A free day to wander around Tunis city at our leisure was just what we needed. We had been travelling for eleven days and it was time to stop, rest and relax before our flight the following day to Morocco where we would be travelling extensively for another twelve days.

Breakfast was very welcome. We had not eaten for 24 hours and a long, relaxed buffet meal was just what we needed. Amr had apparently left to fly back home to Egypt but his colleague was staying on in Tunis until the end of the medical conference. Again, it was good to see a friendly face - and a hot breakfast.

We spoke with Ms Fawzia about our coming day in the city of Tunis and she recommended that we catch a taxi to the Old City, then explore the medina and souks before a walk through the main city of Tunis. She did not know of any exhibitions relating to the 100th year anniversary of artist Auguste Macke's time in Tunisia but suggested that we talk to the hotel concierge.

The concierge was very helpful but about ten minutes into the conversation I realised to my dismay that he was directing me not to an Auguste Macke exhibition but to "Maccas", as in a Tunis McDonalds restaurant! Oh dear, I simply loathe the notion of being a snob in any situation but alas, I would have to admit that we are true Fast Food Snobs and McDonalds is definitely not our style. We sighed and relunctantly agreed; it was time to give our Auguste a miss. But surely we would find his donkey in the medina...

Tunis city is divided into the sprawling old city (or medina) and the new colonial city (or ville nouvelle in French). The Avenue Habib Bourgiba is the large main avenue which runs through the city from Lake Tunis to the Cathedral of St Vincent de Paul where it becomes the Avenue de France which runs for a few blocks before it ends at the Place de la Victoire and the imposing Bab el Bahr (Port de France), the large standing gate which was once the entrance of the medina.

The old medina of Tunis covers about three square kilometers of the city centre at the rear of Lake Tunis. In the centre lies a beautiful mosque, the Zaytouna or Grand Mosque of Tunis.

We love markets and after two exhausting days of sightseeing, were looking forward to a morning of wandering around the Tunis medina and souks. Like most old cities, the medina was a maze of cobbled, narrow alleyways with shops offering fabrics, carpets, gaudy brass and copper items, teas and spices. The covered souks were however very disappointing and apart from the spices and fresh food, it was very tourist oriented with most of the shops selling what could only be described as absolute junk. Sadly, but probably quite understandably, most of the stall holders were annoyingly persistent, and in some cases almost aggressive. And despite it being a real "Market in Tunis", there was not a frigg'n donkey to be seen. It took us all of twenty minutes to decide we had had enough of the medina and souks and headed for the main city of the ville nouvelle.























The wide open Place du Victoire with its lovely fountain and splendid Bab el Bhar was a very pleasant place to stroll. Well, that is until we noticed that the entire city centre was surrounded by razor wire covered portable barricades and a very strong military presence. Camouflaged tanks and heavily armoured military vehicles surrounded the streets and expressionless, serious armed military personnel watched every move. There was no doubting that within minutes the entire city centre could be totally isolated. It was a sobering reminder of an uneasy peace.

Avenue Habib Bourgiba (often referred to by travel agencies as "The Tunisian Champs-Elysees") is lined with banks, cinemas, restaurants and cafes - and happily for me, a pharmacy. I had been suffering from hay fever and was in need of a nasal spray. It was quite an interesting experience trying to describe what I needed but eventually the pharmacist produced a suitable spray - which cost around US$20 and smelt vile - but did the job.

If there was high unemployment in Tunisia, then the cafes and restaurants certainly did not reflect this situation. Street side coffee shops were jam packed with local patrons who appeared to be happily chatting and enjoying their coffee.

It was a good time to sit back, sip a cold drink, and watch the Tunis world go by. Interestingly, we noted that the young men were all dressed in modern style in jeans and shirts or t-shirts; the women however tended to dress much more conservatively and most, even those in jeans, wore headscarves or hijabs.

A huge metal detector in one of the cafe pot plants right nest to where we were sitting, caught my attention. It was again a real reminder that political tensions were just below the surface in this semi-modern city.

A wander down the pleasant, spacious tree lined Avenue Habib Bourgiba to the Clock Tower revealed an unusual mix of commercial, religious and entertainment construction and similarly strange mix of Arabic, Spanish and French colonial architecture. It was a very pleasant place to stroll but we soon decided that we had seen enough. The truth was we were tiring of being tourists for the day.



Like most experienced tourists, we always ask the hotel staff what the going price is for taxis travelling to and from the city to our hotel. Tunis city was busy and taxis were difficult to find. The first taxi driver Alan hailed gave us a price which was more more than double the correct amount. Alan tried to negotiate but the driver became quite aggressive and refused blankly before driving off, probably to snare another unsuspecting traveller. Fortunately, our next driver was an honest and very pleasant man and in no time we were back at our hotel.

On returning back to the hotel, I received an email from my sister describing in graphic detail my mother's rapidly declining health. It was all very disturbing and a very quiet afternoon organising an album of photos to email to both my parents was very much needed.