(Day 5: Tunisia, Africa) Our Trip Of A Lifetime: Cruising the Mediterranean

Day 5: Tunis, Tunisia, in North Africa !


We were up early to watch us sail into the Port of Tunis.

We glided past the industrial areas along the harbor... they were crammed with huge oil reservoir tanks ---

typical wharf warehouses, and several, large grain elevators.

After a quick breakfast at the Topsider, we joined tour group #35 in the Disney Theater.

Our group, with passports in hand, was going to the town of Sidi Bou Said and the ancient ruins at Carthage.

No... this isn't some guy trying to do a bad Boris Karloff "Frankenstein" impression.

It's just our tour guide for the day... "Ben" (his real name is about 25 letters and 7 syllables long).

Our first destination will be the Roman bath ruins at Carthage... so, after passing through Customs, we loaded the bus and headed through Tunis, the capitol city.

The streets were clean, bright, and colorful with many centerpiece sculptures scattered around town in the road medians.

It was only 9:30 a.m., but was already over 95 degrees F... and was expected to be over 104 before the day was done.

Now that IS really "Africa Hot"!

Yes... that IS a local citizen walking his camel down a public street... just like in the movies!

There were sights like this all over town... some very modern & some still primitive and tribal!

This is a cathedral-turned-museum that sits on a commanding hilltop above Tunis... more about this later.

"Ben" took us on a side-stop for a few minutes, to show us where the ancient Carthaginians had their "Battle Harbor".

This harbor held their military navy in seclusion... where the ships were protected and hidden from their enemies, but they could quickly row out to the sea nearby to fight when needed.

This is the Battle Harbor, a small lake that has a manicured garden island in the center... the island supposedly "represents" a cluster of ancient warships at anchor awaiting battle.
(You just have to use and stretch your imagination a bit.)

Back on the bus and we are almost to Carthage when we pass the home of an Ambassador to Tunisia (from some small foreign country).

This was a very nice, gated house and only a few hundred feet from the Mediterranean Sea shore... it must be a rough life, eh?

We finally arrived at the gardens and Roman bath ruins at Carthage.

History is full of the battle exploits of the early Carthaginians... some were glorious conquests and some were disastrous defeats.

The Romans finally conquered and destroyed Carthage during the Punic Wars of about 149 BC, laying waste to their city... but, they returned to rebuild it bigger and better about 100 years later!

That is when the Romans built the Antonine Baths (named after Emperor Antoninus) that are the ruins we will see.

Although only a few hundred feet from the Mediterranean, the Romans built aquaducts to transport fresh water from the mountains several miles away to use in these huge baths!

The ruins are huge and spread out over a large area (a couple football fields wide)!

Most of the ruins remaining are of the basement of the baths.

All of the above ground buildings were dismantled by the locals and the materials carted off... used to build other structures around their city.

(A few columns were later replaced to show how it once looked and give a sense of the immense scale of the Bath buildings.)

These ruins are amazing to see, feel, and actually walk around in!

The Tunisian Presidential Palace compound is located high on a hill overlooking the Antonine Bath ruins... and very well-guarded!

These are remnants of floor mosaic tiles in the basement... giving an idea of how spectacular and well decorated the bath floors must have been.

There were supporting archways all over the grounds. Remember, this is the basement level only... and they are still huge and complex!

Taken from inside one of the large, wood-burning ovens used to heat the water for the Baths.

From inside one of the many underground corridors supporting the Baths.

Oooh... can you tell I love taking cool pictures through archways and dark tunnels!

Kathy stands amazed by the unbelievable size and spread of these ruins!

The workmanship, carving detail, and preserved condition of some of these columns, bases, and building headers was awesome and mind-boggling! They are almost 2,000 years old!

These look like carved, stone cannonballs... well, kinda correct.

They are large, foot-wide, stone balls used in ancient Roman catapults to shoot at enemy ships invading their ports!

(These would definitely give you a headache if they hit you... or your boat!)

Broken pillars lay everywhere from the collapse of the upper floors... and, hey, more archways.

If Kathy had had a bigger purse with her, I think she would've tried to sneak this carved column base back home... for a backyard decoration!

An ancient mosaic taken from one of the lower rooms of the Bath ruins.

"Treasures of Carthage"... so the loose translation goes.

Ya' just gotta have the souvenir stands nearby for the tourists to take home a little piece of local culture and history!

After the souvenirs, it was back on the bus and off to Sidi Bou Said... a Tunis suburb that is a unique village of markets among "a sea of white buildings and blue trim".

Along the way, we drove past the heavily-guarded Presidential Palace... the guards there do not even want you to look at, or take photos of, the Palace compound!

These are some of the well-kept ruins of the large ancient Aquaducts. They carried mountain water for many miles down to the Antonine Baths, next to the sea.

Another side-stop "Ben" took us to, was the ancient Roman Amphitheater on the outskirts of Carthage.

Again, most of what is visible are the basement ruins, with many fallen columns, and the crumbling, surrounding outer walls.

The basement walls and passageways...

and underground water and heating tunnels...

and these rows of broken support columns give us an idea of the immense layout of this outdoor, sunken, Roman amphitheater.

Kathy's sun hat is at the original "floor level" of the amphitheater. Here she poses next to an elaborately carved support column...

and, yikes! ... the temperature is up to the 104 degrees they had forecast earlier!

A tall Tunisian Cypress growing in the ruins of an earlier Carthaginian temple.

This huge Catholic cathedral built in 1890... the Cathedral of Saint Louis... sits high above Tunis on Byrsa Hill.

It is no longer used for church services (since 1964)... and now houses the Tunisian National Archeological Museum.

(Kind of like "Where's Waldo"... can you find the "Mickey Ears" sign in the picture above? That's what we always had to look for... so we wouldn't get left behind at a tour bus stop!)

Which way do we go... Which way do we go?
(The English wording helps on this sign, BUT, not all signs had the translations!)

The "Eden Cafe" was our rendezvous spot after the walking tour and shopping.

The President's picture was everywhere you turned... apparently a very popular guy!

A 2,000 year old mosaic... in a local, tribal Prince's house that was open for our tour. The prince still lives in part of the house, while offering the rest as a cultural museum for tourists to see.

His house was interesting, but it was very crowded with several tour groups at the same time.

This is the panoramic view from the prince's rooftop. An amazing view of Sidi Bou Said's white buildings with sky blue trimmings. Tunis is seen spread out, down the hillside, and way off in the distance.

Colorful accent, tile pieces were everywhere... decorating walls, ceilings, floors, and foyers.

Another street that angles sharply uphill to the market area.

Tell me... how can ALL the streets go uphill?
I don't know either, but it seemed like it was always uphill... walking BOTH ways!

We were then given an hour to shop on our own in the markets and shops... THAT was a real eye-opener!

These were Kathy's favorite pieces... gorgeous, locally-made, hand-painted, ceramic bowls. Her favorite was the "peacock design" in the rich, traditional blue and white colors.

And the larger bowls shown here were really cheap, too (ha-ha-ha)...
at only 170 Euros EACH on "sale" (that's ONLY about 250 American dollars... EACH)!

On the negative side:
The shops were often cramped, dark, and jammed full of wares.

The salesmen were very aggressive and did NOT want to haggle over their sky-high prices!

We were told by the "shopping helper" on the Magic that we should bid hard back and forth with them until we got the item price down to affordable... that was definitely NOT the case.

Many merchants became agitated, pushy, rude, and even insulting when challenged about their high priced items... and some even tried to block our exit from their store while arguing over their goods!

Several others on our tour bus had similar encounters with the merchants... sharing stories of feeling bullied, intimidated, and even a little frightened!

Kathy and I only spent about 5 Euros on some cheap toy drums... we were prepared to spend 50 - 100 Euros in the markets, but with the merchants' attitudes and their high prices, we decided against it!

Tunisia is a fairly new stop for Disney Cruises. I don't think the merchants quite understand yet how to treat the tourists who they hope to sell their local products to.

Other than seeing the colorful and unique items for sale, our shopping experience in Sidi Bou Said was NOT enjoyable for us at all... and most others on our bus felt exactly the same way!

Yes... that IS a herd of fat goats being led down the street by a couple of local herdsmen!

After going through Customs to get back on our ship, there is one last gift shop for us tourists!

Near the ship, we saw a local man... "Teasing" his camel with a "Camel"! Holding the cigarette near it's lips and pulling it away... making the crowd laugh.

They gave 5-minute camel rides around the parking lot at 10 Euros a pop... and they did have many people lined up to do it.

As we went through screening to get back on the Magic, there was an impromptu 3-piece band that played some local music for us... at the drop of a Euro or two, of course.

We were greeted by "Tunisian Mickey" who welcomed us back alive... uh, I mean "aboard".

We then went for a late lunch at "Goofy's Grill"... but I ended up at "Pluto's Stand" instead for a big fish-burger concoction.

There was a comical competition by the kid's pool while we ate... some dads put on tutus and coconut "bikini tops" and danced around in front of judges. The dads then jumped in the pool for some pretty un-synchronized swimming moves.

The dad in the Australian family we met earlier actually was the "Best Dancer as a Dad Ballerina" award !

Kathy stopped in the Disney Gift Shop on the way back to the room and bought a cool pair of white, "Mickey Islander" walking shorts to wear in Italy.

Afterward, at 6:30 p.m. we went to the stage show called "Villains Tonight"... pretty funny with typical Disney singing, dancing, jokes, and fanfare.

Dinner was held in Lumiere's tonight and we had a full table. The food was great as usual... Kathy had a main course filet-mignon steak while I had roast duck and... escargots!

Most at the table shared stories of their day-trips... and it was pretty much a consensus that Tunisia was their least favorite port they have ever been to... thus far.

Pat (from Philly, PA) told how she actually rode one of the camels in the parking lot earlier!

Belle and the Beast took a quick spin through the dining room during our dinner... he's a pretty big guy... but a sharp dresser!

Some sort of chocolate mouse thing for Kathy's dessert... pretty cute and tasty.

After dinner we went to see a magic show with Jason Bishop... he was young and super good with his amazing card tricks and illusions.

Back to the room and to bed by 11:30... (glad to be leaving Tunisia).

Tonight our towel-animal surprise (with chocolate treats) was a cute little... Turkey...
and our daily Personal Navigator discussed excursions into Naples, Italy tomorrow morning!!!

We are super tired, but oh, so excited about finally getting to the Italian mainland!