June 12th-Tunisia- (Tunis) & Dougga
We arrived and docked at La Goulette, the port cf Tunis at 6 a.m. this morning. This is the first time that either of us has stepped onto the African continent. Tunisia is located at the northernmost part of Africa between Algeria to the west and Libya to the east.
Because we were told that it will take 1 1/2 hours to drive to the ancient site of Dougga, we left earlier than normal at 8am. Only 16 came on our bus today. The rest of the ship's passengers went on the Carthage site & Bardo Museum outing. This was a very hard choice to make but we understand that all of the Phonician ruins are gone at Carthage and there is much remaining at Dougga to see of the town Unfortunately, we will miss the huge collection of Roman mosaics at the Bardo Museum but there will be Roman mosaics at Dougga and several sites we will vist in Sicily.
On the bus ride, our Tunisian guide gave us a lot of information regarding his country. I had not realized that Tunisia is the world's largest exporter of olive oil. Tunisia has 62 million olive trees!
We stopped for a bathroom break & some espresso about half way. The shop was totally empty, nothing on shelves. Apparently, this place is owned by the recently deposed dictator's family that was kicked out in the spring of 2011 & explains the lack of merchandise. In the west we call this revolution "the Arab Spring" but out guide says it's called "the Facebook Twitter Revolution" here.
One of the many roadside watermelon stands
As we got closer to our destination we started to see many trees, olive, apricot, eucalyptus, almond, Scotch Broom. Also artichokes... We saw many roadside stands with mountains of watermelons for sale. The fruit stands were full of apricots, cherries, peaches & many kinds of fruit. The dry grasses contrasted against the greens of the olive trees remind me a bit of central California in the summer.
I am so happy that we chose to go to the ancient Roman city of Dougga today. We saw what has been excavated of this town of an estimated 6-8,000 inhabitants. Though it took closer to two hours to travel there, we were able to spend over two hours getting a close look at the theaters, the temple, the extensive baths (with remains of the clay piping & mosaics), and many of the individual houses... We also saw the "red light" district and the public latrines. This is truly a wonderful site to see!
It was very hot today & I'm very glad that I not only brought my hat but I also brought along my umbrella for shade as there isn't much here. Even though we saw several giant cruise ships in port this morning, there was no one else at the site today except for the sixteen of us & our very knowledgable guide. I would certainly recommend this excursion to anyone planning a trip to Tunisia!
Ancient floor mosaic
We stopped for lunch at the Hotel Thugga Restaurant which is only about five minutes away. Though the salad, "bricks" & roasted chicken were delicious, the best thing was the dessert, a huge slice of the sweetest watermelon I've ever had! Yum!! By the time we were done with lunch it was about 2:30 so we all climbed on the bus for the 1 1/2 hour ride back to Tunis. Nap time!
We had hoped to be able to make a quick stop at the Bardo Museum for a quick look at their incredible mosaics but had to settle for a 20 minute stop at the Medina before heading back to the ship.
Tonight there was a cocktail reception with the Captain... just another excuse to hang out with some of our new friends & visit. Though we will still be on the ship for another day, the Farewell dinner was tonight.... which meant lobster & baked Alaska....
Menu for Farewell Dinner
Yum! Lobster! Am feeling very spoiled!!!
Vivian & I taking pictures of pre-dessert
The Baked Alaska on parade...
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June 13th - Valletta, Malta
Since we were not to arrive in Valletta until after lunch, we had our third and final watercolor class with Janet Walsh mid-morning. Painting this way has been fun & I feel like I’ve learned a little bit and I hope to continue once I return home. One of the main things I’ve learned is to not expect this kind of painting to look like a photo & that every one has different interpretations. Learning to blend the color is also where I need some more work.
The subject....
My interpretation..
Just before lunch we had our last lecture by Elizabeth Bartman entitled “Caraveggio in Malta” to give us some background information on the artist, his life and the famous painting that we are to see today entitled “ Beheading of John the Baptist”.
After lunch we took a bus up to the Upper Baracca Gardens, beautiful gardens with an amazing view of the Grand Harbour.
View of main harbor entrance from the Upper Baracca Gardens
Upper Baracca Gardens
From there our tour was on foot. We stopped to see the Grand Master’s Palace, then the Palace of Armoury and then we were lucky to be able to visit the State Rooms..
After that we walked to the beautiful Cathedral of St John which was built in the 1500s. This is where we saw the magnificent painting by Caraveggio of the “Beheading of John the Baptist’ and other amazing tapestries with designs by Rubens and Poussin.
Some of the rest of the group continued on to the National Museum of Archaeology but we headed off on our own to discover more of the city. We then stopped at a cute little bar overlooking the entrance to the Grand Harbour which was located just below the Upper Baracca Gardens.
We then walked back down the hill to our ship and were struck by the view of our wonderful ship next to the gigantic cruise ship next door.... wow, I can’t imagine cruising on one of those. We love smaller ships and the small community feel as opposed to the huge crowds & long lines of the giant ships....
After dinner, we were treated to a show of pictures taken on our trip. Very nice! They were put on a dvd and given to us as we departed the ship the next morning. Most cruise lines would charge for something like this. It also includes all of our daily program sheet and the list of our cruise companion’s email lists (those that wanted to participate)....
Last dinner- this time up on deck... nice!
Our great travel buds
What a gorgeous view while enjoying dinner
Tried the Pengasious fish & it was wonderful
Very sad that this cruise is coming to an end. Having met some very special people on the trip & along with getting to spend some great travel time with our friends Vivian & Darlene seeing some amazing historical sites, this has been a memorable trip!
Our room - 330 D
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