Today was a momentous day for Emerson. With our landing in Tunisia, she’s made it to all seven continents–a little after her fourth birthday. Of course, it’s doubtful that she’ll remember most of them at any level of detail. But, I had a goal of getting her to all seven prior to her going off to college, and we had the means/ability to pull it off now (which might not be possible in the future — who knows?). So, if we can do it again when she’s a bit older: great! If not, she’ll at least have the knowledge (and photos) that she’s done it once and hopefully will have a sense of being a citizen of our relatively small world.
Now, on to Tunisia…
Not knowing exactly what to expect, we opted for an organized shore excursion. Most were variations on similar themes, but we picked one that visited the remains of Carthage and a village called Sidi Bou Said.
The area that was ancient Carthage is now mostly buried under a fairly upscale suburb of Tunis. What’s more, much of it (especially after the Punic period) was hauled away and reused to build later settlements. As a result, the sights are relatively modest in scale and scope, though the Roman baths and water reservoirs were relatively impressive. The baths were also situated ideally overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
Sidi Bou Said is a picturesque village located on a hillside along the coast of the Mediterranean. While it doesn’t have any individually “must see” sights, the town itself is generally a pleasure to experience. Although, I suspect some may be turned off by the somewhat aggressive street vendors hawking their wares (they’re more pushy than those in say the Caribbean, but far less so than the “gold medalists of touting” found in Egypt).
Overall, we liked Tunisia. It was a better experience than Egypt; less enjoyable than the UAE and Oman. But, I’d certainly return there again… I’ll be interested in seeing how their fledgling “true democracy” grows in the coming years. I hope it works out well for them.
Today’s box score: +1 country (Tunisia)