Tunisia Travels

Monday we transferred to the El Mouradi Palace about a twenty minute hike from Port El Kantaoui. We went from four star all-inclusive to five star half-board. I question the five stars. The resort is huge and appears to be an older hotel, with smaller rooms, smaller chairs, smaller lobby (although just as elegant) and smaller pool. The Internet is slow and costs eight dollars an hour, so we will be off the grid much of the time. We were spoiled with all-inclusive free internet.
We no longer get free drinks and the port is the only place to get wine so our first priority was established. On our two kilometre walk, it became clear we were going in the right direction. Trails of tourists returned dangling plastic bags heavy with wine bottles. The “nouveau old” port funded by Kuwaiti money is clean and touristy, also a great destination for a barefoot walk on the beach.

It is a tough life, however we appreciate the variation in buffet food, as well as the twenty kilometres of beach and our easy access to the stretch of sugary sand.

Nearby Sousse is a delight. It cost less than 50 cents to get there by bus. The medina, though not as big as the one in Tunis, is full of interesting sights including the Ribat (an ancient fort of 859 vintage), the great Mosque, Turkish baths, an elegant old home converted into a museum, minarets- traditional square Tunisian brick and one fancy Turkish octagon- and of course shops and shops and salesmen. We’re not reacting so they’re having more trouble pegging our nationality to advance their sales pitch.

Tunisia Travels

On our quest to find the real Tunisia, we took some interesting tours. Travels to the temple of Minerva and ancient Dougga exposed us to the countryside, small towns and Roman ruins complete with aqueducts built over two thousand years ago and still functioning. In a van with driver, guide, and one other couple we covered over 450 kilometres in one day. We passed miles of olive groves, wheat fields resplendent in the green of early spring, rugged mountains gouged by marble quarries. Off the main highway, the back roads are rough. And you thought Winnipeg had potholes! The roads are shared by cars, trucks, sheep and people on donkeys. Some rode side-saddle while talking on a cell phone!

Every town large or small has one or more mosques with tall minaret standing above the other buildings. The first call to prayer I heard gave me the shivers.

Our next tour was with a “large group” to the remains of ancient Carthage, and the pretty tourist town Sidi Bousaid. Well.... although it did not improve our opinion of large bus tours, we did see some interesting ancient artifacts, museums and more tourist areas.

My favorite tour was the one we did on our own.
We figured out how to take the people’s transportation, the bus, to Tunis. Walking out of the bus station we were hijacked by a friendly cab driver who took us to the “Champs Elysee” of Tunis near the great Medina. This main street is very European with coffee shops and restaurants on both sides. But the real adventure was the Medina. It is an oval-shaped walled city originally built in the eighth century. We crossed the boundary from Europe into Arabia and entered an area of 270 hectares where more than 100,000 people live- an alien world. The Medina houses one-tenth of Tunis’s population in a maze of narrow streets, pathways sometimes only five feet wide, much of it covered. Shops- selling clothes, bolts of cloth, jewelery, hookahs, food, pastries, art, absolutely everything you could ever imagine- crowd into the narrow space. It felt like entering an ant hill or beehive. Thousands of Tunisians, not tourists, were shopping, selling, eating and chatting. We got lost more than once, but people always pointed us in the right direction. It was a great experience. We made it back to the hotel safely with smiles on our faces.

Spanish Costa Del Sol

Here we are on the road again. Actually much of it so far has been in the air. Winnipeg to Toronto: we spent a couple of days hosted by brother Georges. The highlights included visiting friends, eating, drinking, listening to opera and a fresh (cool damp zero Celsius, with a big wind off the lake, not the dry cold of Winnipeg) walk along the “Beaches” boardwalk with a great view of the Toronto skyline.

Toronto to Paris, Paris to Malaga, Spain: I am starting to like being searched and prodded. The personal attention makes me feel important. Both of us had our carry on swabbed for potentially explosive materials- nice to know we don’t look like innocent seniors. The seven hours swaddled in an Air France economy seat was the closest thing to tightness of the womb I’ve felt for a long time. To be fair, the flights were uneventful. Perhaps I should lose a few pounds before I succumb to economy travel again.

Paris airport is huge. The ½ hour walk between terminals to make our Spain connection was refreshing after the long flight. Compared to getting into the US, passport control was easy. Good thing we walked there fast so we could wait two hours. A pleasant and short flight over beautiful mountains and brilliant costal views brought us to Malaga. Easy disembarking with no customs (!), a twenty minute shuttle ride and we were at our hotel, the beautiful Sunset Beach Club in the town of Benalmadena. We were bagged, could hardly talk sense (that was Roland ), and happy to be here (that was both of us).

We stayed awake until 7 local time by walking and exploring then slept for fifteen hours. I haven’t done that since I was a teenager. (Since I never sleep more than 6 hours on a good night- it was a miracle- E) What a difference a good night sleep makes. We love our suite (even Elenore’s mother would like the high class marble floors and cleanliness) A full hot breakfast is included here. Half the fun of exploring a new place when you don’t speak the language is finding food. Mission accomplished, we found several supermercados . Supper for the next couple of days is handled. Did I mention that the local Spanish wines are delicious and inexpensive? Some bottles for under a Euro. I am a snob; I prefer one that costs 3.50. We have been here just over a day so who knows what delights are waiting for us.

Our first impression is that this place is like Mexico except cleaner and the buildings built to higher standards. Still Spanish- what a surprise.

We have been in Spain for a week and (as cautious as we are about jumping to conclusions) we love it. The weather has been cool with occasional sunny breaks. Although no blizzard, we experienced quite a rain storm. The waves on the Mediterranean were crashing on shore and it was a magnificent sight to see. The Costa del Sol of Spain has had more rain in the last month than anyone can remember. The tide has turned. Yesterday was clear and today is promising to be as sunny and warmer (18 to 20 degrees C).

If travelling is learning, that’s what we’ve been doing: how to shop for food, choose a good wine, get around safely, take the local bus, take the train, get to the nearby markets, find a bathroom, make new friends, get back to our hotel, build up your stamina walking, what are the nearby quality entertainment opportunities, what are the important Spanish phrases. Our first outing was a self managed guide around the old part of Malaga. It involved taking a bus, visiting the third largest cathedral in Spain, a Picasso museum, and an ancient Moor fort.

We have been following a philosophy of explore one day, rest the next. “Rest” often means lots of walking along the shore and exploring locally. Our next excursion was to Mijas, a beautiful white village on the side of a nearby mountain with a side trip to the popular Fuengirola market. After one and a half hours waiting at a bus stop watching everybody in Benalmandinas drive by in full busses, a British couple took us under their wing. We followed them by local bus to the train station, enjoyed a train ride to Fuengirola, and a long walk to the market. This is where the first disaster of our trip struck. It happened at a small churros cafe. Churros are fried bread fingers that you dip into a cup of melted chocolate. They had no more chocolate!!! In our usual intrepid way, we used sugar for dipping- yum! After touring the market our new British friends, David and Sue led us to the bus station to catch a ride to Mijas.

Well, it was cold and rainy. We had fun exploring for a couple of hours. Found a bus on our own, and made it back to our hotel before dark.

The next few days, we explored more the local area, some of it in the rain. Our planned trip to Morocco fell through, so we had to have fun here. More shopping, making friends, sea food restaurants, and a fantastic Spanish Ballet concert at a nearby casino. The Spanish dance troop dazzled us with sights, sounds and precision. The second half of the show included a Spanish trio with guitar, singer and percussion to accompany the dancing. We walked home after midnight, “high” from the event.

Saturday, Jan 30th, 2010
A sunny and cool day was perfect for the guided tour of ‘The Rock’ known as Gibraltar. Our multilingual guide chattered in English, French and Spanish, enough bad jokes for the whole hour and a half drive along spectacular coastline. As we approached our destination, I was amazed. Gibraltar looks just like the pictures!
The Spanish border police did a quick walk through the bus. We weren’t sure what he was looking for, but not to be outdone, the British police walked through as well, just to verify we all had passports. We’d been told many times to bring them and they did eject one passenger from the bus for trying to get across with only a driver’s license.

After the border crossing, we had a green light, so proceeded to drive across the airport runway. Yes, you read that correctly. Gibraltar is 300% bigger than before WWII because Canadian military engineers made tunnels throughout the rock for defence purposes. The runway was built with reclaimed rock. A traffic light controls vehicle and pedestrian traffic. As we crossed we could only hope that the airplane side had a red light.

We transferred to a smaller tour bus and an even funnier driver/guide. He would switch between a fluent made-up French, Spanish and a hilarious British accent as part of his impeccable English. The small bus was just the right size to squeeze through the extremely narrow roads. I am sure there was at least a centimetre on each side when we went through some of the tunnels. The tour was quick and informative. I tried to take some pictures on the move but was disappointed in their quality.

The tour’s highlights included:
Europa Point, view of Atlantic Ocean on the right, the Mediterranean Sea on the left with amazing views of the Spanish and Moroccan coastlines. Wow.

St Michael’s Cave, a damp cavern with colored lights shining on ancient stalagmites and stalactites.

Barbary Apes (tailless rock monkeys) who entertained us near the cave entrance. When they weren’t sunning themselves, they’d leap on cars or busses and even onto one poor frightened young tourist’s head.

Sunday Jan 31st, 2010.
A warm and sunny Sunday, our day of rest. Perfect for a bus ride up to nearby Benalmadena Pueblo for easy exploration, coffee in a picturesque square on the side of a mountain overlooking the Costa Del Sol. Well! We thought we had figured out the bus schedule. After waiting 45 minutes, we decided to walk. After all, how far could it be? It was visible in the distance however, street names in this town are hidden quite well and the map we had was useless. We asked directions twice and both times were told to take the bus. Up and up we walked. After two hours, we had our picnic lunch on a bench about three quarters of the way up. We were done, “let’s take a bus back”. Of course there were none, so we walked back down. Not bad, it only took us an hour, and very few blisters.

Monday, a new day of rest. This time we had a better understanding of the bus schedules, and there were actual busses. We had a great ride up, an easy exploration in a quaint pueblo, coffee in a picturesque square, and when we decide to return, the bus was right there. Sometimes the angels travel with you and sometime they don’t. When they don’t, stay home.

Tour of Granada

An early rise for a tour to Granada. Sometimes you are at the beginning of the pickup schedule, sometimes you are the last. This time we got the first choice of seats, however also got to enjoy going to other hotels for an hour and a half picking up customers. As the Bible says “those who are first shall be last” so we had a repeat of this tour on the ride home. The twelve hour tour breaks down into 6 hours driving and 6 hours in Granada. OK, no more complaining. When the sun came up we were driving through the beautiful Malaga mountain range. After about forty minutes the bus stopped for a quick coffee break. The countryside was even more beautiful once coffee cravings were sated. As we approached Granada, the snow covered peaks of the Sierra Madre Mountains shimmered in the distance.

Our first stop was Alhambra, a walled city built and occupied by the conquering Muslims from 700 to the late 1400’s. It was the seat of power. The Sultans and Spanish Royalty lived there so the grounds reflect a combined beauty and style of two cultures. It was exciting to stand in the room where Christopher Columbus was given his charter to sail to America by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492.
The place is so full of history and stories I won’t re-write them here.

Next stop was downtown Granada. How do you spend one hour in a city that is so beautiful and steeped in history? Well...you do it fast! We walked quickly through quaint narrow streets, found an ancient church and cathedral that were closed. Most of Spain shuts down for siesta between 2:00 and 5:00 pm, a fact which always has to figure into touring plans.

In our rush, we got a little lost and had to ask for directions a few times. We made it back to the meeting place just in time to catch our bus back. The day reminded us that as much as tours have their place and make traveling and exploring easy, they are also very limiting. Elenore and I prefer our exploration to be less structured which usually results in more adventure. Most places like Grenada deserve more time to savour the culture and atmosphere. The good news is that we have another place we would love to return to.

Tunisia Travels

Tunisia! We had an easy flight from Barcelona and a safe transfer from Tunis to Yasmine Hammamet. We are staying in the classy El Mouradi hotel with a view of the pool and mountains in the distance. The beach across the street is lovely.

Yasmine Hammamet is a ‘built for tourists’ resort town about thirty minutes by local bus from Hammamet. Kind of like Nuevo Vallarta is to Puerto Vallarta. Near our hotel there is even a “new” ancient looking medina (maze-like shopping area with narrow streets). It is clean and artificial, however it has real vendors that are almost desperate for business. It is winter, the weather has been cool and rainy, and the economic crisis here is huge with over eleven percent unemployment. In spite of the challenges, the people have been warm and friendly.

The culture here is different from any other we have experienced. The people are strong and passionate. Our challenge has been getting a feel for the many unwritten rules. The country is ninety eight percent Islamic, one percent Christian and one percent Jewish. My French and Elenore’s German are coming in handy. English works only as a last resort mostly with younger people. As polite Canadians, we are easy prey for aggressive sales people luring us into their shops by any means necessary. Our first week was an education.