Tunis or not tunis, thats not even a question

 
I woke early. The sun had barely started to thrust its beams of light through the openings at the top of the curtains. The building next door prevented them from glaring straight into the room.
I came in late last night. Didn't get to sleep until 2 am or thereabouts. So with a few short hours of sleep, I was surprisingly ready for action. I guess when you haven't been able to do your favorite thing for two years, you are ripe and ready for anything. Sleep or no.
After a quick shower, I headed down to the dining area. Only to remember as I stepped into the restaurant that I had forgotten my face mask. Mask mandate in the hotel. A quick trip back up to my room fixed that, and I was ready for some breakfast. I checked evenrything out in order to choose what I wanted. Save for sausages and eggs, everything was unfamiliar. What was all this? But more importantly: Who cares?
I loaded my plate with the familiar and unfamiliar and found myself a nice, 70's green couch by the wall with great view of the street below. I don't know if it was my au petite physique that made me sink into the depths of the couch like my teeth into a pudding. But when my behind finally settled, I felt like a 3-year-old. The table at neck height. I sat there for a few seconds. What did I want? "Feeling like a 3-year-old with great view, or an adult with a lesser view of the 70's green couch?" Hmmm. Choices. I swapped views.
After wading out of the couch and having settled into a chair, I picked up one item after another and let my tastebuds get to it. Familiar, unfamiliar and undecided tastes filled my mouth. All washed down with freshly made juice. Ah! The thrill of new experiences!

 

After finishing off my breakfast, I was ready for taking on Tunis!
I had already checked some stuff in the vicinity of my hotel. I found that my hotel was located on a seemingly very interesting street. With a cathedral, a few mosques and a large medina closeby. I wanted to visit all of them. And get lost.
Getting lost is one of my ways of discovering new things. Small shops. Hidden streets. Life of ordinary people. I usually find a landmark of some kind and then make sure I have the general direction. Like from the sun or something. Since the sun was up, it was easy to keep track of where I was. I walked for hours. Enjoying smells, sounds and just watching people going about their business.

One of the things I found, that I didn't know existed, was a tram system! There are only a few cities in the world that has a tram. My city at home, Oslo, is one of them. And Tunis is another! I smiled as a saw the tram come and go. I took a few photos and turned around to walk when a security officer stopped me. 

Officer : "Why you take photos?"

Me: "For my travel blog!"

Officer : "Where you from?"

Me: "Norway"

Officer : "Passport!"

I handed him my passport. His face lit up and he showed it to his colleague. "Norway" he told him and showed him the front of my passport. He gave it back to me. "Welcome to Tunisia! Have a great time here!" he said and smiled.

The street of my hotel

Cathedral

Stumbled upon a couple of wall paintings

Clock tower close to Tunis Marina

They have trams here!

A building I found by chance. Cool design

 
In the end, I got a bit thirsty and popped into a small hole-in-the-wall shop. I picked up a small bottle of water and put a 20 dinar note on the counter. I didn't get what the lady behind the counter was trying to tell me. Another customer in the shop, a young lady, tried French. "Mas petite". I understood. She didn't have any change. I only had a 20-dinar note. I tried to explain in English. The lady didn't understand. But after some hand-signalling it got through. I didn't have anything smaller. I apologized and took the bottle to return it to the fridge. The lady waved her hand. "No monsieur! Gratis!" I looked at her. She smiled. I looked at the lady behind the counter. She smiled and nodded too. "Merci" I said and smiled. Wow!  The rumoured hospitality of Tunisia! Reminded me of Iran.
After a day of walking, and taking a number of images, I ended up at a roadside restaurant. One of many along the street of my hotel. I opted for a plate of kebabs. They served me a soup with bread for starters. At the table next to mine was an elderly couple. The man was looking at his phone. They had already received their food, but were waiting for something. The man finally gave the go ahead. And I realized what this was. They were waiting for sundown. Ramadan. All the others around me started eating at the same time.
The soup was delicious, but a bit too spicey for my taste. I may be a "spaceman", but I have never been a spiceman. The kebabs were succulent and tasty.
After the meal, I just sat there. Enjoying the cool afternoon. Watching the skies turn deep blue, and the swallows shoot back and forth between the buildings.
Before I went back to the hotel, I decided to try out the homemade icecream I saw in a shop near my hotel. Two scoops of delicious icecream was a perfect ending to a long day.

Feels good to be travelling again.

Ragnar
Traveller