How many people do you know who have visited 4 continents? How many under 5 years olds? Well, I know at least 2: Honeybun and Sugarplum.
The most exotic, unusual and least traveled-by-families place we visited with the girls was probably Tunis, Tunisia. A smaller country (about the same size as Florida) on the North coast of Africa, nestled between Algeria and Lybia, Tunisia is a vastly Muslim state. Tunisia has a colorful cultural background as through history they have been conquered and ruled by many societies including the Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks, Italians, Spaniards, and the French. While Arabic is the official language in Tunisia, a majority of people also speak French and we were surprised to learn many also learn a third language in school such English or Italian.
We spent a day in Tunisia during a Mediterranean cruise which was our last European adventure just a month before moving back to Florida. Honeybun was 2 months shy of 4 years and Sugarplum was 21 months.
We were only off the ship in Tunis (the capital of Tunisia) for a few hours and for security reasons, chose to do a transfer from the port into the city through the cruise ship. Immediately after getting off the ship, we were greeted by traditional music and camels! Honeybun was delighted to see the camels and taking a ride was available for a small fee. We took advantage of a rare opportunity and put the girls up and Sugarplum freaked, she refused to let go of me and we ended up having to take her off despite the coaxing and comforting of myself, hubby and one of the ship’s photographers we had become friendly with. Honeybun was a little apprehensive as well, so though she sat nicely, we decided to not have them take her for a ride.
We then took a coach into the city and got a history of the country. Once arriving into Tunis, we thought we would be free to wander around the Souk (ancient market) but apparently the “transfer” we had signed up for included a visit to a rug shop which we had already experienced during our visit to the area around Ephesus in Turkey so we discreetly slipped out of the tour group to do our own thing.
Shopping in the Souk was amazing! In addition to the great cultural experience, we also bought so much there (a leather footstool, shoes for the girls, a painted ceramic multi-piece serving dish, a painting, a piece of sand art, and I don’t even remember what else) and spent less than $100 on all of it! We stopped for a snack in one of the main squares just outside the Souk and decided to take a different route back to where we were to be picked up by the bus. The path we took through the Souk originally was the “touristy” path with lots of traditional ware, crafty items, touristy things and gifts. The path we took going back was the local path and was crazy! Wall to wall people in an already tight space buying underwear, belts and shoes!
We arrived back to the meeting place early (we are always careful to leave plenty of time for unexpected when traveling) so while I “managed” the sleeping beauties, hubby took the time to wander around the City Hall and area where demonstrators gathered to protest during the Tunisian Revolution in 2010-2011 (just over a year before we visited). When we were planning the cruise I originally planned to just stay on the ship in Tunis and let hubby go explore but he convinced me it was safe (I trusted his judgement as he’s traveled extensively in Eastern Europe and the Middle East for work) and I’m so glad I trusted him. It was an experience I won’t ever forget!
