Cooler Weather

The weather this morning was much cooler,and during the day as well,so it was much more comfortable travelling back on the train to La Marsa.Also there weren't so many people on the train.Yesterday afternoon went down to the beach,the sea was nice and rough,good for surfers.

El Passe Revisite at Cafe Saf Saf

Musical event at the cafe Saf Saf;pleasant,entertainment by a musical troupe of Tunisians and an Algerian.It was a nice relaxing setting for the concert.The most interesting song for me was one in which they varied their voices;it seemed quite experimental.When the violinist and the recordist were playing it reminded me of the desert scences from the film 'The English Patient'.However,both Kaithe and I were bored by the narrator,in the intervals;obviously if we knew some Arabic it wouldn't have been boring.We would have liked more music but surprisingly the musicians had already packed up their musical instruments,not even staying long enough on stage for some applause.

Fire of Anatolia

Last night I went to see the show ' Fire of Anatolia',I decided to go at the last minute,better than hanging around at home feeling bored.Due to the Ramadan effect the show started at 11pm and not 10pm(the people at the mosque next to the theatre didn't finish praying until 10.30.)Well the show was brilliant,Turkish dancing at its best!

However,strange things were happening in the audience:just before the interval during the fight dance scene suddenly there was a blood curdling screen from a woman to my left;at first it seemed someone had been stabbed or something.The woman was screaming hysterically;it seemed that she was accusing the woman behind her of stealing something from her bag.It seemed the screaming woman was about to lunge at the other woman and punch her.Life imitating art.
It was a bit difficult trying to watch the dance on stage!Eventually the screaming woman and the people around her were taken away by the usher.
Some of the dancing,especially when the dancers were all in a line at the front of the stage,reminded me of the Riverside shows.
 
I got home at just before 2am but was able to get up at 6 this morning,so I will have to catch up on my sleep tonight!

The Ramadan Effect

La Marsa is like a ghost town with many cafes and restaurants closed due to people fasting.Even the beaches and streets were practically deserted,so probably a good time to go for a swim with only a few people on the beach!

Meteor shower

Last night the second night of Meteor shower activity,the meteor passes through the northern hemishere every year in August but here in La Marsa the clouds were cloudy so visibility was low.A pity!
The clouds did lift a bit allowing star gazers to see some of the stars but not the shooting stars as seen by Europeans on Thursday night and early Friday morning.

The Ramadan Effect

Yesterday was the beginning of Ramadan 2010.
What interesting events will unfold during this period?

Fish in La Goulette

Monday night went to the restaurant 'Parador' in the area of Goulette to celebrate Laurie's last day in Tunisia.Originally we were going to 'Le Petit Etoile' but it was closed,perhaps because of Ramadan.Janet,Natalie,Kaithe,Tom and Dawn also came.I ended up eating Dorade again,it's usually the best thing to have in the Tunisian restaurants.

El Mana Circus

Went to see the French circus Mana last night,it was half circus and half musical.The costumes were very good especially the dragon and the aliens though I wasn't so keen on the singing.The show was an interesting colourful spectacle but it seemed short,only an hour and an half.The atmosphere in the Roman theatre was good with many kids having the colour light sticks.

Jes's last day

Saw Jes off at the airport but later on she texted me that there was a two hour two delay,which was a pity as we could have spent more time together.It's been a great few days with Jes!Later on Jes texted me telling me the delay was much longer and the flight took off at the time it was supposed to arrive in London ,well over three hours delay so Jes wasn't going to arrive home until midnight ! Anyway I hope she arrived safely,I expect she did.

Sidi Bou Said

Yesterday nice relaxing day with Jes in Sidi Bou Said.
In the evening Jes went to a concert by the Italian singer Eros Ramazotti.

Hammamet

The day before going to Hammamet,Jes and I spent a nice day in Sidi Bou Said first on the Alimicar Beach and later on had another swim at the beach next to Sidi Bou Said Marina and up to the village.Later on Jes had dinner with her friends.Spent a very nice time with Jes in Hammamet.The guy at 'Le Hammamet Hotel 'remembered me from the last time I was there.In the evening we had a nice meal at the nearby Italian restaurant.The next day was spent mostly on the beach and exploring the Souks in the Medina,and later on, cool refreshing milk shakes at an ice cream cafe on the way to catch the 'louage taxi' back to Tunis,which only took about 45 minutes.

Sunday On The Beach

Went to the beach at Amilcar,also had lunch at the beach restaurant.