Day 71: Medina & “Warmth of the People”

At the previous evening’s Iftar, we spoke with a Tunisian couple who lived in France and Canada for several years, and when we asked what did they miss the most while living abroad, they said, “the warmth of the people.” And we felt that today!

We ventured into Tunis City Center and Medina with a large bag of laundry looking for any open laundry mat. We found one, but they were closing in 1.5 hours. The father and daughter deliberated for several seconds, and they agreed to take the laundry in. We walked around the center and enjoyed the building designs and Independence Day decorations in the meantime.

After picking up the laundry, we accidentally bumped into an older man and apologized. He said, “cafe?” and pointed to two non-descript doors. We said no thank you at first, but Mary noticed he was wearing a Spock Star Trek t-shirt and she told him she really liked his shirt. He bowed, shook our hands, and said, “Cafe?” We had to say yes now. Little did we know the door opened into a male only Hookah den (which Tunisia is known for) with smoke and dimmed lights. We doubled checked with him that Mary was allowed and he nodded many times. We got some coffee and orange juice and enjoyed the beautiful mosaics, colors, and atmosphere. When we left, we shook hands again and departed.

We then enjoyed walking around the central market and watching the vendors sell fish, nuts, fruit, and vegetables. Everything was colorful and street cats ran around our feet.

Next we ventured in the UNESCO site Medina with traditional Arab architecture. Due to Ramadan it was mostly closed and empty, and this was right around Kieran’s hunger limit. However, we stood outside a restaurant and this man came up and asked if we would like to eat. We said yes, and they opened up the cafe and served us soup, salad, brik (fried egg in bread wrap), and lasagna. When we left, the owner gave us a free orange. The man then met us on the street, took us into his perfume shop, and we caved on a lemon message oil. Finally, he walked us into a carpet shop to see an incredible view of the city. We departed ways and said goodbye.

We ended the evening grabbing some chawarma and chatting with two German girls we met at breakfast. It was a wonderful day with memories and people we won’t forget.

Restaurants:
Maakoulet Echem

Food:
Salade Mechouia
Shorbat frik
Brik
Lasagna

Spots:
Medina
Tunis City Center
Central Market
Terrasse avec vue panoramiqueRead more