ;-}




Remnants of the City Wall.




And we taxi to the Kelibia Louage Station, and take a louage back to Tunis; 2 hours on bumpy roads.






Video: Our Louage Hits Some Traffic Returning to Tunis.


360 video of the Kerkouane site.

Tunisia: Day Tripping From Tunis on the Train

After visiting Dougga and Bulla Regia as stopovers, we found ourselves with an extra day. We went joy riding on the suburban train, though it was operating at a reduced schedule for Ramadan. We first had a short walk in the Boukernine National Park, happened upon millions of wildflowers on the hill, and great views back north to Tunis, and below to Hamman-Lif







We then looked around in Hamman-Lif, which had been a settlement since Punic times, and was the "Saint Tropez" of Tunisia during colonial time, still evidenced by the Casino on the waterfront. Next, we stopped in Rades, another ancient settlement, home of a large number of colonial villas. There is even a church. At the time of independence, 10% of the population were European. Now I see they weren't all living in Tunis proper.

Hamman-Lif Casino, Beach, and Outdoor Market








Video: Our train from Hammam-Lif to Rades pulls into the Station.


Rades City Hall


Abandoned Catholic Church in Rades.


Colonial Villa in Rades


The Scene at Rades Train Station.