Just three days after touching down in the scorching heat of Doha, I was off again on the jetplane for a business trip. This time to the north most country in the African continent, where the Mediterranean sea surrounds. Though I had yet to recover from the jetlag, I was relieved to get out of Doha’s heat to experience some cool Mediterranean breeze.
Tunis is the capital of Tunisia or Tunisie as the Arabs call it. A country where French is spoken and an interesting combination of Europe meets Arab. The people don’t look too Arabic – fair skinned, light haired, and western dressed, with not many hijab-wearing women around. The scenery was breathtaking and evening weather was just perfect for nite outs. Our meeting was held at The Residence, a 5-star hotel facing the ocean with a spa to boast of. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even get myself an appointment for a facial as they were full for the 3 days I was there. On the first nite, my colleague took us out to the old city Medina where the old souq is located. Very much like the Khan Al Khalili market in Cairo, it had narrow walkway cobbled street with typical souq stuff like clothings, accessories, souvenirs of all kinds. Colorful and crowded. We then had dinner at Sidi Bou Said, a highland where every house is painted white and blue. I love the way the houses were arranged uphill and downhill with the cobbled streets and scattered with little restaurants. The grilled fish we had was excellent. On the second nite, our host arranged for a dinner at a traditional restaurant which is actually centuries-old house. We were greeted by local styled drums which accompanied our 5-minute walk to the restaurant. All the handiwork in that place was handmade and in its original condition with carvings and ornaments dating hundreds of years. The only setback was the super duper slow service (our dinner took like 4 hours to complete). On the last day, after the meeting ended, we were treated to a mini city tour. We saw the Carthage – the old amphitheater and some other historical sites and ended our day having Arabic tea at Sidi Bou Said until sunset. Great company, great scenery!
