A Trip to Tunis - tentatively related to Saint Augustine of Hippo (Carthage is now Tunis)

A trip to Tunis

Carthage is now the Tunis area of Tunisia.  I visited Tunisia for work meetings around 2010 with a colleague.  We were not there for long, just a few days.  The first hotel we stayed in was nice enough, near the city and the souks, the food was good, the hotel was very elegant with a nice spa.  I indulged in a massage as they were about half the price of the UK.  It was excellent although I felt sorry for the lady who did it- she looked exhausted afterwards.  We then had a trip down to Sfax.

Tunis had felt safe enough, they are used to tourists and did not pay us much attention.  Sfax on the other hand, which was about a 3 ½ hour taxi ride, and was quite different.  We went to a coffee shop on arrival and were stared at, with people coming to the window to look in.  Walking down the street, we were shouted greeting, it was all in good humour but there is something about standing out in the crowd that makes you feel uncomfortable.  To top it off, the hotel was less than average, the doors did not lock on the bedrooms and it was dirty, so we changed plans and got a taxi back to Tunis on the same day and booked a seaside hotel in Tunis for the night.

This was another palatial building and very much a tourist hotel.  Saga holidays were staying there with a group.  Food was fabulous, in fact everything about it was nice.  It’s a shame we did not have more time to explore as I am sure the area would have been full of things to see and do, and I would have loved to have toured the souks but, as with most business trips, it was back on the plane the next day.