Picture-Perfect
Sidi Bou Saïd...
Sidi Bou Saïd...
| Let there be light! |
September 25, 2007
3:30pm
It took a bit longer to get here than planned (that’s what I get for taking the bus instead of the train). But it doesn’t matter.
Because now I am here. And so are the dark gray skies. Boo. Oh well. The good news is that these clouds are quick-movers
which makes for many moments when the sun makes an appearance.
As I write this, I am sitting at a café perched on a cliff while looking out at the Mediterranean Sea. The water is a dull greenish-
turquoise with the exception of the bright patches being illuminated by some of the sun’s rays that are escaping through the
clouds – these patches are shining a brilliant green.
Speaking of the sun’s rays… it is visible that the sun is trying to fight off those clouds. Countless rays are coming from the sky
onto the town and the sea.
I wonder how different this scene would look with blue skies. Maybe I’ll find out tomorrow? Maybe I won’t. It doesn’t matter.
I think I found the perfect place to spend my last couple days in Tunisia…
11:30pm
I had such a great time wandering up and down the cobblestone streets today. This had a feeling of being in a town in Europe.
It really does feel like one of those too-picturesque-to-be-real places in Europe. I have never been to Santorini, but the color
scheme alone makes me believe it would be something like this.
Tonight I found a trail. I found this trail as the sun was about to set. Was it a good trail? No (with respect that it was muddy
and rocky and just barely resembled an actual ‘trail’). But this didn’t stop me from checking out where it led to.
And I am glad I did. It brought me closer to the marina and the rest of the town while providing me the perfect view of the
sunset. And there wasn’t another soul in sight. The only sound in the air at this moment was the mullah doing the prayer call.
And let me state that prayer calls out here are a beautiful thing to listen to. In other Muslim countries, you hear mullahs all
around you and it almost sounds like some sort of prayer call competition. But not in Tunisia. Every place I have been I have
only heard the sound of a lone mullah. Very peaceful.
I had tea this evening with one of the men who works at my hotel. He is from Sidi Bou Said. He has seen it change from a small
village to a place bringing in tourists by the busloads. I told him that I guess that is a disadvantage about a place being so
beautiful – soon others will discover it.
I capped the night off with a great dinner. The stuffed squid was amazing – man, that was one big squid!
September 26, 2007
This morning I had the town to myself. Just the way I like it. Blue skies overhead, pretty greenish-blue water. Gorgeous
buildings. Ahhh…
By wandering around aimlessly, I randomly ended up on the road to La Marsa – the town just north of here that is renowned
for having villas set right near the beach. For once getting lost has its privileges!
I walked up and down multiple stairways knowing there was nothing to do but ooh and aah at all of the pretty views.
On my way back, I came across an interested sight. There was a guy (a good-looking one, at that) who was wearing…get
this…a brand new University of Arizona baseball cap! Not a sight you see everyday in Tunisia. He was as sweet as could be and
had absolutely no idea what the hat he was wearing even was. Plus he only spoke French so it was hard communicating that ‘I
went to that school’ while pointing at his hat. I asked if I could take his pic but I couldn’t since he has a political job. He was
such a sweetheart about it. Turns out he was one of many men manning the President’s House. Ohhhh, so that’s what the
absolutely gorgeous place is! And why everybody is wearing ear pieces…
When I got back to Sidi Bou Said, I no longer had the place to myself. It had been bombarded by the tour bus people! Ahhhh!
This was painful. It was no longer that charming town I was drawn into. It was now countless people wearing stickers and
following people with paddles with numbers on them. I managed to do more dilly-dallying through the side-streets (where
most tour people don't have time to venture off to) before going back to the train station.
But not before a stop at my favorite patisserie in Tunisia thus far!
3:30pm
It took a bit longer to get here than planned (that’s what I get for taking the bus instead of the train). But it doesn’t matter.
Because now I am here. And so are the dark gray skies. Boo. Oh well. The good news is that these clouds are quick-movers
which makes for many moments when the sun makes an appearance.
As I write this, I am sitting at a café perched on a cliff while looking out at the Mediterranean Sea. The water is a dull greenish-
turquoise with the exception of the bright patches being illuminated by some of the sun’s rays that are escaping through the
clouds – these patches are shining a brilliant green.
Speaking of the sun’s rays… it is visible that the sun is trying to fight off those clouds. Countless rays are coming from the sky
onto the town and the sea.
I wonder how different this scene would look with blue skies. Maybe I’ll find out tomorrow? Maybe I won’t. It doesn’t matter.
I think I found the perfect place to spend my last couple days in Tunisia…
11:30pm
I had such a great time wandering up and down the cobblestone streets today. This had a feeling of being in a town in Europe.
It really does feel like one of those too-picturesque-to-be-real places in Europe. I have never been to Santorini, but the color
scheme alone makes me believe it would be something like this.
Tonight I found a trail. I found this trail as the sun was about to set. Was it a good trail? No (with respect that it was muddy
and rocky and just barely resembled an actual ‘trail’). But this didn’t stop me from checking out where it led to.
And I am glad I did. It brought me closer to the marina and the rest of the town while providing me the perfect view of the
sunset. And there wasn’t another soul in sight. The only sound in the air at this moment was the mullah doing the prayer call.
And let me state that prayer calls out here are a beautiful thing to listen to. In other Muslim countries, you hear mullahs all
around you and it almost sounds like some sort of prayer call competition. But not in Tunisia. Every place I have been I have
only heard the sound of a lone mullah. Very peaceful.
I had tea this evening with one of the men who works at my hotel. He is from Sidi Bou Said. He has seen it change from a small
village to a place bringing in tourists by the busloads. I told him that I guess that is a disadvantage about a place being so
beautiful – soon others will discover it.
I capped the night off with a great dinner. The stuffed squid was amazing – man, that was one big squid!
September 26, 2007
This morning I had the town to myself. Just the way I like it. Blue skies overhead, pretty greenish-blue water. Gorgeous
buildings. Ahhh…
By wandering around aimlessly, I randomly ended up on the road to La Marsa – the town just north of here that is renowned
for having villas set right near the beach. For once getting lost has its privileges!
I walked up and down multiple stairways knowing there was nothing to do but ooh and aah at all of the pretty views.
On my way back, I came across an interested sight. There was a guy (a good-looking one, at that) who was wearing…get
this…a brand new University of Arizona baseball cap! Not a sight you see everyday in Tunisia. He was as sweet as could be and
had absolutely no idea what the hat he was wearing even was. Plus he only spoke French so it was hard communicating that ‘I
went to that school’ while pointing at his hat. I asked if I could take his pic but I couldn’t since he has a political job. He was
such a sweetheart about it. Turns out he was one of many men manning the President’s House. Ohhhh, so that’s what the
absolutely gorgeous place is! And why everybody is wearing ear pieces…
When I got back to Sidi Bou Said, I no longer had the place to myself. It had been bombarded by the tour bus people! Ahhhh!
This was painful. It was no longer that charming town I was drawn into. It was now countless people wearing stickers and
following people with paddles with numbers on them. I managed to do more dilly-dallying through the side-streets (where
most tour people don't have time to venture off to) before going back to the train station.
But not before a stop at my favorite patisserie in Tunisia thus far!
The entrance to my room.
| Some of the whitewashed buildings. |
