No more CAR!

 

Now I have to admit that our Volkswagen Jetta was truly a delightful vehicle – except, of course, for the trunk lid … but that notwithstanding, our little VW drove beautifully, I SOOO enjoyed the manual transmission, and it was an amazing way to experience Tunisia.  That all being said, I have to admit that I was rather relieved to drop it off successfully this afternoon at the airport … and it was a great thing that we did, too!  We have never really come across an airport before that had absolutely NO “RENTAL CAR RETURN” signage.  And of course, I hadn’t asked when we picked up the car!  I guess I just figured that when we needed to know, it would be there!  WRONG!  

 

So … to start with the day.  We were up about 5 am, and down to breakfast about 8.  As the first site we were going to was only about an hour’s drive away, and we didn’t want to arrive too early, R worked a bit, and I read my book for a while.  Out about 9:30 and truly, not too bad morning traffic for Tunis; I was very pleasantly surprised!

 

The huge and amazing Roman aqueduct!

We navigated out of town and took the A1 heading south, getting off in a few miles to head toward Thuburbo Majus, our first site for the day.  Oh!  I’m forgetting!  Along the way, we ran into the HUGE Roman aqueduct that we had also wanted to see!  There it was, following the road – for probably at least a mile – it even had a 45 degree turn at one point, and then went from overhead to underground, which apparently the Roman engineers did, depending on the landscape, which makes great sense!  

 

We arrived at Thuburbo to find an actual tour bus already there (it was about 10:30 am) but fortunately for us, they were leaving and we were just arriving!  Thuburbo Majus occupies a hilltop location about 60 km south of Tunis.  It covers some 40 hectares, and was founded by Emperor Augustus as a colony for veterans in AD 27.  The town itself grew to between 7,000 and 12,000 inhabitants by the 2^nd C. AD.  There is a beautiful Capital that dominates the ruins and gives it an imposing position looking over the town.  Six fluted Corinthian columns, four of which are still standing at 8.5 meters tall, give it a beautiful profile!  Unfortunately, the majority of the mosaics have been taken to the Bardo Museum in Tunis, so there aren’t many small artifacts still to see today, but there are plenty of places to walk around and through.  Interestingly enough, there are both Summer and Winter baths!  I’ve never heard of anyplace having both – and I’m not exactly sure what the difference is, other than one was larger than the other – but then not being Roman, what do I know?

 

An incredible site!

View of the Capital with incredible columns!

Palestra - outdoor exercise area

Beautiful carving in the Palestra

These snails were everywhere!

Entry gate; formerly 3 arches

Temple to Baalit, a Punic Goddess!

Ruins of a former Byzantine Basilica

DATES!

Fortunately at this site, unlike Dougga, many of the temples and structures were identified, which was lovely, in Arabic, French and in English!  There was additionally a temple of Baalit, a Punic goddess who apparently somehow slipped into Roman mythology somehow.  Who knows how these things happen??

 

I did have an interesting experience, when one of the workmen on site offered some what looked to be ancient Roman coins to me!  Not wishing to ever be caught with antiquities without paperwork, I politely thanked him, though, and declined the offer to purchase.  

 

One note that I’d like to make here, is that Tunisian people, we have found, are very un-pushy, unlike their counterparts in Egypt!  Anyone who has visited Egypt knows that for the most part, those folks just do not know how to take NO for an answer.  In Tunisia, however, if someone wants to help, or ask if you’d like them to guide you through a site, and you politely respond Non, merci! they understand, and don’t bother you again.  Much more pleasant than Egypt, I assure you!

 

So … from Thuburbo Majus, we had planned to head to Oudna and the aqueduct – but fortunately we had already found the aqueduct … because we never did find Oudna.  When Emmy, our GPS keep trying to put us on REALLY dirt roads – and I’m talking cart paths here, we declined the opportunity.  I’m sure there is a real road somewhere to Oudna, but we were never able to find it!  So finally, giving up entirely, we headed for the airport … which is where the fun really started!

 

I made it to the A1 okay, but got off an exit too soon – looking at the aeroport signs again.  That put me in definitely the wrong place, but R, the ever-patient and ever-forgiving was able to correct – until my next bad move – again, I saw the aeroport sign and instead of listening to my amazing navigator, I turned … and this time was almost the end!  Truly!  We ended up going down one of the most crowded streets I’ve ever seen!  We were on a street in a bazaar – stalls on both sides of us, and traffic totally stopped!  Must have taken us 15 minutes to get 3 short blocks, and truly, what a mess!  Finally popped out the other side onto yet another crowded avenue – but at least this was a real street!  And made our way to the aeroport – of which there was absolutely NO rental car signage.

Stunning view of the countryside!

Interior of the aquaduct!

 

R got the brilliant idea of just parking the car in the parking lot, and walking inside the building.  It took us a few minutes to process through the Departures driving area, as drop-off was going on full-tilt all around us, but we were finally able to get into the parking area, get a ticket and park the car … FINALLY!  Packed up everything, said Au Revoir! to the little car, and headed inside the terminal to find Camelcar - the rental agency.  And there they were!

 

Only took a few minutes to check in, but all went fine.  They sent a man out to find where I had parked and check everything out; reported back, OK!  We then caught a cab and in about 20 minutes were safely back at Hotel Belvedere Fourati, and into our lovely suite 209!  Yay!!

 

Now definitely in for the night!  I’m blogging, R has been working, and we’ll go up for dinner at 6 pm!  Whew!  Shuttle reserved for 8:30 am to take us back to the airport for our 10:55 am flight to Paris!

 

So, more later!

m

xxx

 

A few notes about driving in Tunisia.  First, it most definitely can be done, but it is not for the faint of heart.  If you are a rule-follower, this is definitely NOT the place for you to drive.  Nobody follows the rules, and if you try to drive like you do at home, it just won’t work out well.   [Comment from R: We think there are rules, we just don’t know what they are.]

 

Second, the horn is a very important part of the car; use it frequently!  

 

While the distances between places may not seem like much – 60 miles?  No problem!  You’ll find that it may take an hour and a half, just because of all the speed bumps and traffic circles, and the fact that you will be dodging cars, taxis, people, animals, mopeds, scooters and other objects constantly; weaving is what you do here, so stay to the left as you go through a town or village, as everyone else stops on the right.  

 

People actually stop their vehicles on the motor way to let people off.  People (including children) also cross the motor way regularly.  

 

You have to stay totally alert and focused every minute you’re behind the wheel, as you never know what or who may dart out in front of you.  I have never had to focus so hard before, keeping my attention quite literally within 10-15 feet of the car just to stay out of trouble.  

 

The speed bumps here are a killer, and they are everywhere!  I got used to them after the first days’ driving, but it took a bit and I hit a couple pretty hard.  Additionally, while oftentimes there is a visual sign saying they’re ahead – just as often as not, there is no sign or warning!  So again, focus is so important here.

 

If I sound like I’m lecturing, I apologize.  It’s just that I’ve driven all over the world before – except in Egypt – but I’ve driven in Paris, London, Rome, NYC – and have never really run across something quite like this!  Countryside driving was wonderful and for the most part the roads are fine – it’s just that there are so many small towns that you have to navigate through to get to the countryside!  Enjoy!!

 

Oh!  One other totally random comment!  Candy bars!  There aren’t any!  In the entire time we’ve been here, we’ve seen two Mars bars in the Mini-bar at the resort in Tozeur!  That’s in!  No Snickers ANYWHERE!  None of the rest stops we’ve visited that have chips, cookies, water, cokes, etc. have any either!  Yesterday I did manage to find a chocolate bar – better quality than Hershey’s, but that was about it!  Where are they hiding???

m

xxx

 

Just back from our last wonderful dinner here at the hotel!  Our starters were incredible – they keep getting better and better, and this time included some wonderfully marinated shrimp, along with some deep fried chicken – with an amazing garlic sauce that was SO yummy!  Would like to have had it for dinner instead of just as the appetizer!  We both started with the red lentil soup, and R had their four-cheese ravioli with red sauce tonight, and I had their penne bolognaise.  For dessert, R was presented with their special caramel “dome” which was fabulous, and I had their chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream.  Too stuffed to finish everything, but we put forth a gallant effort!  So sorry to say goodbye to our wonderful waiter, Rafik, who has been so good to us while we’ve been here!  Absolutely amazing!  

Amazing appetizers!

R's four-cheese ravioli with red sauce

My penne bolognaise

 

R's caramel "dome!"

Chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream 

Our wonderful waiter, Rafik!

Back to our lovely suite, 201 about 7:30 pm.  I’ve got us fair to partly well organized for our move to the airport tomorrow.  We’ve got a shuttle scheduled for 8:30 am, so heading to bed soon!

 

So, more tomorrow!

Much love,

m

xxx