Green Tunisia

Well,some parts of Tunisia are quite green at least in the sense of the countryside of the north part of Tunisia,the area of Amdram and towards Tarbaka.
A couple of weekends ago a group of us visited the table mountain,Jouratha,by the samll town of El Kef,where you are magnificient views of the surrounding countryside;unfortunatley the hazy weather made it impossible to see Algeria.
On the way to El Kef we were stopped several times by the police,I guess it's due to possible terriorist activities.
Well the view of the country from the hill sides of Amdram are quite spectacular but it's a pity that there's loads of rubbish,there were lots of burnt out rubber tyres.

The best thing about Tarbaka is the Genoese castle and the views from the other side of the castle;the jagged rocks on the coastline contrasting against the smooth castle walls.

Pat

Tunisian Jazz evening

A Tunisian jazz concert but actually more of a comedy show with music between the lead singer's jokes,playful banter with the other members in the group and interactions with the audience.In the first thirty minutes only three songs were performed and quite often during the concert I felt as if I was still waiting for the music.A wery lively audience who sang along with the lead singer David,at least I think that was his name,and there was one amusing moment when,near the beginning of the concert,an elderly woman wandered up to the stage saying quite loudly that she couldn't find her seat,later on there was more playful banter between her and the lead singer.
If my French had been better and if I had some knowledge of Tunisain Arabic I would have been able to enjoy the many jokes that were being told.
As for the theatre it was a bit claustrophobic as the seats were very close together and in addition it was hot inside the theatre.
Well an interesting experience of a night of Tunisian jazz music,though it seemed more more a mixture of jazz,Spanish guitar music and folk.

The Irish Embassador

An Irish Embassador role was up for grabs;last Thursday I went to a casting session for this particular role in a Channel 5 production of a film based on a true event that happened in the events leading up to the Iraq War.My audition could have been better neverless it was fun trying out for the part;I don't think I could have done a good Irish accent.The filming is to take place in the city of Tozeur.

Clear Blue Skies over Zaghouan

Clear blue sky and a warm sunny day was the perfect weather for Sunday's trip to Zaghouan;next two days brought a bit of everything:grey cloudy sky,rain,a biting cold blustery wind. On the way to Zaghoaun we passed the impressive-looking Roman aqueduct;over 77 miles all the way to Carthage.The original complete aqueduct must have been even more impressive.

Visited the old part of Zaghouan and the temple of water.

Later had lunch at the Farmhouse restaurant.

In the morning on the coach I provided a commentary and on the way back to Tunis I did a short quiz on some of the things we'd seen.

Pat

London:snow,delays,Eurostar delayed by 'fluffy'snow

Last Friday after a 5 hour delay at Tunis arirport my British Airways flight to London finallly took off;no announcments made or compensation given, just the continous message 'en retard' on the departures board.
However,no problems at Heathrow as there seemed to be only snow in the south which caused Gatwick airport to close for 2 hours and cancel lots of flights.Perhaps I should have flown to Heathrow!

The Eurostar trains were delayed with many irate passengers stranded in Paris and London a bizarre explanation of 'fluffy snow' was given for the breakdown of the trains.
The weekend in London was quite warm and sunny but Monday the sky grey and cloudy with a mixture and snow hitting the streets of London causing traffic to almost come to a grinding halt.

Hamanment

Lots of nice sandy beaches.There were quite a few tourists though mostly from Germany.
I had a brief swim on the first day in Hammamet.
The next day visited the fort and La Medina;good view from the top of the fort.

Laurie all cut up

To cut a long story short Laurie cut her foot on a broken bottle in the street while going to Andy's car(he as was giving us a lift back home).At first it seemed a small cut but when we saw the blood seeping out Andy's quickly administed first aid.
We went to the clinic in La Marsa and Laurie had to have stiches in her foot and later on a Tetanus injection.