Day 10 A Mosque Vist and a Resort Hotel in Kairouan

Today was the start of a few days of less hectic activities. Leaving time was a reasonable 9 but we were up early and ready to go. There were 4 things on the agenda today. The first place (cisterns) was cancelled because the site is under renovations for the next 2 years. It was the original collection place for the water for the city. All the water from the surrounding hills was channel for use by the town. The second stop was at a museum for one of the followers of Muhammad. It was actually a small mosque still in use. The tour guide took the opportunities today to go into detailed explanations of the Koran and all that it entails. It was more of a lecture on the subject than explaining what we saw. It was a bit too much info for people. The third stop was at the largest mosque in the area. Having been to a much larger one in Istanbul a few years ago, the layout within the walls was very similar. The most interesting thing about the building is that the materials were taken from older buildings.

2 blocks had Latin writing (the block was upside down!) but clearly came from the same area that we visited yesterday. Some of the columns were also taken and reused so that if they were the wrong height they were made to fit. Many of the columns had different non Arabic writings and 2 even had small crosses on them. They were taken from Christian churches. Most of the crosses had been removed. The prayer room itself was interesting in that there were support pillars throughout the room, something we had not seen before.

Of course only men are allowed inside the main area. Women gather on the edges to pray. After that we headed to our Hotel the Marhaba Palace where we are going to stay for 4 nights. As we were leaving the mosque, the bus starting beeping about the rear door being opened. It would not close (?) It seemed ok but the sensor had been tripped. So the afternoon activity was rescheduled for tomorrow. The sandy beach is very nice. We will be having a Remembrance Day service in the morning. The day was scheduled as a free day at leisure so everything will fit in. This hotel is right on the ocean and is very beautiful. It is classed as a resort! The dining area has an extensive buffet. There are almost too many choices. The hotel paid for wine tonight (probably because of the foul up when we tried to check in). They kept filling the glasses! Needless to say some people lingered after dinner!