Tunisia & Malta

April 28, 2026

Churches, Catacombs and a View

This morning we drive to Mosta to see the Rotunda Catholic Church. We then proceed to Mdina, Malta's ancient capital city, which preserves the medieval Arab city within Massive fortifications. A short walk takes us to Rabat where we visit a restored Roman Villa and the Catacombs of St. Paul and St. Agatha, which preserve early Christian burial practices and feature characteristic agape tables.

The Rotunda of Mosta, built between 1833 and the 1860's. It is renowned for having the third-largest unsupported dome in the world. The architecture is based on the Pantheon in Rome. During World War II in 1942, a bomb pierced the dome but did not explode, saving the lives of hundreds of people inside.

A crane is being used in Dome conservation to preserve its structural integrity and historical significance. The recent phase includes cleaning. 

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Paul in the town of Mdina. The cathedral is situated at the highest point of Mdina, known as the silent city. The current Baroque cathedral was built between 1694 and 1705. 

This guy represents the Nights of Malta one of the oldest Catholic religious orders, founded around 1048 in Jerusalem to care for pilgrims of all faith.

A view of farm fields from the bus.

In Rabat we visited a museum built on the ruins of an ancient Roman House. Discovered in 1881, it's famous for its exceptionally preserved, intricate 1st-century BC mosaics and well preserved Roman artifacts. Above is Status of Claudia Antonia the daughter of the Roman Emperor Claudius and his second wife Aelia Paetina.

Mosaic of the drinking doves.

Selection of circa1st century glass

Ruins outside of the Roman House museum

Cute fish door knockers

The Basilica of St John built between 1653 and 1863. 

St. Paul's Catacombs consist of 10,000 m squared above ground, 23 entrances leading to 59 hypogea, containing around 1,025 tombs, with a capacity of 1,500 burials. The skeleton of a young woman aged between 18 and 24. The remains were discovered in 2013.

St. Paul's Grotto located beneath the church of St. Paul in Rabat. It is believed that St. Paul stayed here after being ship wrecked in Malta.

Dingli Cliffs

A view from the Dingli Cliffs 

Driving back to Valletta we passed a lot of walls covered with flowers. 

April 27, 2026

The Island of Gozo

Today we are taking a fast ferry to the Island of Gozo. Gozo is Malta's rural cousin and maintains a distinct cultural identity with landscapes and traditions that modern Malta has largely abandoned. 

The fastest way from our hotel to the fast ferry to Goza involves the above elevator.

The prehistoric temples of Ggantija rank among humanity's oldest religious monuments, dating back to 3600-3200 BCE. Local folklore attributes their construction to giants, and the megaliths' sheer size is awe-inspiring. 

Seated clay figurines and clay representation of a snail with a human head from the Xagrar circle.

The Ggantija Temples, a prehistoric megalithic temple complex.

Maltese wall lizard

At Dwejra, we witness geological forces at their most dramatic. Two enormous limestone caverns collapsed to create today's Inland Sea, a lagoon connected to the Mediterranean through a 100-metre tunnel. Local fishermen guide us through this natural wonder.

The water is an amazing blue colour.

Looking up the cliff.

The tunnel back to the dock.

Ed had wandered off, then I finally spotted him. Yes, he was finding a geocache. 

Victoria, Gozo's capital, clusters around the fortified citadel of Il-Kastell, which has been continuously fortified for over 4,000 years. 

Cathedral of the Assumption

When the cathedral was being built between 1697 and 1711, they ran out of money to build the planned stone dome. To fix this a painter was hired to create a massive Trompe L'oeill (an illusion) on the flat ceiling. From a specific spot in the nave the painting looks like a perfectly rounded three-dimensional dome.

Walking along the city walls offers some great views of the countryside. 

A view of the citadel from the city walls.

Back in Valletta, Ed and I decided to walk back to the hotel instead of taking the elevator (see first photo from today). We found the Victoria Gate that was named after England's Queen Victoria. I don't know if I mentioned that Malta was a British Colony from 1814 to 1964. 

A colourful street scene.

We had dinner at a restaurant at the harbour.

Looking across the hotel pool at night. 

April 26, 2026

Ancient Sites and Boats   

The view from our room's balcony. 

Today we drive across Malta to visit an ancient site, then it's off to Sunday market at Marsaxlokk village and we end the day with a boat tour on the Grand Harbour or Port of Valletta.

Hagar Qim megalithic temple complex dating from 3600 - 3200 BC. The megalithic temples of Malta are among the most ancient religious sites in the world.

During a solstice the sun would shine through the whole in the wall and hit the square rock on the left side of the photo.

 

Looking down at Mnajdra Temple. The new walkway is under construction. The temple was built around 3400 BC out of limestone.

This stone was covered in manmade indentations.

This scenic arch is not far from the Mnajdra Temple.

The Hamrija Tower was completed in 1659, the 12th of 13 De Redin towers. It was restored between 1997 and 1999.

The Parish Church of Our Lady of Pompei in the fishing village of Marasaxlokk. That's our tour leader and our local guide (right side). 

Sunday brings a large market to town, including fish mongers.

Marasaxlokk Harbour

Tiny fish by the dock.

A Luzzu, a traditional Maltese fishing boat. You can't see it in this photo but there is an eye painted on the Luzzu. The eye is for good luck.

There are even vegetables at the market.  Just about anything you can image is for sale at the market.  

Our tour around the Grand Harbour takes us past Maltese military boats,

Fort Tigne set against modern residential buildings of Tigne Point in Sliema,

a superyacht in front of the Valletta sky line,

the Basilica of St. Lawrence,

a Luzzu near the entrance to the Grand Harbour,

and the Esplora Interactive Science Centre.

April 25, 2026

Valletta, Malta

It didn't take long to figure out why a lot of people are visiting Malta. The climate is wonderful and the island is beautiful. We are staying at a fabulous hotel in Valletta.  Valletta is on a peninsula surrounded on 3 sides by water. The city centre is the high point of the area, so there are lots of stairs or steep roads. 

This square is about a 10 minute walk from the hotel --- including about 25 stairs. The ruins of the Royal Opera House is found in Pjazza Teatru Rjal. The Royal Opera House was destroyed by Luftwaffe aerial bombardment during World War II. The ruins now serve as an open-air Theatre. 

The Grand Harbour as seen from the Upper Barrakka Gardents.

Augberge de Castille

The Sleeping Lady, dated to approximately 4000 - 2500 BC

St. John's Cathedral, a masterpiece of Baroque art and architecture. Dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, it was built by the Order of Saint John between 1572 and 1577.

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist painted by Merisi da Caravaggio in 1608.

The interior of St. John's Cathedral

The palace of the Grandmaster's of the Order of St. John. It currently functions as the office of the President of Malta and houses the Parliament of Malta.

One section of the palace is an armory. Lots of weapons and armour is on display. 

One of the hallways.

Ed likes the artwork.

There were lots of small sailboats out, but just a couple of larger ones.

Some street scenes.

We saw a post card and tried to replicate it. I think they used a drone, but this was close.

The Triton Fountain. The mirrored pavilion behind the fountain is know as Malta Vision 2050. 

April 24, 2026

Travel Day

Malta is about a 1 hour flight from Tunis Tunisia. The simple direct way to do something isn't always possible and today was an example of that. We flew from Tunis to Istanbul, Turkey, about a 2 1/2 hour flight and 2 time zones ahead. After a 2 hour lay over we got on a plane to Malta for a slightly less that 2 hour flight and 1 time zone back. An interesting thing is we were fed full meals on each flight. North American airlines, what do you say to that. It was a long daay.

We flew Turkish Airlines.

Inside the relatively new Istanbul Airport

Our room overlooks the pool. Just beyond the pool is the Mediterranean Sea

April 23, 2026

On the Road One Last Time ..... in Tunisia

We left our hotel in Sfax and started driving north. It's approximately a 3 hour drive back to Tunis. We add a bit of time by stopping in El Jem. Ed's getting good at shooting from the bus window.

Our destination in El Jem is the Colosseum of El Jem. It is the largest colosseum in North Africa and has an amphitheatre that could seat 35,000 spectators.  It was built in the 3rd century entirely of stone blocks, with no foundation and is free-standing.

The back of the colosseum from as seen from the car park. 

From the front

Looking up

Heading down to the hypogeum, where the slaves and animals were kept. We could also see where the elevators for moving people and animals to the arena. 

The pit

Our local guide Abdi, with his very reflective sunglasses. You can see me taking the photo in the corner of his sunglasses plus several other people in our group.

Looking over the arena floor. 

Looking through one of the openings in the colosseum at a minaret.

The colosseum is a great place to bring your dromedary and make a few extra bucks. This little boy looked really happy.

Just down the road from the Colosseum is the Archeological Museum. The museum is built on the site of an old former Roman villa. Many of the mosaics in the museum where found in this site. 

A Roman-style statue

Ancient dice made from stone or ceramic.

April 22, 2026

Starting the Drive Back to Tunis

This morning we spend time on the Isle of Djerba before we start the drive back to Tunis. 

The first stop today was a small mosque that is no longer used. Many similar mosques were built around the island and were used to watch for invaders. 

The shore

The "explorers" walking on the "not in great shape" dock. 

Why they walked on the dock.

There was a request to stop for a camel photo op. When our bus driver noticed this camel tethered on the side of the road he stopped. The camel was estimated to be about 18 months old. 

The isle of Djerba is known for it's pottery so we stopped for a tour and a demonstration. Now, this is one big pot!

There was a camel and lots of pottery to look at. 

The Musee de Guellela. The museum offers pavilions illustrating many folk scenes, such as different stages of the traditional wedding.  An art gallery is also included in the building.

Leaving the museum we drive to Erriadh in the middle of the island. There are a number of sandwich shops and lots of colour murals and interesting homes. Ed and I had a really difficult time trying to reduce the number of photos of the murals ---- believe it or not but we did eliminate a lot of photos. 

This one was really interesting. It was a face made from metal bar  with shadows giving it three dimensions.

If you look closely you can see gears in the wings of the birds.

Ok, this one isn't art, but the tree and all the pink petals on the ground is pretty. 

There is one light house on the Isle of Djerba.

We used our imagination and see the dome as the octopus's head/body.

Leaving the island we drive over what was originally the ancient Roman Causeway. The pipe is bringing water to the island as there is no fresh water on the island.

On our drive to the industrial city of Sfax, Ed was taking photos from the window on the bus.

As we got closer to downtown Sfax, the traffic increased. I think the jam was caused vehicles trying to merge into a of traffic circle.  

The walls of the medina

April 21, 2026

Short Day

Today we are spending the day on the island of Djerba, which has some beautiful sandy beaches. We're starting the day late and ending after a lovely lunch at a seafood restaurant, so we'll have a few hours to enjoy the lovely hotel and spa with it's beautiful beach. 

One of the pools at the hotel. 

Our first stop today is the Synagogue La ghriba. El Ghriba Synagogue represents one of Judaism's most significant pilgrimage sites. Legend claims Djerba's Jewish community arrived after the destruction of Solomon's Temple in 586 BCE, making this one of the world's oldest continuous Jewish settlements. It is also a sight of pilgrimage. 

Ghazi Mustapha Fort or Borj el Kebir fortress. The fort was originally built in the 15th century. It was later fortified in the 16th century. The site is famous for its roll during the bloody conflicts of 1560 when Ottoman and Spanish forces fought for Mediterranean supremacy.

A view from the fort.

Next stop was the medina where we were given some time to go shopping. Ed and I walked around the downtown area. 

Two artists were involved in painting this wall. There is a signature in the upper right and one in the lower left. 

There are hundreds of small mosques scattered across the island of Djerba.

The Catholic Church of Saint Joseph. It was built in 1848 by the Maltese community.

Spices

The beach by the hotel. Horseback riding and camel riding are available on the beach. There are 2 people and 2 camels on the left side of the photo.

I walked in the Mediterranean Sea!

The view from our balcony. 

April 20, 2026

Last Day of Driving (for a day!)

Today was another long day on the road, an estimated 6 hours of driving. Again we have a few stops along the way. We also passed through several different geological areas while we were driving so  a lot of photos were taken out of the bus window (and they actually turned out OK). This results is too many interesting photos, so there's a few more photos than normal in today's blog. 

We leave Tozeur and begin driving south east. 

We pass more olive groves. This grove has some young olive palms. Palms are propagated by digging a shoot from the palm and replanting it. The fencing is made from dead fronds (branch) from the olive palms.

Slowly the olive groves are taking over the desert by irrigating the land. You can clearly see where the desert begins.

We were able to walk around near the lowest point (approximately 10 feet above sea level) of Chott el Djerid, Tunisia's largest salt lake. It is crystalline expanse covering 5,000 square kilometres. This depression preserves evidence of ancient seas that once covered North Africa. You can see the lake past the people.

First the water needs to evaporate from the salt pools. The the salt is harvested use a large conveyer belt system.  

I'm guessing that people had some fun play in the salt/sand along the edge of the road. Again you can see the vast flat area past the human made bumps. 

As we leave the salt pan we start to see sand dunes. Palm fronds are placed along the top of the dunes to try to stop the dunes from moving. 

Shortly after we left the sand dunes, we saw this monument in the middle of a turning circle. We don't know where it was exactly or what it is celebrating and google search isn't finding it. 

A statue depicting camel racing that we saw as we came into the town of Douz.

We stopped in Douz, so some people could visit a pharmacy (lots of people have gotten colds including Ed), and to walk the town where many Bedouin people (historically they are nomadic) have settled.  According to our local guide, the Tunisian government told the Bedouin tribes that they were no longer welcome to move between countries. The Bedouin people could either settle in Tunisia or they needed to leave. Many opted to stay. The next few photos were taken in Douz.

"Monumento alla donna". In this region, women and water jugs are deeply symbolic, often representing life, vitality, and the source of renewal. 

Leaving Douz we start driving east through a sub-Saharan area. 

According to our local guide, some of the Bedouin tribes who live in Douz or other towns with spend some time in tents in the desert areas to celebrate spring. 

It isn't long before the terrain begins to change and we begin driving through a mountainous region. 

On the drive we pass by a number of villages. According to our local guide only the buildings that have been white washed are being used. That means much of the village has been abandoned.

A look at the interesting roads we drove.

We stopped at a tradition "troglodyte" dwelling. Some of these dwellings are over 400 years old. They demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of thermal dynamics.  The homes are carved directly into soft sandstone, creating subterranean courtyards surrounded by chambers that maintain comfortable temperatures year-round.

The inner courtyard.

The kitchen. You leave a tip after visiting. This money has allowed this family to purchase a solar panel system which gives them electricity for lighting, to heat water and watch their television. 

Leaving the troglodyte" dwelling we drive into the Berber village of Matmata for lunch at a Berber hotel / restaurant. The food was amazing. 

The trek to the ladies room involved a tunnel and several sets of stairs. Eventually, you reached this courtyard and the ladies room was just off of it. 

Are you a Star Wars fan? The scene in the first movie where we met Luke at his aunt and uncles farm was shot here in Matmata.

Sitting outside was a young man and a very young camel. He didn't ask for payment for taking photos of the camel but we all happily gave him some money. 

The camel was young enough that she enjoyed a bottle.

We continue driving east through the mountains passing many mostly abandoned villages. 

Leaving the mountains. 

The goats were walking up the road and had to move over to let the bus pass. 

Historical ruins in the town of Metameur. A women runs a small gift shop and serves tea out of one of the buildings.

Our local guide and woman with the gift shop. She's ready to serve us tea. 

Continuing east we finally reach the Mediterranean Sea. We drive across the Roman Causeway (the ancient road was built by the Romans in the 2nd century). The causeway is a 7 km long road that connects Djerba with the mainland.

April 19, 2026

More Driving

Todays drive is longer than yesterdays --- 6 hours but we have some interesting places to see along the way. The landscape is also going to change. We're leaving lush green fields behind and moving into a sub-Saharan Africa.

As usual Ed manages to get some interesting photos as we drive.

Kids and tractors, the same the world over. 

A grove of young olive trees. Tunisia grows a lot of olive trees and produces a lot of olive oil. In 2026, Tunisia is the 4th largest producer of olive oil following Spain, Italy and Turkey. Greece is the 5th largest. Tunisia is working on taming the desert to grow olive trees. 

Our first stop is at The Roman city of Sufeitula in the modern city of Sbeitla. The highlight of the site are three perfectly preserved temples dedicated to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva that rise from the forum like a classical textbook illustration.  Sbeitla prospered during the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE through olive oil production—the "liquid gold" that made North Africa Rome's wealthiest province. 

The theatre

Beautiful mosaic floors

Eurasian Hoopoe

Arch of Antoninus Pius

The Capitoline temples --- Jupiter, Judo and Minerva

The other side of the Arch of Antoninus Pius

Leaving the Roman section of the site we move to the Christian section where we find baptismal baths.

A beautiful mosaic beside one of the baptismal baths.

The mosaic floor features marine motifs which is typical of  Roman baths. The Christians changed the use to a baptismal bath.

4th century baptismal bath

Wildlife!!!!! a Greek tortoise according to google

We leave Sbeitla and continue driving south to Tozeur. The landscape is changing to more desert.

As we get closer to Toseur the landscape changes and there are palms everywhere. Toseur  is a large oasis famous for it's massive palm groves containing hundreds of thousands of trees. Most of which are date palms.

The Eden Palm Museum introduces us to oasis agriculture's sophisticated techniques: the three-tier cultivation system where date palms provide shade for citrus trees, which shelter vegetable crops below. This ancient agricultural wisdom maximizes water use in environments where every drop is precious. 

I chose the pictures today, so there's some flowers. This is a Hibiscus. 

This fellow scampered up the palm right to the top. I'm not sure how dates are harvested today but I'm sure this is how it was done in the past. 

If you look closely you can see golden coloured frons which is where you'll eventually find dates. 

There were lots of Bougainvillea in a variety of colours.

We spend a bit of time wandering around the city of Tozeur before driving to our hotel.

April 18, 2026

The Start of the Long Drive

Today we start the long drive south in Tunisia. Driving time today is a little over 4 hours with a number of stops along the route. (I'm extra late posting because last night's hotel, which was very nice, did not have wifi in the rooms and I was too lazy to go to the lobby.)

Our local guide keeps telling us Tunisia is a modern Muslim country where the women are respected and treated as equals. I still was surprised to see grapes being grown for wine. There are several wineries and breweries in the country.

Some camels just hanging out.

Kairouan, our first stop, holds unparalleled significance in Islamic history. Founded in 670 CE by the Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi, it became the first Islamic city established in North Africa and the fourth holiest city in Islam after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. Seven pilgrimages to Kairouan equal one to Mecca—a medieval ruling that established this oasis as North Africa's spiritual heart. 

Mosque of Barber located in Kairouan

The inside of the mosque

Drawing of living images is forbidden by Islam so sometimes stylized representation was use (i.e. trees are represented by the outside 2 objects. This is artwork is found in the Zawiya Sidi Sahib complex (or Mosque of the Barber).

Our next stop is the Great Mosque of Kairouan, but to get there we walk through the medina. There are lots of souks (shops) but the colourful artwork and buildings get most of our attention.

Not everything is blue, we did see a bit of yellow.

The Great Mosque of Kairouan 

Looking into the mosque.

Even though it was a Saturday, a lot of school children were on field trips. All children must attend school from the age of 5 to 17 (according to our local guide) at either a public school or a private school. The uniforms indicated that these children are from a private school.

One of the fellows in our group wanted to buy a carpet, so we tagged along to the recommended carpet store. 

Carpets are tossed out onto the floor. By time all the viewing is done there can be quite a pile.

Next stop is the city of Monastir and the Ribat of Monastir. A Ribat is an Islamic defensive structure. The Ribat of Monastir is the oldest ribat built by the Arab conquerors during the Muslim conquest of Maghreb.

There were some great views from the walls of the ribat.

Cinderella's carriages where driving around town.

Our hotel is right on the beach and we had a bit of free time before dinner so we went for a stroll.

April 17, 2026

Dougga and Bulla Regia

Dougga was a Berber, Punic and Roman settlement. The current archaeological site covers 190 acres. UNESCO qualified Dougga as a World Heritage Site in 1997, believing that it represents "the best preserved Roman small town in North Africa". The site, which lies in the middle of the countryside, has been protected from the encroachment of modern urbanization, in contrast to Carthage which has been pillaged and rebuilt on numerous occasions. Amongst the most famous monuments at Dougga are a Libyco-Punic Mausoleum, the Capital, the Roman theatre and the temples of Saturn and of Juno Caelestis. We took a lot of photos today and had a hard time picking the ones to post, so there's a few more than normal. The following are photos from Dougga.

There were winter baths at Dougga and this tunnel led to them.

The drive from Dougga to Bulla Regia was more than an hour. Ed kept himself occupied by taking photos through the window of the bus. 

Any where there was grass there seemed to be some type of animal grazing. Usually, there was a shepherd if the animals were on the side of a road or by railway tracks.  

There are a lot of storks in Tunisia and they liked to nest in high places --- electrical poles, minaret towers ect.

Bulla Regia was a Berber, Punic, and Roman town near present=day Jendouba. It's surviving ruins and archaeological site are noted for their Hadrianic-era semi-subterranean housing, a protection from the fierce heat and effects of the sun. Many of the mosaic floors have been left in place; others may be seen at the Bardo Museum in Tunis.

At the start of the site are the ruins of a building.

The subterranean portion of one of the buildings. The hallway has mosaic tiles. 

Most of the site has not been excavated. We walked through fields covered in flowers, including poppies. Ed picked todays photos so no flower photo.

A beautiful mosaic floor.

This mosaic was an intricate hunter scene. 

Heading down to the subterranean level.

Being sheltered from the elements this mosaic has kept most of it's colour.

Unfortunately, the Tunisian government does have the funds to cover preservation so it won't be long before the ceiling collapses on the beautifully preserved mosaics. 

A second villa also has some amazing mosaics. It was beginning to crumble so Italy helped to restore it by adding metal beams.  

This subterranean apartment has an open courtyard and four large rooms. 

On the drive back to Tunis, Ed some more animals.

Sheep, but this time the shepherd is on a mule.

Cattle

April 16, 2026

Tunis with a Guide

Tunis is the capital of Tunisia and houses one-sixth of the nation's population within the embrace of the Gulf of Tunis. Founded by Berber tribes but shaped successively by Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Ottomans, and French, the city embodies North Africa's layered history. Arabic is the official language of Tunisia but everyone is taught Arabic and French in school. 

The first stop today is the Bardo Museum which is housed in a former palace. At the museum we see the world's finest collection of Roman mosaics.  

The Triumph of Neptune mosaic

An ancient Phoenician terracotta vessel, likely a baby bottle from Carthage, Tunisia. Carthage was an ancient city on the eastern side of Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean. 

The ceiling of one of the rooms in the museum. The ceiling was covered with stucco then carved in an intricate pattern. 

This mosaic is depicting the sea god Neptune or Oceanus. One of the interesting about this mosaic is the catch light in the eye. 

The next stop was the UNESCO-protected medina. It was even busier today then yesterday as a cruise ship was in the harbour. We managed a couple of photos. 

One of the hallways in the medina.

You could buy just about anything in the medina, gold, diamonds, leather goods, silver plate dishes, sweets, etc.

Theatre municipal de Tunis

One of several stores selling flowers.

We stopped for a quick lunch break in La Goulette. On the beach we found these small fishing boats, known as floukas or barques.

There are lots of wild cats and dogs in Tunisia. This little fellow thought this was a good spot to get a snack. 

In Carthage we stopped at three sites. The first one was Byrsa Hill, the highest point in the area. There was a great view of the city from the hill.

The Acropodium of Carthage was formerly known as the Cathedral of Saint Louis. The Cathedral was no long being used and had fallen in disrepair so the Pope gave the building to Tunisia. The building now hosts public events and concerts. 

The interior.

The second site that we went to in Carthage was the Baths of Antoninus. Only a small section of the baths have been excavated. One of the reasons is that the grounds of presidential palace is over part of the ruins.

Another view at the ruins

It's spring in Tunisia --- it's green and there are lots of beautiful flowers. We were told that come summer the landscape will be brown.

The third site in Carthage is the ruins of the dry dock (or ship ramps) located withing the Punic military harbor in Carthage. 

The last stop of the day is at Sidi Bou Said, a village known for its distinctive blue and white architecture. We enjoyed dinner at one of the local restaurants. The remaining photos are of Sidi Bou Said.

April 15, 2026 

Tunis 

Today is mostly a free day as we don't meet up with the group until 6pm. There, of course is a geocache that Ed wants to get, which is at the top of the "to do" list. It's about a 20 minute walk to the geocache and happily there were things to see on the way there. 

We don't read Arabic but our map says this beautiful building is a museum. 

A street view.

The Tower and Blue Sphere of the City of Culture of Tunis. It is 50,000 square metres and houses 3 theaters, museums, cinemas, libraries and literary institutions like the House of the Novel and House of Poetry.

The Human Right's Garden is filled with some very interesting statues and a number of gazebos. 

This sculpture in the garden is call the Human Rights.

Another interesting sculpture in the Human Right's Garden.

A version of the Sheikh Tamin Bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award. 

The Hotel du Lac, constructed between 1970 and 1973 is an example of Brutalist architecture. The hotel has been closed and abandoned since the early 2000s and was undergoing demolition as of late 2025. Most of the building is still standing.

People park everywhere, especially on the side walks forcing people to walk on the road. Walking is challenging in Tunis. Not only do you have to walk on the road sometimes because parked cars have taken over the sidewalk, you also have to dodge vehicles when you are crossing the road with the green walk sign. Also, don't be in a hurry to cross as a lot of cars continue through the intersection after the light has turned red. Pedestrians definitely don't have the right of way in Tunis. 

The Clock Tower

There was an area behind Ed that had a statue and some military equipment and it was surrounded by razor wire. I guess they didn't want anyone to get to close. (On the following day our guide thinks the military equipment and razor wire were still there after a union demonstration a couple of weeks ago.)

The minaret of the Ksar Mosque.

The Kasbah Square. It's a central public square that wasn't very inviting. We saw a couple of groups walk through it and a few children hopped the fence to get in. 

Google says this is more of the Kasbah Square. 

Sadiki College located in the Kasbah Square.

We walked through the medina (the old city), which was really interesting. It had very narrow streets, many shops some home but neither Ed nor I thought it was a good idea to take photos. Maybe we'll take some photos when we visit with the group tomorrow. After we left the medina and the Kasbah square we walked through several interesting districts. One area had a lot of fancy dress shops and stores filled with men's suit. Another area was fabric store after fabric store, with the occasional furniture store thrown in. 

Tunisia was a French protectorate from 1881 to 1956. One area of Tunis is called Ville Nouvelle and is filled with French architecture. French is also widely spoken. I've been in too many Spanish speaking countries lately and gracias kept coming out instead of merci. 

April 14, 2026

Now That Was an Interesting Flying Experience

We have booked a flight with Air Canada to fly from Toronto to Munich, Germany. Then we continue to Tunisia on Lufthansa. On Saturday afternoon, 2 days before departure, we get an email from Lufthansa saying the pilots union is going on a short notice strike and will be on strike Monday and Tuesday ---- our Lufthansa flight is on Tuesday. I have no idea why, but the flight we are taking to Tunisia didn't get cancelled. 

Now, the flying experience. Terminal 1 at Toronto Pearson International Airport was extremely quiet - every check in kiosk was free, only 1 other person was checking their suitcase, we walked right up to the counter at security. It took 25 minutes from walking in the door to arriving at our gate and at least 10 minutes was spent walking to the gate. I can't remember the last time I was on a plane leaving Toronto and it left on time ---- yesterday it did. Which was a good thing as we only had 1 hour and 10 minutes to get to our connecting flight.

The airport in Munich made Toronto's airport seem busy. It had the feel of a ghost town. A couple of gates had people at them but most did not. 

I don't know why, but a flight that could have been a nightmare went without a hitch. 

Leaving Toronto

Sunrise

Leaving Munich

Arriving in Tunis

Another unusual thing happened today, the hotel had our room ready when we arrived before noon. After we settled in, we went for a walk to Belvedere Park. 

As we walk along the park, we heard a lot of noise. When we could see into the compound we found the source of the noise ---Peacocks!

La Kobba, a pavilion in the park.

The view from la Kobba

This tower is at the highest point in the park.

April 11, 2026

Getting Ready for Another Trip

In two days we leave for a 31 day trip which will take us to Tunisia, Malta and the southern half of Italy. It should be a good time to be away --- the snow is gone (if we get any more snow it'll disappear quickly) and the grass isn't growing yet. 

Brodie has come to visit this weekend but I don't think he's going to help us pack.