It’s been a while since our last holiday abroad, and so had felt the urge to broaden our horizons for some time now. After some typically efficient research on the internet, Mathilde found a pretty suitable option for a 1-week holiday in early March – Tunisia. It is actually only a 1 ½ hours flight from Nice (so closer than London, for example), with a price to match. We were a bit worried about being overrun by hoards of package tourists – but figured we should be OK, since we were travelling off-season.
So anyway, we jumped on the Air France flight, happy to explore a country unknown to us. The flight was eventless, as was the taxi journey to our hotel, a centrally located place highly recommended by Lonely Planet. Our first impression of Tunis was positive – it seemed like a much calmer and more organised place than for example Cairo, which we visited a year and a bit earlier. The hotel was nice as well, centrally located, cosy and with friendly staff. Having settled in, we set out to explore town – heading out to the Medina (the old town). As expected, it was a lively place, with people trying to get our attention from all directions, trying to get us into their shops, naturally. But it still seemed somehow relaxed and civilised compared to Cairo, for example. After a walk around, a coffee at Le Cafe de Paris (a real Tunis institution, apparently) and a 2 euro haircut for me, we headed back to the hotel room to get ready for dinner.
For dinner, we were meeting up with an old mate of mine from my mad year in Edinburgh, Oberon. Before we left, I realised from that invaluable social networking tool we all love or/and hate, that Obie was actually living in Tunisia at present. To cut a long story short (the long story includes me having told the taxi driver the restaurant was in Sidi Bou Said instead of La Marsa – thankfully they are only a few kilometres apart...), we had a nice meal, and a nice time catching up on old times. Nice to meet Obie’s wife finally, as well.
The next day, we decided to go all cultural and headed to the musee national du Bardo – justifiably the most famous museum in Tunisia. It gives a good introduction of the country, displaying artefacts from both the Punic, Roman and later Islamic eras. I was really impressed by the place. Normally these types of museums overwhelm me, but this one is an exception. To say that I became a fan of Roman mosaics during our visit would perhaps be an exaggeration, but they were certainly the most impressive ones I’ve seen. And the Punic mosaics weren’t bad, either. The size of the place is just about right; it took us a good 2 hours to see everything. Happy with our dose of culture, we headed back to central Tunis, this time taking a taxi, instead of the “light metro” (actually a tramway network).
We spent the afternoon continuing our exploration of the Medina of Tunis, checking out some of the less touristy parts of the old town and ending up at the Place de Kasbah – which is kind of the political heart of the city (the presidential palace is here, for example). On the whole, a very pleasant afternoon stroll (and peaceful – the Medina was very quite since it was a Sunday!) – the old town certainly has its charm, in spite of the fact that parts of it feel quite touristy. For dinner, the plan was to try out a traditional (=touristy) restaurant in the medina. So off we set, crossing the dark alleys of the old town. It certainly has a different feel at dark – with very little electric lighting, very feel people. And everybody who’s been to one of these places knows how easy it is to get lost in those alleys – so it all felt a bit spooky. And of course the damn place turned out to be closed – like everything else in the Medina on a Sunday.
More photos here.
So anyway, we jumped on the Air France flight, happy to explore a country unknown to us. The flight was eventless, as was the taxi journey to our hotel, a centrally located place highly recommended by Lonely Planet. Our first impression of Tunis was positive – it seemed like a much calmer and more organised place than for example Cairo, which we visited a year and a bit earlier. The hotel was nice as well, centrally located, cosy and with friendly staff. Having settled in, we set out to explore town – heading out to the Medina (the old town). As expected, it was a lively place, with people trying to get our attention from all directions, trying to get us into their shops, naturally. But it still seemed somehow relaxed and civilised compared to Cairo, for example. After a walk around, a coffee at Le Cafe de Paris (a real Tunis institution, apparently) and a 2 euro haircut for me, we headed back to the hotel room to get ready for dinner.
For dinner, we were meeting up with an old mate of mine from my mad year in Edinburgh, Oberon. Before we left, I realised from that invaluable social networking tool we all love or/and hate, that Obie was actually living in Tunisia at present. To cut a long story short (the long story includes me having told the taxi driver the restaurant was in Sidi Bou Said instead of La Marsa – thankfully they are only a few kilometres apart...), we had a nice meal, and a nice time catching up on old times. Nice to meet Obie’s wife finally, as well. 
The next day, we decided to go all cultural and headed to the musee national du Bardo – justifiably the most famous museum in Tunisia. It gives a good introduction of the country, displaying artefacts from both the Punic, Roman and later Islamic eras. I was really impressed by the place. Normally these types of museums overwhelm me, but this one is an exception. To say that I became a fan of Roman mosaics during our visit would perhaps be an exaggeration, but they were certainly the most impressive ones I’ve seen. And the Punic mosaics weren’t bad, either. The size of the place is just about right; it took us a good 2 hours to see everything. Happy with our dose of culture, we headed back to central Tunis, this time taking a taxi, instead of the “light metro” (actually a tramway network).
We spent the afternoon continuing our exploration of the Medina of Tunis, checking out some of the less touristy parts of the old town and ending up at the Place de Kasbah – which is kind of the political heart of the city (the presidential palace is here, for example). On the whole, a very pleasant afternoon stroll (and peaceful – the Medina was very quite since it was a Sunday!) – the old town certainly has its charm, in spite of the fact that parts of it feel quite touristy. For dinner, the plan was to try out a traditional (=touristy) restaurant in the medina. So off we set, crossing the dark alleys of the old town. It certainly has a different feel at dark – with very little electric lighting, very feel people. And everybody who’s been to one of these places knows how easy it is to get lost in those alleys – so it all felt a bit spooky. And of course the damn place turned out to be closed – like everything else in the Medina on a Sunday. More photos here.
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