November 2, 2022 We finally got our flight arrangements. Leaving tomorrow and about 36 hours later we should finally be home. If everything goes alright, which based on this trip so far over the 2 months likely only has 50/50 chance of happening.
My last chance to eat the Tunisian salads I have so very much enjoyed. Ordered a three salad plate and it was fantastic.
I complemented Linda on how nice she looked in her sweater and scarf, to be told she wore the scarf because her neck was cold. When you are suffering the long lasting after effects of Covid how you dress is not for looks but for comfort. You can bet your last dollar she is one person who will really be glad to be home. Thank goodness it hasn’t effected me very much other than just at first.
November 1, 2022 Today we transferred from where we had been self isolating back to Tunis by car.
We were so glad today had finally arrived and we soon be heading back home.
It was such a beautiful hotel, but all we could do was to look out our window from our enclosed balcony and wish we had never been exposed to the Covid virus. And doubly so for Linda, poor thing.
Besides finally testing negative for Covid, even better was the hotel room we would be staying awaiting for our travel plans back to the states to be finalized.
Sorry for the blurry photo. Testing negative doesn’t mean you feel better, it just means you won’t be spreading the virus. which is why complete self isolation is so very important when you are positive.
October 31, 2022 It wasn’t any fun but had to be done. We had Covid but we sure weren’t going to come in contact with any other people and possibly transmit it to them.
Room service food, and with Linda’s condition she could only eat the bananas, rice and bread. It was not a fun time.
October 28, 2022 In the city of Kairouan visiting the Great Mosque and attending a home hosted meal.
Mosques are as prevalent in Tunisia as Baptist Churches are in the southern US.
The Aghlabid Basins, of which only two survive today were built in the 9th century to supply water to the Medina. They are 420 feet in diameter and 16 feet deep. Water was brought to them by way of a 36 mile aqueduct, then distributed to the Medina via underground pipes. Meanwhile in what is today known as Europe….
I’ll let the readers supply a title to this photo.
The old and the new coexist in this and most mosque towers.
Tile is what gives mosques their unique charm.
Separation of the sexes are fundamental. Here the men.
Here the women.
This little boy was so cute and all the group were taking photos of him when he entered. Also, note difference in how the men and women dress.
It was a different feeling among the group when was lovingly carried by his father when leaving after undergoing his circumcision.
Simple, yet beautiful.
The Great Mosque.
Two blocks with Roman inscriptions, the one on the left is upside down. To the builders of the Mosque they were just blocks of stone.
A vanishing point photo that doesn’t quite vanish.
Another reuse of Roman ruins.
Interior.
We met with this Imam who would supposedly answer any of our questions. Most of the dealt with why do the leaders of Islam never denounce Islamic terrorists. If you think our politicians are good at evading answering questions, I’ll tell you this man put them all to shame. The bottom line to everyone was Islam talks peace and respect but does the opposite.
Our home hosted meal was hosted by a three generation family who all lived in the same building. Brothers and their families on opposite side and the grandparents on another floor.
Best brik I ate in Tunisia. And when I told the sister-in-laws exactly that they were talking so fast I couldn’t understand them, but from their faces I knew I’d made their day.
The father/grandfather flank by his two sons. The sons operate a highly successful coffee shop and the family is well off.
Linda’s expression says how she was feeling today, but look what was waiting patiently behind her.
These two cats ended up eating more of Linda’s food than she did.
How you know you aren’t in Kansas.
Cat at a rest stop.
About every fourth jump it would touch the object of its desires. Never could time the photo to catch the touch.
Life in one of the villages we passed through as seen from the bus window.
Water is life.
More Roman ruins was on the day’s agenda. Linda has a thing for mosaics.
The tiles in the wall mosaics are small compared to ones in the floors.
Walking in the footsteps of the Romans an the streets they walked on.
Mosaics on the walls of a pool.
Temples of the Roman Capitoline Triad of Gods. Jupiter in the center, Minerva on the left and Juno on the right.
She always likes to touch the roman ruins. Though by this time she was getting very tired.
Some places beg a photo. This was one of them.
What can I say, I have really enjoyed the salads during our time in Tunisia.
One thing we noticed in Tunisia, and it might simply be the time of the year, but there were very few flowers to be seen.
This section of road had dried peppers hanging like this about every 500 feet next tot he road.
Our hotel room, little did know it would our place of isolation a day from now as the group moved on, and we spent 3 days and four nights, never leaving the room during that time.
Gate to the Medina in Kairouan where we were staying.
Camel powered well pump that was constructed in the 970’s. And no, it is not the original camel that walks in the circle today to pump water.
Rugs are a big seller.
Whether true of not, we were told it takes a month to create a rug on the loom like this.
Looking at all those rugs and constantly refusing all those best deal anywhere offers if I would buy one here, was hard work, so a brief period rest was in order when the salesman left.
