A Day In Hammamet: A Fort and Wine Tasting

Today was our first day of touring activities. A short drive took us to the centre of Hammamet. It is located right on the Mediterranean which means that it has had many different invaders. The main attraction was the Medina. A Medina is the old walled part of a North African town although we encountered the same in Sicily last year. The fortress wall surrounds this old section of town. The medina has very narrow streets with many intersecting twisting walkways. It would be easy to get lost in it but this one was very small.

The upper levels had some very expensive living areas, the lower levels were occupied by old houses with interesting doors. An interesting fact is that the doors have 3 different knockers. A lower small one is for use by children. Bigger ones and shoulder lever are for women to knock (on the left) and a larger one on the right for men. They each make a different sound so the occupant knows who is at the door. If a woman knocks a woman would answer. We did stop at the Dar Khadija very small museum. It had displays of various time periods from Tunisia's history. After that we stopped at the fort. The high wall afforded a nice view of the city but there was not much else of interest in fort.After about an hour bus ride we arrived at the winery for a tour.

Having visited a number of wineries in the past, as a tourist attraction it has a ways to go. We were treated to a wine tasting. A number of bottles of there wines were on a long display table and we just helped ourselves to as much or whatever we wanted. Lunch was in the same room with again long tables in the middle of all the large wine casks. Lunch was OK but it does to upgrade a lot to be a big attraction. We did buy a bottle to have in our room. Dinner tonight was the full buffet as usual. We were treated to a wine or beer by SDTours.

Tomorrow we have a very full schedule leaving at 6:30. Tunisia's garden peninsula and a preserved Phoenician town are on the schedule.

A Relaxing Day In Hammamet

After a really good sleep after the very long day(s) we did manage to get up in time for breakfast. The buffet area is very extensive and it is hard to resist overeating but lunch comes quickly.

Today was billed as a day to relax. The only thing we had on the schedule was a group meeting to review details of the entire trip. Daisy the tour manager went over a few general details for the trip (rotation of seats, covid, etc) and then OMAR the actual guide outlined the entire tour. SD Tours arranged the tour but it seems a local company was hired to conduct the entire thing. That is why Omar is the guide for everything. That is a bit of a change from last year's Sicily trip. There was way too much info at the meeting. For example what will have for lunch next week when we are away from the hotels! The only disappointment is that will not be using the “individual” voice transmitters for the guide which I found very useful last year. We changed some funds into the local currency to have available to spend in the small towns. They have a money exchange in the hotels which is convenient and the rate of exchange is set by the government. I had to go back to the room for a minute and decided to take the stairs back. Unfortunately the door locked and I found myself on the roof! Judy would never have found me but I eventually did find a propped up door to get back into the hotel. I did have a nice view of the ocean! We had a chance to walk the grounds. This is a very large resort judging by the number of lawn chairs next to the pool. We are right on the Mediterranean Sea with a very nice beach. This is a large resort (one of many in the area) and they have a large number of visitors from Europe. We did go for a walk towards the main part of town but stopped short. It is on the schedule with a guide in the next few days. Dinner tonight was the full buffet as usual. Tomorrow we go on our first tour. There is a bit of confusion as to what we will be doing. Our printed itinerary says one things but Omar seemed to flip days. Does it matter?

TRAVEL DAY AND ARRIVAL IN MANNANET TUNISIA

So we did finally arrive in Tunisia. We started travelling on Friday morning. We decided to take the train to Toronto and just enjoy the trip there. After an overnight with our family there (and a good night's sleep) we arrived at the airport around 4 for the first leg of the trip to Paris. It left at 7:45. Our Tour Manager Daisy met us and we quickly had our tickets, luggage tags and were through security. Unfortunately the airline seats you where they want and Judy was a few rows away from my seat further back in the bus. We spent our wait time talking to the others on our tour. We were all wearing our name tags! The Air France plane ride was smooth arriving in Paris aground 8. Judy did snag 2 glasses of wine. In Paris we had a 5 hour layover before out flight to Tunis. Senior Discovery gave each of the travellers a small stipend for food while we waited. It was a long wait after the long trans Atlantic ride and we did get a bit to eat but were not very hungry. Of course all of this was on top of the no sleep because of the red eye flight. Finally just after 2 we boarded for the final flight to Tunis. We were a bit delayed getting to Tunis and then over an hour wait to clear immigration.

I think the immigration agent was taking on the phone (to his girlfriend?). He took forever. We were one of the last of our tour group to finally clear the area. Needless to say we were tired by the time dinner was served around 7:00 local time. We had just finished the bus ride from the airport when it was time for the huge buffet style offering. We managed to eat a full meal and then got to our room. Staying 4 nights meant a big unpack getting our clothes ready for the next few days. After some searching we found everything we needed. There are 37 people on the tour and most seem to be fit enough for the activities planned. We have many from the west (Calgary, Vancouver, etc.) as well as Ontario. We will have one local guide for all site seeing. He has been a guide for close to 20 years so there should be plenty of local knowledge. So everything starts tomorrow with a resort day! We have a group meeting tomorrow and then “Free Time”

Tunisia Overview

After having travelled with Senior Discovery Tours last year and found that it was everything as advertised we decided

to travel again this fall. Our first choice did not have a the number of people needed to make the trip viable so we picked something that is is a little off the beaten path – Tunisia. This 16 day trip takes us to the north shore of Africa. Tunisia is due south of Sicily and has been described as a forgotten destination. Senior Discovery Tours main office is in Toronto but they are located in big cities across Canada. Everything is conducted by phone. Last year we were a bit skeptical about not using a travel agent but it worked out great. This company has a beautiful printed brochure. No need to look though pages of material on the internet although you can find them there as well. The part that was and is most appealing is that the price they quote is all in – air fare, transfers, meals, all tips, tours, taxes, etc. One price done! This land tour has a few more hotels than the Sicily trip. We stay 4 nights in Hammamet, leave on a 4 night coach tour to the south for desert oaisis, roman ruins resorts holy cities, Berber villages etc. Then we return north for a 4 day stay in Sousse and then finish with 2 night in Gammarth near Tunis the capital.

It is close to the Roman ruins of Carthage All the hotels are “resort”type hotels. With the central Mediterranean location, Tunisia has a long history of many cultural occupations. Phoenicians founded Carthage, next came the Romans, Vandals and Byzantine rule followed by the Arab and Ottoman Empires and finally the French. This has resulted in a variety and mixture of ruins and architectural styles. It should be fun. We fly out on Saturday night November 1 for Paris and then transfer for the second leg to Tunisia arriving later Sunday. We will retrace the flights from Tunis on November 16. Watch for posts every day.

Goodbye Sicily

After the last 16 days it was time to say goodbye! We were up before 2 in the morning as we had a 6 am flight from Messina to Rome. Our incredible driver was right on time at 3am with the luggage loaded and ready for the 1 hour drive. Over the last few weeks we have come to appreciate what an excellent driver we had. Walter seemed to be able to navigate the tightest turns and the never ending switchbacks as we moved around to island. There are dual lane highways but once off the beaten path the streets narrow with tight turns. Since we travelled around the coast of Sicily we needed to go through many small towns not designed for the “modern” automobile. Many in our group commented that they would not drive here. Take a tour! and let experienced drivers like Walter and the excellent guides do the rest!

The flight to Rome was about an hour. Etna did pop up into view as we left. We did have an extended stay in Rome (about 5 hours) while we waited for our Air Canada Flight to Toronto. 10 hours in the middle seats of the airplane were made tolerable by the fact that we were going home.

With Senior Discovery tours, we got exactly what was advertised. All tours and guides were part of the package except for the 2 optional tours that we decided to take. Our tour “manager” always had a surprise for us. Gelato, chocolate, cocktails, good stories etc. all made the trip truly a wonderful experience. Having at least 2 meals – breakfast and dinner - a day with the 24 other people enhanced the experience as we chatted about everything. And who can forget the wine with dinners! Sicily is an island with a multicultural past. Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Normans all have left their imprint on the culture and structures to be seen here. Endless areas of vineyards, citrus groves and olive trees can be seen. Thanks to Helen our Tour Manager who counted and recounted the group so that no one was “left” be

A Tour Of Castelmola

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Today we opted for a tour of a small town high above Taormina called Castlemola. It was only about 45 minutes from our hotel – a distance of about 6 kilometres. However it was another of this hairpin turns and hang over the edge type rides. There were at least 4 tour groups from cruise ships all visiting at the same time. It seems that everywhere we go we have seen group tours. This town had a different feel

to it than some of the other places we have been. Although a tourist attraction, with the small souvenir shops, it did not feel the same as other places. Our guide took us to several scenic overviews, the Duomo, the main squares as well as the steps to the “castle” which was the highest point of the village. It commanded a wonderful view of the coastline. Any group wanting to attack any of these towns had to be very determined. They could be seen miles away. We stopped at one of the places for a tasting of almond wine in a “risky” glass. The wine was very good and we got to keep the glass!

An interesting souvenir. We were back at the hotel around 1 so we decided to walk back up to Taormina and have lunch in a cafe and watch the tours go by. It was not as busy as a few days ago when we had the guided tour of the place. Tonight we had a farewell cocktail party before our farewell dinner. It was a chance to say “goodbyes” because we leave in the middle of the night for Rome! Etna was covered in clouds today. After the farewell party dinner was a step above what we had tasted in the past. Shrimp, Sicilian style after pasta! great meal with wine and toasts.

A Visit To Syracuse

Syracuse was the most important Greek city from the 5th to 3rd century B.C. It remained a powerful city until it was

defeated by the Romans in the 2nd century B.C. This was the last scheduled tour of this trip. Although it took about 2 hours form our base here to reach the city, we had a good view of Mt. Etna that seemed to be throwing up extra plums of smoke this morning. Our first stop was the Archaeological Park Necropolis. It was quite impressive a site which was evident as soon as we moved into it. We walked into the original quarry where slave worked to remove the limestone blocks which were used to build the city. There were massive “caves” where the blocks were removed by hammer a chisel. How they could even do it without modern equipment is amazing. The Ear of Dionysus is the most famous of these quarried caves. The Greek Teatro is very large and was hewing out of solid limestone. It is very impressive. The Romans also built an amphitheatre but it was small in comparison. There were many other sites in the park but we did not have time to visit them.

The second part of the tour was to the island of Ortigia. A short bride connects it to the mainland. Immediately after crossing the bridge we encountered the Temple of Apollo. There are many remaining parts of the structure. The main square has a large Duomo and buildings. We walked the “island” which is the oldest part of the city. It was the end of a long weekend, it was bright and sunny and all the restaurants were very crowded.

We had lunch along the waterfront and treated ourselves to another gelato. On the way back out of the city, we stopped at a cemetery where allied solders were buried. The grounds were impeccable. We did not have time enough to find the graves of Canadians who landed in this area in 1943.That ended the last included tour of this trip.Tomorrow we are taking another optional tour before preparing for our departure.