Tunisia Day II

After a good nights sleep and a good breakfast, Mehdi and I hit the streets again for some last minute shopping. Little did we know that when we left the hotel to get a cab we would be meeting up with Aloui Abdelssalem, our new best friend. Aloui not only drove us to the market, but for a few dinars extra he took us to his favourite stalls and promised to get us the best price.
The view from our room at the hotel.

Mehdi (left) and Aloui (bending down) hunting for bargains. We bought some home made olive oil here, beautifully packaged in an old plastic water bottle, it's so green!

Fruit and vegetables in the market.

Ladies in traditional local dress buying coal (this is not a religious dress, it is designed to keep dust off garments worn underneath and is unique to the region)

A cat in the tobaconist.

On the way back to the hotel Aloui stopped off for us to take some photo's. Here he is talking to me about got knows what!

We managed to do alot in 24hrs! Can't wait to go back to Tunisia.

Tunisia

Last month (as well as Brisbane) Mehdi and I did Tunis together!
The hotel was so luxurious, the best part being the breakfast on the house. We had perfect weather, although a little coolish after the sun went down.
As soon as we arrived we had a quick shower and headed downstairs to get a cab. A few dinars later we were in the town centre buying the greatest baguette sandwiches in a little ally full of locals and stray cats. Then it was back in the cab and heading up to Sidi Bou Said to watch the sunset and eat our baguettes.

Here's Mehdi outside one of the many small shops at Sidi Bou Said selling locally made crafts. Mostly Leather, ceramics and textiles. You can get some beautiful artifacts, but you need to keep a critical eye out for authenticity and dont forget your bartering skills, its apart of the local culture.

The view from the top of Sidi Bou Said:

Mehdi inside one of the small shops where we bought some ceramics.

After a little bit of shopping we jumped into another taxi and headed to Mehdi's Aunty's house to meet up with the family and have an unbeatable home cooked meal. It was so nice to catch up with everyone. We headed home laden with food and gifts, some to courier back to belgium.

Ingrid and Cyrine in Dubai

Ingrid and Cyrine spent a week with us in Dubai. The weather was very nice (perfect for shopping). We certainly found time for lots of that! And the appartment has never been so well aranged! Thankyou Ingrid and Cyrine!

Christmas Day

We were lucky enough to have Ingrid and Cyrine with us on Christmas Day,
We had a great day and a huge lunch (we cheated a bit by ordering our turkey from the Shangrila). Florent even bought some champagne, so it was as close to a real christmas as we could get!