Our last few days in Tunisia were spent hanging around the city of Sousse and making jaunts into the medina, the term for the old part of the city. Sousse dates back to a Phoenician settlement called Hadrumetum way back into the BCs, and the city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From the hotel it is a several kilometer walk past the strips of hotels, and on our way down we stopped in for a drink at one of the dustier hotel bars frequented by local whiling away the hot days indoors. Here we made friends with a boisterous Tunisian man named Hamdi, who spoke only French and Arabic. I think I managed to give him the impression that I had a small son named after me despite the fact that I am unwed.

Leaving the hotel bar we reached the medina quickly from there. The historic sites are arranged at two opposite corners and sadly we didn’t get the time to go to the kasbah there. The medina itself is a good sized area consisting of labrythine corridors littered with shops and residences in short buildings that face eachother across the narrow alleys. A wall still rings this area, as it must have for hundreds of years. Our sightseeing took us to the ribat, what is essentially a garrison, that has kept watch over the city since the 800s. The architecture of the building was interesting though not ornate, and from the main tower we had great views over the city and out to the Mediterranean.

The next day we visited the Grand Mosque of Sousse, where I was a bit disappointed to discover that we weren’t allowed into the actual prayer hall, but only the courtyard. Unlike the mosque I saw last year in Cairo, Sousse’s is of an older and more austere build, heavy on stone work and also light on decoration. Katy suffered through cultural tolerance in a long sleeved shirt and a headscarf in the heat before we moved on to get her henna tattoo retouched. After that we set ourselves to buying gifts and shopping through the heart of the medina.

Shopping isn’t something I typically enjoy, but there is a satisfaction in haggling over the prices and finding something mutally agreeable, especially when one is aware that even that price rarely amounts to serious cash. Kathleen took to it like a fish to water, surprising I think some of the men selling their wares with her tenacity and insistence on low price points. Case in point was a small brown leather purse which they were selling for 45 dinars. After haranguing and threatening to walk out, the price was settled at 15 (roughly 11 USD), and it was another success. On our way out we got a bit turned around and an older man led us out, charging through the streets while speaking in quick-fire German about his time working at the Leipzig train station and giving us a briefing on his world views: we are all people, some rich, some poor, but all people and should not be fighting. Upon parting company, he simply shook hands and left. I expected him to ask for some type of tip, particularly since we had just been in the midst of a financial feeding frenzy whilst shopping, and his goodwill was much appreciated.

Our way back from the medina we stopped in at the hotel bar again to have a beer and get a break from the temperatures outside. The room itself was mid-sized consisted of low, horizontal furniture and men sitting around smoking. Our new old friend Hamdi was there and sat with us, bringing his friend Wahib over as well. For the next few hours we picked at almonds and had beers, doing our utmost to communicate with these two despite the fact that we had no shared language between us. It was great fun and ultimately one of the best experiences of the trip, topped off by the fact that they covered the beers and water for us. It was an unexpected gesture and underscored the general feeling of friendliness and real interest that I felt throughout our time in Tunisia.

Tunisia photo set