An American Abroad
I saw these two unusual puppies in the Tunis train station on the way to Sidi Bou Saïd last weekend. I posted the pic to Facebook in hopes that one of my friends could ID them. But the closest I got was a suggestion that they are Catahoulas, … [Continue reading]
The journey back from Sidi Bou Saïd began on a light rail metro that connects Tunis to its northern suburbs. Some kids were having fun prying the doors open and hanging out of the train, or getting off at each station and then running back in once … [Continue reading]
The last stop for me in Sidi Bou Saïd was a tour of Ennejma Ezzahra (The Star of Venus), the grand villa built in 1912 by Baron Rodolphe d’Erlanger. Photography isn't allowed inside the villa, but here are the views of the approach and a shot from … [Continue reading]
The area around Sidi Bou Saïd was settled in ancient times. There are fragments of some Punic flooring here, suggesting that there were villas there even in the third century BCE. It’s located amid what remains of Carthage, a great metropolis before … [Continue reading]
After touring the Dar El Annabi, I went walking around the town. In 1912, an eccentric French painter and musicologist, Baron Rodolphe d’Erlanger, built an enormous Moorish villa in town and then compelled the town to adopt a by-law mandating that … [Continue reading]
On Sunday, I traveled by taxi, train, bus, and light rail trolley to Sidi Bou Saïd, a pretty town nestled on the coast amid the few remnant ruins of Carthage. This trip was not about ancient archaeology, but about the artists and writers who visited … [Continue reading]
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers.” — Thomas Pynchon I had a discussion with some twenty-something Tunisians recently that left me discouraged. When the conversation turned to current … [Continue reading]
This is a sidewalk café across the street from AMIDEAST Sousse. Notice anything about the clientele? They all have Y-chromosomes. Where are the women? The uneasy feeling I get looking at this reminds me of how I used to get creeped out in … [Continue reading]
After exploring El Jem's Roman amphitheater and the town that surrounds it, we went to the archaeological museum. Roman mosaics excavated nearby constitute 95% of its exhibits. That single-mindedness works, since what the museum lacks in breadth it … [Continue reading]
In the second century CE, Tunisia was part of the African breadbasket of the Roman Empire. El Jem, in this pre-Arab world, was called Thysdrus and was something of a vacation spot for merchants who had gotten rich from the olive oil trade. As the … [Continue reading]
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