I've had to privilege of travelling to more than 30 countries in Africa since 1989, and thought I'd share a small slice of Tunisia with you today. I was lucky to travel often to the capital city, Tunis, many times, especially while the African Development Bank (AfDB) had its Temporary Relocation Headquarters there. I can't remember how often I went there, but perhaps it was a dozen or so trips between 2005 and 2010. Fortunately or unfortunately, I haven't been back since the Arab Spring was sprung in December 2011 in Sidi Bouzid - but the few visits I made in the months leading up to the Arab Spring certainly gave me a sense of the smouldering tensions there.
But today's post is not a reflection on Tunisia's political journey. It's to give you the slightest of flavours of the country's capital city.
First, a rainbow
Since you love rainbows and I'm lucky enough to be in the same place as them surprisingly often, I thought I'd start out with a morning scene from one of my hotel rooms. I'm guessing this is looking kind of west, mostly because it's morning and there's a rainbow in front of us - otherwise we'd be looking into the sun. The architecture in Tunis is quite Mediterranean, as you can see; most buildings are white.
A taste of downtown
Downtown Tunis is a mix of modern and more traditional buildings. Electric trams provide what appeared to be reliable public transport for the many bustling commuters we saw on our trips. The traffic on the main roads was nothing short of terrifying (although not as frightening as traffic in Tripoli, but that was just plain lunacy) - organised chaos orchestrated by the hundreds of uniformed young policemen directing the traffic at major intersections.
Well, that doesn't give you the slightest idea of how nuts the traffic was during the day. Again, if we go by the sun, we must be looking in a westerly direction here. We were staying in one of the major hotels about ten minutes walk away from the AfDB headquarters, so we got to have a pedestrian's feel for the place. Traffic lights often had mystery rules that we simply couldn't penetrate; those big roads tended to have an outside lane which had its own rules regardless of what the main traffic lights were saying. Suffice it to say we learned to "jayrun".
The souk at night
The old market (souk) was alive with locals and tourists day and night. This is the entrance.
Here are a few scenes from inside the souk and old town.
European influence on the architecture
As we walked down the main boulevard, we couldn't help but sometimes feel we were in Paris, with streetside cafes abounding on the broad sidewalks, and many examples of European architecture to admire.
We admired this beautiful facade, which I hope the architecturally literate Steemians would be able to say more about. Perhaps Italian influence?
The city is also home to a stunning cathedral. Unfortunately, as we were visiting at night, it was closed so we didn't have a chance to see inside. The interior is reputedly well worth seeing.
Food in Tunis
Delicious. Their typical pastries are often made with honey, chopped almonds and pistachios. Oh, did I start with pastries? I should have started with melons in season. Oh, my goodness. But pastries.
And I'm a fish lover, so Chez Slah was one of my favourite restaurants. You'd get an amazing plate of fresh tuna, harissa paste and fresh fennel leaves garnished with the most out-of-this-world black olives known to mankind.
Restaurants often serve Slata Méchouia as a first course, and cook with chermoula a paste made of combination of lemon, herbs and spices which is simply delicious.
How is Tunis now?
I haven't heard much about developments in Tunis in recent years, although have stayed in touch with a number of colleagues in a partner firm there and they seem to be coping with life. It's a city I would love to visit as a tourist and not just as a business visitor.
I'd appreciate any Steemians with more up to date experience there sharing their views on life in Tunis these days.
That's amazing that you've been to 30 countries in Africa. What a wealth of travel experience. Meeting different people and cultures. How exciting is that? Would love to explore Africa in future. Good post. Follow me for content. Thnx
Indeed, I've been extremely lucky. My experience extends mainly to capital cities, though!
Enjoyed your post. Follow me for content. Thnx
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Absolutely no idea how modern yet charming Tunis is. Curious as you are about what it is like after the Arab Spring. Regards my friend. Stay safe on your travels . 🐓🐓
Thanks as always, @mother2chicks! One of the biggest changes after they overthrew their nasty dictator is that their secular government became not so secular. Their business community was deeply concerned about that, not sure how possible changes would affect how they do business.
Any kind of pastries, my personal favourite.....and melons....yummmm!!
Interesting facts about Tunisia!
Thanks for sharing @kiligirl !
Ah, a girl after my own heart, focusing on the important stuff a country has to offer...FOOD! 😊
There is so much beautiful architecture in places like Tunis.
I'd love to visit somewhere like there but I've never really spent a lot of time in Africa.
The food and delicacies look absolutely delicious.
Great Photographs by the way! :)
Thanks, @arckrai, glad you enjoyed it. It was such an interesting place to work as it had pulled itself up from developing nation to middle income nation in less than a generation, and there was still a lot of traditionalism outside the cities. I'm curious how Tunisia is doing now.
Add tunis to your hashtag and maybe africa so people can find this awesome post :) Love it - and another rainbow!
I hadn't realised how many rainbow photos I've taken over the years...most are truly awful photos, but they were lovely memories. Thanks for the advice on tags!
I think ranking is key here from my 2 long weeks on steemit :) More rainbows!
🙂
U are welcome in my Lovely country Tunisia, I hope you Enjoy here, Thanks for this Good words about my country @kiligirl and i advise everyone to visit because it worth and so many people arround the world they keep comming each years because they Love it
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Great post. Amazing pictures😊 had no idea Tunisia was so beautiful. Seems like a place worth visiting.
Thx for sharing. Followed upvoted
Thank you, @saffisara! I'm still looking for the photos I took in rural Tunisia. What a stunning place, great to visit in spring was there are carpets of wildflowers everywhere. Of course, I was working....
Anyway, I'll post the few photos I do have either tomorrow or Thursday so you can get a bit of a sense of the countryside. It's an extremely diverse country, though - down south, it's desert. Apparently all you can see in some villages are satellite dishes poking above the sand, as the people basically live underground to escape the heat.
Glad I could share a little of this lovely country with you.
Amazing. I have heard of Tunisia many times but never knew what it looked like.
So u had to work, hope u feelt like u saw enough anyway😊
I will love to see the rest of ur pictures of the villages. Thank u so much.
Have a great day
Hope I can find the rest of the photos! The few I have are really work photos, but I can tell a bit of a story around them. Thanks for the kind words :-)
Ur welcome😊 looking forward to it.
Have a great day
Thanks for telling us about Tunisia. The story that you can learn about the countries around the world are always interesting.
Indeed!
😊
Hey @kiligirl !!
nice post and pictures as well .
upvoted
Thank you, @fatema!
Wow never heard of Tunisia, looks amazing. Will be adding this to my list of places to see. Thanks for the info.
Glad to have been able to share a bit of such a beautiful country with you, @orora 😊
That looks like a fun place to visit :)
Have you been to Vietnam or India? How does the traffic compare? :)
In a few days I will post some photos of the ABSURD (I mean really over the top) traffic in the "holiest city of India" to my blog @traveladdict ... the police don't even bother, they just stand back and watch.
I'm sure the traffic was nowhere near as scary as in India or Vietnam! Look forward to your traffic photos 😂🤣
It looks like a nice place to visit it make me think of the Indiana Jones movies.
😊
nice post thanks for sharing
😊
What i just see was amazing
😊
nice
😊
good experience
😊
What a beautiful place.
Indeed! I wonder how it's doing these days.
I love rainbow🌈
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Beautiful! This looks like a great place to go!:) Please check my little journey that I made soon. I hope you enjoy my photos. @nakedchef89
https://steemit.com/photography/@nakedchef89/bulgaria-s-ovech-fortress-hilltop-ruins-and-breathtaking-views
Beautiful! This looks like a great place to go!:) Please check my little journey that I made soon. I hope you enjoy my photos. @nakedchef89
https://steemit.com/photography/@nakedchef89/bulgaria-s-ovech-fortress-hilltop-ruins-and-breathtaking-views
@kiligirl beautiful and entertaining story! Landscape photos could easily be a desktop wallpaper :P
If you have a moment please review my beetroot soup recipe that I think may be interesting to you. It’s the best dish in the summertime :) Cheers!
Very nice post! Thanks for sharing!
😊
So cool journey, I just have been to South part and east part of Africa, I would love to visit Tunis one day.
Beautiful! This looks like a great place to go!:) Please check my little journey that I made soon. I hope you enjoy my photos. @nakedchef89
https://steemit.com/travel/@nakedchef89/my-trip-to-canada
I'm Tunisian myself <3 I love Tunisia
Great to hear from you, @lolcat. I grew to love Tunisia and Tunisians very much the years I worked there and miss collaborating with my former colleagues.
awww ,that is really touching ,Tunisia is indeed a country to love ,beautiful.
I have lived in many countries ,moved a lot , however ,you can't imagine the happiness I feel ,when I'm in Tunisia ...
😊😊
There's nothing like home.
indeed <3