Tunisia
Bab Khadra

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    • Day 4

      Tunis

      August 18, 2018 in Tunisia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

      A two-day trip to Tunis.

      Nightime. The spirit of Tunisia has already conquered me. As my hosts suggest, I must take the best from my trip and I suggest Walid that we should go to Tunis for two days. It is Friday and on Monday we have to be home for the Eid, the Day of the Sacrifice, a sort of Easter of Arabic countries and for the arrival of Hanane, Walid's sister.
      With AirBnb we easily find an accomodation in the Medina and in the morning we leave. On the motorway dozen of vans carry dozen of sheep to Tunis for their last journey...
      The owner of the house, Mehdi, in his Bermuda shorts pulled up to his stomach is very kind and talkative, he suggests there is a plot in Europe against poor countries to avoid they can develop. I think it over from this unusual point of view.
      The house is a traditional Tunisian house with the rooms opening up into a cosy court with fantasy tiles and tourquoise doors.
      The rain is la threat to our plans to see the Medina, Carthage, the dreamlike places at the seaside like Sidi Bou Said. We decide to lead to the modern Tunis, instead.

      Avenue Bourguiba, named after the first President of independent Tunisia, is packed with people and tourists strolling on the pathways. This place was the location of many political protests included the deposition of integralist President Bel Ali in 2011.
      I feel home, expecially next to the charming theatre shining in a golden light of the sunset.
      Neverthless, the attraction by the Medina is too strong, so we enter the heart of the old city through the Bab (old Gate) through a unusually desert suk, up to the other political place in Tunis, Casbah Square. This is where the Jasmine revolution took place in 2011 and the democratization of Tunisia has started.
      Thank you people, never give up.
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    • Day 5

      Morning at Medina (Tunis)

      August 19, 2018 in Tunisia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      Tunis gets ready for Eid.

      Finding breakfast in the Medina on a Sunday before a bank holiday is not easy: all bars and restaurants are closed. On the other end, starting my day without breakfast is not easy either. So while we walk amid the noisy crowd under a boiling sun I feel very uneasy.
      Walid maintains that if I knew the Arabic language it would be easier for me. I think he's right, it is a culture clash and the first expression of a culture is its language. I start to appreciate the ancient wisdom of Arabic culture, its care for people, the tenderness in the words, the understated compassion of people.

      We finally found a coffee, by the way the freshly brewed Tunisian expresso is excellent! A pack of biscuits and breakfast is eaten.
      The Medina is made of tiny streets and old porches, white houses with tourquoise doors. A stratification of architectural styles which reminds me of Napoli.
      I have to stop by the house of the Tunis Mayor, which by the way is a woman! One of the many contradictions of this country where the new generations live a conflict between their education and their inner aspirations.

      A kind carpet seller offers us a toilette in exchange of a beautiful hand-made berber carpet for my mum. In turn, we gain an oustanding view from his terrace. I am pleased my friend Walid has the chance to see alternative views on the city thanks to my physiological needs. But our smiling faces would stop soon...
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    Bab Khadra

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