We were in La Goulette, the port town just outside of Tunis, in one of the seafood restaurants that line both sides of its streets. To dine here, choose your seafood and stuff it in a plastic bag. Hand it to a man who will weigh, de-scale, clean and grill it with cumin and salt.
Having grown up far from any coast, I could never have navigated this on my own. Luckily I didn't need to, because Brian and I were visiting our college friend Catherine and her Tunisian husband Omar. Omar patiently gave us a lesson in breaking off the fish head, pulling away its fins and avoiding all the tiny fish bones. I'm amazed that this no longer grosses me out.
By the end of the delicious meal, my plate was full of fish carnage and I had dripped grease onto my jeans. Omar and Catherine had piled the bones and shrimp carcasses neatly to one side of their plates, and dabbed their lips gently with paper towels.
Catherine has learned these kinds of tricks after living in Tunis for four years. She teaches very small people at the American Community School in Tunis, the same school that was robbed and set on fire during protests in 2012. The main target of the riot was the U. S. embassy across the road. There are no signs of damage or unrest in the cheery school campus today, though a security guard did run a mirror under the car to look for explosives when we drove in the gate.
Day two in Tunisia began with omelettes, freshed-squeezed orange juice and a trip to the suburbs. When I say suburbs, don't think of strip malls and soccer fields. Think of ancient ruins. Our first stop was Carthage, capital of the Phoenicians until the Romans beat them in the Punic Wars, circa 150 BC. They pulled their boats into this circular harbor which is now sort of intact and surrounded by well-to-do neighborhoods. It's so hard to really comprehend and appreciate how old some of this stuff is, that I just had to stop trying after a while.
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| At the Punic port in Carthage |
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| View from Gamarth |
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| Sidi Bou Said |
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| Sidi Bou, with prickly pears |
We visited the St Antonin Baths, whose lower levels remain mostly intact and available for you to touch or climb on, though a sign says not to. The Roman roads and sewer systems remain, ready for a rolling chariot or a rush of soapy water.
Not a bad place to take bath.
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| St Antonin Baths, Carthage |
La Marsa and Gamarth offered the best views, but the prettiest spot on our tour was Sidi Bou Said. Built along winding alleys on a hill top, the houses are crisp white with bright blue doors and windows, matching the color of the Mediterranean below when the sun is shining. Which it was. The famous thing to eat in Sidi Bou Said is not the fish, but the bambeloni. It's like a fried donut covered in sugar. Now that is something that we knew how to eat.
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| Bambeloni! |
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