Travels With Maria

Tunisia 2005

Tunis

After a week in southern Tunisia, we spent a couple of days in the capital, Tunis. This is a modern city with a small older section. We stayed on an upper floor in a modern hotel on a main boulevard. The neighborhood was not that interesting, but was clean and vaguely Parisian. The rooftops were peppered with satellite dishes, many on every building. We walked around the old town, a labyrinth of a bustling covered market and little quiet alleys. We visited a food market with spices, herbs, fruits and vegetables and fly-covered meat including a tray of turtles.
More

Camels!

On 5/5/5, we woke up in our tent and went outside to the cool oasis morning. After breakfast, we walked around the area and encountered lots of camels. We met a kid who offered to take us into the dunes on camelback so of course we did that. He gave us a good tour for a couple of hours, we rode a bit, climbed the dunes, enjoyed the emptiness of the desert. Back at the oasis, we bumped into a baby camel: Camels are pretty cool animals!
More

Midnight at the Oasis

On the morning of May 4, a Toyota 4WD picked us up at the hotel. Maria didn't know where we were going. Off we went into the desert. For the first hour or so, we were on paved road, but then the driver turned off onto a gravel / dirt / rocky track that seemed to get worse with every mile. We were bouncing pretty hard and the tough vehicle sounded like it might fall apart with constant banging. No sign of life except for the occasional herd of goats. Then the desert changed from rocky to sandy and off in the distance we saw green. I told Maria that was…
More

Tunisian Desert and Star Wars

We celebrated Maria's birthday by taking a bus tour into the Sahara. They said there are three types of desert: rocky, salt, and sandy. We went through miles of rocky desert, stopping at an oasis where there were date palms, viewing camel caravans, and visiting underground houses which were used as sets on the Star Wars movies. [caption id="attachment_654" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Camels![/caption] [caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Underground House Used in Star Wars Set[/caption] [caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Hillside Village in the Desert[/caption] [caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Rugs Drying Provide a Spash of Color[/caption] [caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Caravanserai Used as Star Wars Set[/caption]
More

Djerba Island

Djerba island is just off the east coast of Tunisia. It is a resort area with lots of European tourists. We hung around Djerba for several days, relaxing around the pool, visiting the spa, taking a motorbike tour and riding camels. A former French colony, Tunisia has a lot of visitors from France, but we were surprised by the number of Italians we ran into. But then, looking at a map, Italy is really close. We bought a lot of spices from this guy. Big bags of lots of good stuff. Our luggage smelled of spice market for the rest of the trip. [caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Something we don't see…
More

The Biggest Surprise

Our tenth anniversary was going to be April 29, 2005.  Some months earlier, I began planning a surprise trip for Maria. I had given her a series of cryptic hints in the weeks leading up to departure and told her what to pack but she had no idea where we were going, only when. On departure day, we went to Logan and were dropped off at terminal E, International Departures. We went inside and ended up in the line to check in for Paris. "Oh, we're going to France!" she said excitedly. "That's where we start," I replied. The overnight flight brought us to Paris, where we landed in the early…
More

Tunis

After a week in southern Tunisia, we spent a couple of days in the capital, Tunis. This is a modern city with a small older section. We stayed on an upper floor in a modern hotel on a main boulevard. The neighborhood was not that interesting, but was clean and vaguely Parisian. The rooftops were peppered with satellite dishes, many on every building. We walked around the old town, a labyrinth of a bustling covered market and little quiet alleys. We visited a food market with spices, herbs, fruits and vegetables and fly-covered meat including a tray of turtles.
More

Camels!

On 5/5/5, we woke up in our tent and went outside to the cool oasis morning. After breakfast, we walked around the area and encountered lots of camels. We met a kid who offered to take us into the dunes on camelback so of course we did that. He gave us a good tour for a couple of hours, we rode a bit, climbed the dunes, enjoyed the emptiness of the desert. Back at the oasis, we bumped into a baby camel: Camels are pretty cool animals!
More

Midnight at the Oasis

On the morning of May 4, a Toyota 4WD picked us up at the hotel. Maria didn't know where we were going. Off we went into the desert. For the first hour or so, we were on paved road, but then the driver turned off onto a gravel / dirt / rocky track that seemed to get worse with every mile. We were bouncing pretty hard and the tough vehicle sounded like it might fall apart with constant banging. No sign of life except for the occasional herd of goats. Then the desert changed from rocky to sandy and off in the distance we saw green. I told Maria that was…
More

Tunisian Desert and Star Wars

We celebrated Maria's birthday by taking a bus tour into the Sahara. They said there are three types of desert: rocky, salt, and sandy. We went through miles of rocky desert, stopping at an oasis where there were date palms, viewing camel caravans, and visiting underground houses which were used as sets on the Star Wars movies. [caption id="attachment_654" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Camels![/caption] [caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Underground House Used in Star Wars Set[/caption] [caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Hillside Village in the Desert[/caption] [caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Rugs Drying Provide a Spash of Color[/caption] [caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Caravanserai Used as Star Wars Set[/caption]
More

Djerba Island

Djerba island is just off the east coast of Tunisia. It is a resort area with lots of European tourists. We hung around Djerba for several days, relaxing around the pool, visiting the spa, taking a motorbike tour and riding camels. A former French colony, Tunisia has a lot of visitors from France, but we were surprised by the number of Italians we ran into. But then, looking at a map, Italy is really close. We bought a lot of spices from this guy. Big bags of lots of good stuff. Our luggage smelled of spice market for the rest of the trip. [caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Something we don't see…
More

The Biggest Surprise

Our tenth anniversary was going to be April 29, 2005.  Some months earlier, I began planning a surprise trip for Maria. I had given her a series of cryptic hints in the weeks leading up to departure and told her what to pack but she had no idea where we were going, only when. On departure day, we went to Logan and were dropped off at terminal E, International Departures. We went inside and ended up in the line to check in for Paris. "Oh, we're going to France!" she said excitedly. "That's where we start," I replied. The overnight flight brought us to Paris, where we landed in the early…
More

Tunis

After a week in southern Tunisia, we spent a couple of days in the capital, Tunis. This is a modern city with a small older section. We stayed on an upper floor in a modern hotel on a main boulevard. The neighborhood was not that interesting, but was clean and vaguely Parisian. The rooftops were peppered with satellite dishes, many on every building. We walked around the old town, a labyrinth of a bustling covered market and little quiet alleys. We visited a food market with spices, herbs, fruits and vegetables and fly-covered meat including a tray of turtles.
More

Camels!

On 5/5/5, we woke up in our tent and went outside to the cool oasis morning. After breakfast, we walked around the area and encountered lots of camels. We met a kid who offered to take us into the dunes on camelback so of course we did that. He gave us a good tour for a couple of hours, we rode a bit, climbed the dunes, enjoyed the emptiness of the desert. Back at the oasis, we bumped into a baby camel: Camels are pretty cool animals!
More

Midnight at the Oasis

On the morning of May 4, a Toyota 4WD picked us up at the hotel. Maria didn't know where we were going. Off we went into the desert. For the first hour or so, we were on paved road, but then the driver turned off onto a gravel / dirt / rocky track that seemed to get worse with every mile. We were bouncing pretty hard and the tough vehicle sounded like it might fall apart with constant banging. No sign of life except for the occasional herd of goats. Then the desert changed from rocky to sandy and off in the distance we saw green. I told Maria that was…
More

Tunisian Desert and Star Wars

We celebrated Maria's birthday by taking a bus tour into the Sahara. They said there are three types of desert: rocky, salt, and sandy. We went through miles of rocky desert, stopping at an oasis where there were date palms, viewing camel caravans, and visiting underground houses which were used as sets on the Star Wars movies. [caption id="attachment_654" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Camels![/caption] [caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Underground House Used in Star Wars Set[/caption] [caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Hillside Village in the Desert[/caption] [caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Rugs Drying Provide a Spash of Color[/caption] [caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Caravanserai Used as Star Wars Set[/caption]
More

Djerba Island

Djerba island is just off the east coast of Tunisia. It is a resort area with lots of European tourists. We hung around Djerba for several days, relaxing around the pool, visiting the spa, taking a motorbike tour and riding camels. A former French colony, Tunisia has a lot of visitors from France, but we were surprised by the number of Italians we ran into. But then, looking at a map, Italy is really close. We bought a lot of spices from this guy. Big bags of lots of good stuff. Our luggage smelled of spice market for the rest of the trip. [caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Something we don't see…
More

The Biggest Surprise

Our tenth anniversary was going to be April 29, 2005.  Some months earlier, I began planning a surprise trip for Maria. I had given her a series of cryptic hints in the weeks leading up to departure and told her what to pack but she had no idea where we were going, only when. On departure day, we went to Logan and were dropped off at terminal E, International Departures. We went inside and ended up in the line to check in for Paris. "Oh, we're going to France!" she said excitedly. "That's where we start," I replied. The overnight flight brought us to Paris, where we landed in the early…
More

Tunis

After a week in southern Tunisia, we spent a couple of days in the capital, Tunis. This is a modern city with a small older section. We stayed on an upper floor in a modern hotel on a main boulevard. The neighborhood was not that interesting, but was clean and vaguely Parisian. The rooftops were peppered with satellite dishes, many on every building. We walked around the old town, a labyrinth of a bustling covered market and little quiet alleys. We visited a food market with spices, herbs, fruits and vegetables and fly-covered meat including a tray of turtles.
More

Camels!

On 5/5/5, we woke up in our tent and went outside to the cool oasis morning. After breakfast, we walked around the area and encountered lots of camels. We met a kid who offered to take us into the dunes on camelback so of course we did that. He gave us a good tour for a couple of hours, we rode a bit, climbed the dunes, enjoyed the emptiness of the desert. Back at the oasis, we bumped into a baby camel: Camels are pretty cool animals!
More

Midnight at the Oasis

On the morning of May 4, a Toyota 4WD picked us up at the hotel. Maria didn't know where we were going. Off we went into the desert. For the first hour or so, we were on paved road, but then the driver turned off onto a gravel / dirt / rocky track that seemed to get worse with every mile. We were bouncing pretty hard and the tough vehicle sounded like it might fall apart with constant banging. No sign of life except for the occasional herd of goats. Then the desert changed from rocky to sandy and off in the distance we saw green. I told Maria that was…
More

Tunisian Desert and Star Wars

We celebrated Maria's birthday by taking a bus tour into the Sahara. They said there are three types of desert: rocky, salt, and sandy. We went through miles of rocky desert, stopping at an oasis where there were date palms, viewing camel caravans, and visiting underground houses which were used as sets on the Star Wars movies. [caption id="attachment_654" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Camels![/caption] [caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Underground House Used in Star Wars Set[/caption] [caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Hillside Village in the Desert[/caption] [caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Rugs Drying Provide a Spash of Color[/caption] [caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Caravanserai Used as Star Wars Set[/caption]
More

Djerba Island

Djerba island is just off the east coast of Tunisia. It is a resort area with lots of European tourists. We hung around Djerba for several days, relaxing around the pool, visiting the spa, taking a motorbike tour and riding camels. A former French colony, Tunisia has a lot of visitors from France, but we were surprised by the number of Italians we ran into. But then, looking at a map, Italy is really close. We bought a lot of spices from this guy. Big bags of lots of good stuff. Our luggage smelled of spice market for the rest of the trip. [caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Something we don't see…
More

The Biggest Surprise

Our tenth anniversary was going to be April 29, 2005.  Some months earlier, I began planning a surprise trip for Maria. I had given her a series of cryptic hints in the weeks leading up to departure and told her what to pack but she had no idea where we were going, only when. On departure day, we went to Logan and were dropped off at terminal E, International Departures. We went inside and ended up in the line to check in for Paris. "Oh, we're going to France!" she said excitedly. "That's where we start," I replied. The overnight flight brought us to Paris, where we landed in the early…
More

Tunis

After a week in southern Tunisia, we spent a couple of days in the capital, Tunis. This is a modern city with a small older section. We stayed on an upper floor in a modern hotel on a main boulevard. The neighborhood was not that interesting, but was clean and vaguely Parisian. The rooftops were peppered with satellite dishes, many on every building. We walked around the old town, a labyrinth of a bustling covered market and little quiet alleys. We visited a food market with spices, herbs, fruits and vegetables and fly-covered meat including a tray of turtles.
More

Camels!

On 5/5/5, we woke up in our tent and went outside to the cool oasis morning. After breakfast, we walked around the area and encountered lots of camels. We met a kid who offered to take us into the dunes on camelback so of course we did that. He gave us a good tour for a couple of hours, we rode a bit, climbed the dunes, enjoyed the emptiness of the desert. Back at the oasis, we bumped into a baby camel: Camels are pretty cool animals!
More

Midnight at the Oasis

On the morning of May 4, a Toyota 4WD picked us up at the hotel. Maria didn't know where we were going. Off we went into the desert. For the first hour or so, we were on paved road, but then the driver turned off onto a gravel / dirt / rocky track that seemed to get worse with every mile. We were bouncing pretty hard and the tough vehicle sounded like it might fall apart with constant banging. No sign of life except for the occasional herd of goats. Then the desert changed from rocky to sandy and off in the distance we saw green. I told Maria that was…
More

Tunisian Desert and Star Wars

We celebrated Maria's birthday by taking a bus tour into the Sahara. They said there are three types of desert: rocky, salt, and sandy. We went through miles of rocky desert, stopping at an oasis where there were date palms, viewing camel caravans, and visiting underground houses which were used as sets on the Star Wars movies. [caption id="attachment_654" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Camels![/caption] [caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Underground House Used in Star Wars Set[/caption] [caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Hillside Village in the Desert[/caption] [caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Rugs Drying Provide a Spash of Color[/caption] [caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Caravanserai Used as Star Wars Set[/caption]
More

Djerba Island

Djerba island is just off the east coast of Tunisia. It is a resort area with lots of European tourists. We hung around Djerba for several days, relaxing around the pool, visiting the spa, taking a motorbike tour and riding camels. A former French colony, Tunisia has a lot of visitors from France, but we were surprised by the number of Italians we ran into. But then, looking at a map, Italy is really close. We bought a lot of spices from this guy. Big bags of lots of good stuff. Our luggage smelled of spice market for the rest of the trip. [caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Something we don't see…
More

The Biggest Surprise

Our tenth anniversary was going to be April 29, 2005.  Some months earlier, I began planning a surprise trip for Maria. I had given her a series of cryptic hints in the weeks leading up to departure and told her what to pack but she had no idea where we were going, only when. On departure day, we went to Logan and were dropped off at terminal E, International Departures. We went inside and ended up in the line to check in for Paris. "Oh, we're going to France!" she said excitedly. "That's where we start," I replied. The overnight flight brought us to Paris, where we landed in the early…
More

Tunis

After a week in southern Tunisia, we spent a couple of days in the capital, Tunis. This is a modern city with a small older section. We stayed on an upper floor in a modern hotel on a main boulevard. The neighborhood was not that interesting, but was clean and vaguely Parisian. The rooftops were peppered with satellite dishes, many on every building. We walked around the old town, a labyrinth of a bustling covered market and little quiet alleys. We visited a food market with spices, herbs, fruits and vegetables and fly-covered meat including a tray of turtles.
More

Camels!

On 5/5/5, we woke up in our tent and went outside to the cool oasis morning. After breakfast, we walked around the area and encountered lots of camels. We met a kid who offered to take us into the dunes on camelback so of course we did that. He gave us a good tour for a couple of hours, we rode a bit, climbed the dunes, enjoyed the emptiness of the desert. Back at the oasis, we bumped into a baby camel: Camels are pretty cool animals!
More

Midnight at the Oasis

On the morning of May 4, a Toyota 4WD picked us up at the hotel. Maria didn't know where we were going. Off we went into the desert. For the first hour or so, we were on paved road, but then the driver turned off onto a gravel / dirt / rocky track that seemed to get worse with every mile. We were bouncing pretty hard and the tough vehicle sounded like it might fall apart with constant banging. No sign of life except for the occasional herd of goats. Then the desert changed from rocky to sandy and off in the distance we saw green. I told Maria that was…
More

Tunisian Desert and Star Wars

We celebrated Maria's birthday by taking a bus tour into the Sahara. They said there are three types of desert: rocky, salt, and sandy. We went through miles of rocky desert, stopping at an oasis where there were date palms, viewing camel caravans, and visiting underground houses which were used as sets on the Star Wars movies. [caption id="attachment_654" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Camels![/caption] [caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Underground House Used in Star Wars Set[/caption] [caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Hillside Village in the Desert[/caption] [caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Rugs Drying Provide a Spash of Color[/caption] [caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Caravanserai Used as Star Wars Set[/caption]
More

Djerba Island

Djerba island is just off the east coast of Tunisia. It is a resort area with lots of European tourists. We hung around Djerba for several days, relaxing around the pool, visiting the spa, taking a motorbike tour and riding camels. A former French colony, Tunisia has a lot of visitors from France, but we were surprised by the number of Italians we ran into. But then, looking at a map, Italy is really close. We bought a lot of spices from this guy. Big bags of lots of good stuff. Our luggage smelled of spice market for the rest of the trip. [caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Something we don't see…
More

The Biggest Surprise

Our tenth anniversary was going to be April 29, 2005.  Some months earlier, I began planning a surprise trip for Maria. I had given her a series of cryptic hints in the weeks leading up to departure and told her what to pack but she had no idea where we were going, only when. On departure day, we went to Logan and were dropped off at terminal E, International Departures. We went inside and ended up in the line to check in for Paris. "Oh, we're going to France!" she said excitedly. "That's where we start," I replied. The overnight flight brought us to Paris, where we landed in the early…
More