A collage of today

As the Bardo museum did not open till 9.30 we didn’t have an early start. The museum is second biggest in Africa, the Cairo one being the first. The Bardo was housed in what had been a former palace of the Beylical rulers and has been added to over the centuries. It was worth looking up at the ceilings in the older part as they are painted wood in Turkish style though we have seen similar all over the Islamic world. The Bardo has the largest collection of mosaics in the world. We saw so much including the pieces removed from the sites we’d been to on the two previous days. One was of Virgil holding the Aeneid with two muses beside him. There was another of Odysseus tied to the mast of his ship as it sailed past the sirens showing their female bodies and bird claws for feet. In Roman Africa mosaic tiles were used to decorate the walls as well as the floors. Hunting, fishing, Bacchus , Venus, farming scenes and exotic animals all featured. There was also a stunning collection of bronze and marble figures recovered from the Mahdia wreck. In 1907 fishermen of that town found this ancient shipwreck dating from first century BCE. The wealth of the importers must have been enormous. The marble had been attacked by the salt water but still the size of some of the pieces - urns taller than us - was unusual. There were statues of gods and also nobles which had been subjected to the de-nosing and emasculation which was routine practice for invading Vandals. We spent over 2 hours there, looking at the first floor only. I wish I could go back with my guidebook and look at leisure but we move south tomorrow.

When we left the museum the rain was pouring down and this continued all day with short intermissions. I brought mainly light clothes as the forecast was 18-20 degrees which is a nice temperature for me so I wore all my layers plus puffy jacket and raincoat.

The bus took us to the centre of Tunis where we battled our way through the medina with the guide calling “Come along please”. We didn’t know till we got picked up by the bus that we’d had plain clothes police in front and behind us. (Airport type security is in operation in the hotel entrance and in the museum, where around a dozen visitors were shot in 2018).

The streets through the medina were awash with rainwater which the shop proprietors were trying to sweep into drains. It was only possible to walk single file as there was a channel in the middle and lots of people. The shops were the usual type in souks - cloths, gold, spices including henna, and lots of coffee shops. We went in one which had gorgeous tiles throughout the floors right up to the roof where we went to see the view over the rooftops. Families , young people, women in groups and older men smoking their pipes sat in the many side rooms and alcoves, similar to Iran. There was no time for coffee though as we hurried out to the bus which waited in a very French area just outside the medina. Some side streets had Free Palastine painted in English and French on the walls.

We went to the same place as Sunday for lunch and the food was exactly the same.

Back on the bus and it was a drive out to Carthage, a very prosperous rich suburb. We saw the Tophet site which was the oldest Punic cremation area (8th century BCE) where ashes and bones of children had been found along with stelae. According to the Romans, the Carthaginians burned children as sacrifices, but now it is thought this was the history according to the victor.

Another quick bus ride took us to the site of the third largest Roman baths in the world. It covered an enormous area overlooking the sea, but by now we had to rush even more as the Byrsa Hill site closed at 5. It was at the heart of Carthage sacked by the Romans in 146BCE. There wasn’t a lot left even of the Roman stuff which was destroyed by the Vandals and then the Arabs who used it as building materials and subsequently mostly built upon over the centuries. Nearby was a huge cathedral built by the French in 1890 and dedicated to St Louis the 13th century French king who died at Carthage trying to take over Tunis.

Tonight my dinner consisted of cold cauliflower cheese and cold potato. I consider that possibly better that what I saw a Chinese woman having - chicken stew, rice, cucumber salad and a dollop of chocolate pudding with strawberries all on a single plate. Reminded me of Goodness Gracious Me having an English.

The blip shows one of the Bardo rooms, the tiled area on the coffee shop roof, the Odysseus mosaic, the baths at Carthage and a flower seller.