Tunisia Impressions

We flew from Mexico to Tunisia via Dulles and Frankfurt, embarking on our feverish journey of bagging new countries. Tunisia is our first new country since Latvia in 2016. COVID was a sort of a wakeup call to rekindle our sense of adventure.

• Tunisia can be mostly gotten around on public transport, granted we are just trying to get the low hanging fruits on our first trip. The prices are low. The conditions are just acceptable, e.g. some of the train cars look as if they are the same one when the French left.
• Compared to its level of development, the country is rather trashy. Normally I love looking out of the window from the train, so many places the train tracks have become a dump, I'd rather close my eyes.
• The most annoying thing has been touts trying to get our attention to look at their shop, eat at their restaurants, buy a carpet, what not, as we walk down the street. Furthermore, quite a number of people (men and women) go around without regard to other people.
• Language hasn't been a problem. Most people have some French. When things get more complicated, there usually is a helpful person that speaks enough English.
• We found street food we like a lot, though half of the time we get overcharged.
• The sites have been good, e.g. the various medinas are a lot less tourist oriented than, say Marrakech, separate entries to come. However, the Bardo Museum (#1 in Tunisia) is closed, victim of a recent political coup, while the Carthage Museum is still being remodeled. The mosaics are incredible.

Nice country, dysfunctional system makes for dismal conditions.

Some food photos. First, Bambalouni (Deep Fried Dough).


Our "included" hotel breakfast.


We order a Malfouf (Tunisian Fast Food Sandwich). Tasty!!




Brik. An egg deep fried in a sheet of dough.




The main gate of the busy medina.


Just inside the gate is the former British Embassy, now a hotel.


Into the heart of the Medina.






Outside the Grand Mosque which is closed to non-Muslims except for morning visits to the courtyard. And its minaret




Eventually, we wander into parts of the Medina that are more tranquil.










Entrance to a Hammam (bath house).


Felters souk.




Former Madrasa (school) now a cultural center.




The Municipal Theatre of Tunis is an Art Nouveau gem from 1902.




Bonus. We order two Malfoufs!


Bonus doorways.