Lion's Club Visit to Zaghouan

Last weekend we were invited by some friends to join with the local area's Lions Club to visit a Berber community located near Zaghouan.  Located south of Tunis, this area is quite picturesque ... very green, hills, and lots of historical points of interest.

We feel very fortunate to have been invited along, and as the saying goes ... became an "accidental tourist".  Hard to believe so much could be packed in one day!

Some highlights were viewing the ancient Roman Aquaduct system along the roadside.  These "ruins" are actually in pretty good shape considering their 3,000 years age!  And literally go on for miles ....

After visiting the Berber community there, we returned to Zaghouan to join together for a traditional Tunisia meal.  Even though this was lunch, there were so many courses I lost count.  And yes, there was a couscous dish as one of the courses.  Dangerously delicious :)

I've been playing around with some movie maker software - so here's my little movie "photo" album of this part of the afternoon:

Return Visit to London- Nov 11 - 14, 2011

London is soooo close!  It takes awhile to get used to the idea that the European destinations are close, have reasonably priced airfare and convenient access from Tunis.  So off we went for a "long weekend" holiday to London!  Great to have some familiar food again, hear English spoken and to be a pedestrian in a pedestrian friendly city .... yes, compared to Tunis, London is much more pedestrian friendly.

 
And then of course is shopping.  I'm like a little kid in a candy shop after the minimal shopping and selection opportunities in Tunis.  For example, after weeks of searching in Tunis for bed linen with the correct sizing for our bed, I had virtually given up.  Then in London ... not only was the size I was searching for available, there were virtually hundreds of design/colours to choose from!  Now I must admit, Roy was not nearly as excited as I was, but yohooo, I was over-the-top thrilled!  So we successfully found some bed linen and while Roy had the task of carting this very heavy load back to the hotel, I amused myself with yet some more shopping.

That's the "Earl of Chesterfield", the namesake of the hotel we stayed at.  A nice little spot very close to the heart of London.  We were able to walk to everything and luckily, the weather was terrific making being outside very possible.  

We also visited the Wax Museum.  Stephen, this pirate photo is for you ... may we be invited onto your pirate ship now?  Lots of pieces to LQQK at, but I guess my favourite was the "Three Wise Men" (Einstein, Stephen Hawking and of course-Roy).

Pirates for a Day

The Three Wise Men

Beautiful "Fall" Days

Our days have settled into a routine with Roy heading off to work for the day and Misha & I going for a nice long walk.  The seawall at Berges du Lac, the community in Tunis where we are living, is quite large and an hour walk probably just covers about half of it.  I took this video yesterday:

Very hard to believe it's November!  Although I'm told it will get much colder, for now we are very much enjoying the + 22 - 24 degree weather during the day.  Misha does get a fair number of reactions from the locals.  Dog ownership is not that common and we have found many Tunisian's are actually afraid of dogs ... even this "scary" Misha.  My guess is that they will be even more concerned when they see me walking Misha in the rain, when I've got her decked out in her Martha Stewart doggy jacket :)