Curfews Away ... Now Time To Play

A Trip To Dougga "Thugga" - Another Ancient Roman Ruin
Not far from Tunis, a few hours drive west of the capital is one of the better preserved Roman Ruins.  Perhaps not as much exposed land mass as Oudna, but the walls that are still standing are higher and in many cases better preserved.

I particularly liked this one ... really shows the concept of the "keystone".  This arch still very much intact and looking every bit as strong as when it was built a few thousand years ago.  Not too many Canadian buildings could hope to boast that architectural feat!

It was very hot on the day of our visit +40 degrees Celsius!  So we didn't stay long and mostly sought out the shade.  Especially since we had Misha with us.  But we couldn't resist a few shots with Misha ... this one is our attempt at her being the "head" of this otherwise "beheaded" statue.  I guess we really are becoming that "pet dog has replaced the kids" couple ...

Finally, I couldn't resist a shot of the "communal toilet".  This bathroom had ~ 12 toilet spots, set around in a semi-circle and close enough for easy conversation with your fellow bathroom mates.  I wonder how much Roman planning happened in this very spot?  All very civilized, complete with running water and even remnants of ceramic pipes showing that they had hot water!

Here's a close up of those ceramic pipes which would have provided heated water.  They had underground passages where apparently fires were lit to heat up the water and then were piped to the baths, etc.

Curfews and Cockroaches

This from a local news report:
"Tunisia’s state news agency TAP announced a curfew for 8 governorates to take effect at 9 PM and last until 5 AM....The curfew was announced at eight o’clock, leaving precious little time for citizens to clear the streets. It also came immediately after Khaled Tarrouche, spokesperson for the Minister of the Interior, declared in a press conference on national television that there would not be a curfew, though one would be implemented in the coming days if unrest continued.  The curfew applies to areas that saw violent protests last night, possibly in connection to an art exhibition considered blasphemous by religious conservatives."

Can you find Tunis?

I had just arrived with a few friends to our monthly book club meeting, totally unaware that there was a curfew (in fact it was announced just 30 mins after we arrived).  Not real familiar with the area, I had arranged for a driver to come pick me up ... having now to make that time many hours earlier than originally planned.  I decided to make things easier for the driver by walking down the quiet residential street so it would be easier for him to find the address.  Needless to say, it was dark, I'm feeling slightly on-edge (being my first Tunisia curfew experience) and in unfamiliar territory.  As I look down at the road, I notice that it appears to be moving!  On closer inspection, I could see that it was a bunch of Cockroaches!  And I'm wearing sandals!  To heck with the curfew, I was totally freaking out by the cockroaches!!!!  Some poor fellow passed by me and I'm sure he thought the this curfew was likely caused by "yours truly", based on my totally crazy behaviour.  Well by the time I finished my freak out, and ran to the end of the road way, I kind of lost track of where I was (off coarse again) and had to have one of my lady friends accompany the driver to come find me.  Needless to say, all ended well ... we all got home in time ... with no further incidents.


Today all seems quiet and normal.  Went to the gym, coffee with a friend and then some shopping at the local fruit/vegetable market.  Not noteworthy in itself, but just to show that we keep hearing about protests, etc ... but nothing seems to be affecting our day to day lives here.  We are being cautious, but are going about our lives just as we would be otherwise.

Return to Tunis - June 2012

It's hard to believe that it's been the better part of 7 weeks since I was last in Tunis!  And that time sure flew by.  Roy & I managed to get a week at the cabin on Sidney Island and then I was able to have a few weeks in Sidney but otherwise spent most of the time in Calgary.  That meant being able to spend quite a bit of time with my mom and the kids.  Mostly Jessica though as Stephen had to head up to Fort McMurray for his summer job this year.

Landing at Carthage Airport, Tunis

The weather here in Tunis is already very hot, today's high will be +38 degrees!  So we are more thankful than ever to be so close to the water.  There seems to be always a breeze blowing in off the ocean and we get to benefit not only by hearing the sound of the waves hitting shore, but the cooling effect.  I think it will be much easier to pass the summer in our current home versus last year at the apartment.