Tunisia ay 2019

We are in Tunisia with Matt, Caro, Lucas, Sophie and Oliver. After a 15 hour travel on Wednesday May 15, we arrived in Tunis on the 16th. The 17th we started travels to 4 different cities around Tunis. 

May 17th - on to Hammamet - La Kashba Hotel

It was windy and too cool for the beach. Even the pool at the hotel was a short visit. We walked the beach and went to a nearby fort. Waves were high.

Matt posing on the wall that bordered the beach. 

 Sophie trying to decide if she wants to climb the wall. 

 Kenny taking the picture. That is always a risk as he does not wear his glasses and we never know what the picture is really going to look like. 

 Waves are really coming in. Fishing boats along the shore and the lumps you see are their nets that are gathered ready for the next day. 

 A  street performer had a parrot he would show you and you get to hold. You take pictures and then offer him a few Dinars. ($1 = 2.99 Dinars).

 It also found it's way to Matts' head.

 And Sophie, while reluctant, was not to be outdone by Lucas. 

 Kind of a picturesque view of fishing boats. 

 And a good demonstration of the waves in the Mediterranean Sea.

May 18th - Kairoun, Tunisia - Looking for Carpet at the Medina. And the city of doors. 

Doors are in a variety of colors. The colors denote different cultures. White, Turquoise - Bedouan, Yellow - Burbur, and Brown.
Two knockers on the door are one for men and one for women to use. If there are two hands on the door, there are two families residing in the home. 
Most were quite decorative. 

This door had a passage way just the right size for Sophie. 

 Also known as the City of Pines, I was able to catch a picture of the country flag and the pine tree. 

 BougainVillea is plentiful. It comes in this hot pink, light pink, white and yellow. Some are very large. 

 Beach time is rest time for some. In the shade. 

 Kids came prepared to play in the sand. Dig holes and splash around. 

 Ollies' first visit to the beach. He was not sure about Lucas holding on to him. 

 Sophie is the dare devil and was willing to stand for the waves coming in. 

 Lucas found a cairn on the way back to our room. 

 Many of the flowers are the same, some are a different variety. 

And the market in Kairouan. Shopping for carpets. Looking at more doors. The streets are winding. A local offered to be our guide and show us around. 

 There is a third set of doors to the right. Far left for women to enter, middle for men and the far right for the kids to enter when it is time for pray. 5 times a day you will hear a loud broadcast of a Sheik leading the to prayer. There are 176 mosques in Kairouan. They are all muslim,  but some are African muslims and some are Arabic muslims. 

 It is Ramadan and nearing the time of day they end their fast. This group of musicians are celebrating breaking fast at sundown. 

 This is one of the entrances to the largest mosque here in Kairouen. We will go see it tomorrow. 

 Another view of the largest mosque. This is an African muslim mosque.

 Carpet shopping in Kairouen. They will unroll several carpets in various size,colors and patterns to see which you like. Shift through the stack to create a pile of ones  you might like and then tell you 'for today, I will give you this great deal". 

 And Sophie made a purchase of a new dress to fit in with the locals. She received several compliments for dressing like the locals. 
 
 Shots of some of the vendors in the market. 

 Things were inexpensive overall. But how many plates do you need, or blankets, or rugs. I did buy two ceramic squares that I will turn into trivets and a small rug small for a wall hanging. 

The largest mosque in Kairouan. Matt had to put on a robe because he had shorts on. Caro and I needed to have either our hats on or a scarf. 

 This is the womans side of the mosque for prayer. 

 This is the tower where the call to prayer is called out from. 

 The sundial in the square in the mosque. 

The second carpet shop. Matt and Caro were looking for two. This shop offered us tea and sweets as we looked over their wares. Prices were better here. See that small rug in the corner on the wall, wish I had waited and bought here and bought that one, but I didn't need two. 

May 19 and 20 - Sousse and two nights at Movenpick Hotel.
The view from our room in Movenpick.

 This is a video of us driving through a street where one of the markets are. People do not move out of the way, will just walk on by. 

 The coliseum in Sousse. It is the third largest coliseum.  

 A view from inside of the coliseum. It would hold 50,000 people for the games. Benches on one side have been restored. It is a Unesco site. 

 Games were gladiator vs gladiator or gladiator vs lions. Lucas is sitting  in a feeding trough in a space where lions were kept. They were fed enough to maintain them, but kept hungry for the games. 

 This is the hallway the gladiators took to enter the arena. 

 The view of the arena from the Emperors box. 

 The inside hallway around the arena.

 Another view of the outside. 

May 21, 2019 on our way home by way of Zaghouan, Tunisia

Prior to getting to the Aquaduct on a backroad, a man literally jumped in front of the car while Matt was driving. He stood there. He kissed the hood of the car and came around to Matt's door looking for money. Just to help us move along, Matt gave him 

 5 Dinars. 2.99 Dinar = $1.00

This is an olive tree, you see many olive orchards throughout the land. One of their big crops. Land is not very fertile otherwise. 

 Just catching some of the wildflowers along the way. 

 Prickly Pear is everywhere. In many of the Olive orchards, it is grown to serve as a border of the orchard. Several feet high and long. 

 The Zaghouan Aqueduct is a site worth stopping to see.  Here is a map of the area. 

 The Zaghouan Aqueduct or Aqueduct of Carthage is an ancient Roman aqueduct, which supplied the city of Carthage, Tunisia with water. From its source in Zaghouan it flows a total of 132 km, making it amongst the longest aqueducts in the Roman Empire. There were five springs in the area of the sacred fountain. These were in the area of the artificial terrace in their original, underground bed and gathered in a basin under the terrace. From this basin the water then flowed into the pipe of the aqueduct. As well as feeding the aqueduct intake, the basin also served to clean the water - while the water sat in the basin, impurities would settle on the bottom

 Just a succulent along the way. 

 Matt, Sophie and Ken making their way up the aqueduct. Caro is already up top and Lucas is somewhere along the side. 

 An arch at the front entrance of the Water Temple.

 The outer wall had a core of Roman concrete covered with coarse limestone bossages. This wall continued from the ends of the crescent shaped portico and was divided into 26 sections be engaged columns. In every second section there is a niche for statues, which do not survive. Opposite each engaged column is a full column, which together once supported a vaulted peristyle. The vaults are made of porous travertine covered in marble, while the columns are sandstone. The exterior of the vault was sealed with waterproof Opus signinum and left without further protection. The floor of the portico was decorated with mosaic. The cella, as the most important part of the building was built from limestone and clad in marble.

Below the alcoves were for various statues. Those did not survive the ages. 

 Some of the cut stone work. 

 Some pretty cute new age statues we found along the way.

Matt and the kids at the entrance to the Water Temple.

 Ken and Ollie taking a sit break. 

 After we left the Aqueduct, we found other ruins of the aqueduct as it lead to Carthage and Tunis. 

 Some portions were taller than others to keep the flow going based on the lay of the land. 

May 22, 2019 - Embassy Swiming Pool

There is a swimming pool at the Embassy. Matt, Ken and I took Lucas and Sophie swimming. They had a good time.

May 23, 2019 American Memorial in Tunis - 

We went to the American War Memorial in Tunis. We expected we would just walk around and leave. But it is attended and we got a guided tour of the grounds. 
Given I would not remember all of the details, I have included the link to their website.  Members of the Armed Services that died in WWII and fought in the Mediterranean were buried there if their families wanted it so. There are 2861 buried there. 

A large scale mozaic map of the course of the battle in WWII.

Tribute to those lost and never found. The last burial here was in 1974. They still find remains and make every attempt to identify them. USA is the only country who has done this. Families had the choice to bring their dead home or have them buried in country of their death. 

The one medal of honor soldier buried here. 

If  you want to learn more, here is their link:

https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/africa/north-africa-american-cemetery

Lunch and play time at the beach. 
Waves are chasing Lucas inland. 

 This little one Sienna, is a child of a friend of Caro's, She was so cute. 

 Sophie riding the rope. 

Before long we had a few naked babies playing in the sea. 

May 24, 2019 - Tunis Family Photo shoot

Caro arranged for a photographer to meet us for a family photo shoot. The first couple were by the photographer. Others were by me.
We are in Sidi Bousaid. A village and a market place.

Ollie not impressed by the Bougainvillea.

Lucas hugging a tree and looking for bugs in Sidi Bousaid

A few more of the photographers pictures.

A panoramic view of the Sea from a peak level of Sidi Bousaid. 

The marina in Sidi Bousaid.

Sophie practicing modeling poses. She poses on request. 

Sophie explaining to Grandpa how her cell phone works. 
It is actually an old apple phone. 

Ollie sharing a chin kiss with Lucas. 

And Sophie is not to be left out. 

A panoramic view of the coast. 

A walk through the streets towards the market. Notice all of the houses are white to reflect the sun. 

Sophie needed a Mommy hug. 

Look into a market space and they are on you to buy and give you the best price. Caro is a great negotiator. 

Lunch at Movenpick and we thought we were going to use the pool, only to find out the coordination with the Embassy no longer existed. That was okay as it began to rain. 

But then on to the Aquaduct at the other end. The end point in Carthage. 

Lucas found his way under the ducts to search for bugs.

Lucas found these beetles, they were all dead.
 But he has to investigate. 

Aquaducts in the background. 

A look at the aqueduct from back away. 

A long view. 

💓 Our goodbyes this morning as Matt took us to the airport. 

Caro made breakfast and we were off. 

Sophie said we could not leave. 

She stole my underwear saying it was hers so I 

could not get dressed. 

See you soon my loves. 

Off to Rome for a couple of days then home. 

May 25, 2019.

We arrived in Rome around 11:30. Tried to find our ride as they were to be holding a sign with our name. I should have taken a picture as there were 75 -85 drivers holding name cards. None had our name. Uh oh. But I found one holding our vacation arrangement company name - Avanti - I approached him. Told him our name was not "Jones", he responded Oh you are Burnett? 

yes our driver was stuck on the highway behind an accident and he should arrive in 10 - 15 minutes. Soon all was well. 

We are at our hotel. Have taken two walks.

Have a guided tour on Sunday and Monday. Pictures to come.