At 0900 h on Monday morning we were downstairs enjoying the joyless breakfast provided by our hotel, but by 0945 h we were back in bed for a nap. Our body clocks were still set on Halifax time- so it was after 11 when we finally left the hotel. Although the skies remained overcast, the heavy rain seemed to have ended, and we decided to spend the rest of the day exploring Sidi Bou Said and Carthage. Since the price to do a tour by car was 70 TD (about $60) compared to 1 TD per person each way on the metro, we made the obvious decision and walked down the avenue Habib Bourguiba to the Tunis Marine metro station.

Between the clock tower and the station, the avenue Habib Bourguiba was lined with colourful flower stalls. Photographs of the current Tunisian President, Ben Ali, were displayed at about every ten paces. The mid-day traffic was being directed by a beautiful Tunisian policewoman in full uniform, including a peaked cap and motorcycle gloves with deep cuffs. She blew her whistle and waved her arms with great authority. Women have a greater degree of freedom in Tunisia than in other Muslim countries; most do not veil their faces and many do not wear headscarves. In spite of that, true equality is probably not the reality. Even though the avenue Habib Bourguiba looks almost Parisian at first glance, closer inspection reveals that the tables in all the sidewalk cafés are nearly entirely occupied by men, by day and by night.

The metro system in Tunis is an above- ground electric rail system, inexpensive and efficient. If only we had something like it in Halifax! Our train arrived just minutes after we bought our tickets and the ride to Sidi Bou Said took less than half an hour. Sidi Bou Said is famous for its charming white and blue Greek-style buildings, bougainvillea and ocean views. With the tourist season not yet in full swing, the streets were very quiet. The view from the cliff overlooking the sea probably wasn't at its best, since the heavy rain and high wind during the weekend had stirred up the water. The shallow sections closest to shore were a chocolate-milk brown rather than the deep blue we might have seen on a calm sunny day. In any case, Rick was more interested in scoping out the marina below the cliff (almost all power boats with only a few cruising sailboats) than in looking at the view. After wandering aimlessly into a few shops and checking out the menus of a few restaurants, we decided to move on to Carthage for lunch. On the way down the hill to the station we were aggressively pursued by a street vendor who so desperately wanted to sell me a bracelet that the price dropped from 35 TD to 3 TD at warp speed. At 3 TD it was probably a good deal but by then I was too annoyed to buy anything from him. Later, I felt a bit sorry for him since it must be difficult to make a living during the low season and the problems with the world economy are undoubtedly causing a downturn in tourism.

Our plans for lunch in Carthage were "derailed" when the ticket agent at the metro station could not change a 10 dinar bill, so we decided to have shwarma and falafel sandwiches in a cheap restaurant near the station- not bad, but not as good as our favourite Lebanese restaurant in Halifax. After paying for our lunch, we had enough "petite monnaie" to buy our tickets to Carthage Hannibal station- which is just three metro stops from the Sidi Bou Said station. Following the excellent directions provided by a giggling teenager who seemed very pleased to demonstrate her English skills, we found the Carthage site easily. After paying 10 TD for two tickets that we assumed were the full-access tickets described in our guidebook, we discovered that we had in fact bought tickets to see the "Acropolium", a cathedral (now deconsecrated) built in the 19th century in memory of the French king Louis who died in Carthage during the crusades. The building was not particularly noteworthy- and did we really need to know that Louis' body was boiled in wine and his flesh shipped to France? Louis was eventually canonized, in spite of a nasty rumour that he hadn't died at all, but had merely jumped ship to enjoy the aesthetic pleasures offered by Carthage and Sidi Bou Said.

Eventually we made our way to the entrance of the Carthage museum, where we had to purchase new tickets (8 TD each) that provided access to the remaining historic sites. The museum was fascinating, with both Roman and Carthaginian artifacts. Many of the household objects on display dated back to over two thousand years ago, before the Romans destroyed Carthage. My personal favourite was a display of fragments of wine jars, stamped with the dates the wine had been produced!

The Carthaginians have captured our imaginations since we first encountered stories of their power on the Iberian peninsula. Carthage is said to have been founded in 814 BC by the Phoenician queen Dido (from Lebanon) and the settlement eventually grew to become the major power in the Mediterranean. Hannibal, the famous military leader who crossed the Alps with elephants, was born here. Models and maps of early Carthage on display in the museum gave us better insight into the marvel of their highly-defendable port. The inner port was entered through a long and narrow bustling commercial harbour where goods being shipped to and from other Mediterranean ports were loaded and unloaded . A narrow channel linked the commercial port to the inner, circular military port, which could hold over 200 war ships on its dry-docks and quays. This probably explains why it was only after three wars spanning more than a hundred years (between 263 and 146 BC) that the Romans finally defeated the Carthaginians. By that time, they were so fed up with fighting them that they leveled Carthage and salted the earth. The Romans referred to the Carthaginian civilization as "Punic" and Roman historians claimed that the Carthaginians practiced ritual child sacrifice (a claim disputed by some but very likely true given the existence of numerous child burial sites). Eventually, the Romans returned to establish their own great city on the site of Carthage. Today, although little remains of the original Carthaginian settlement, one small section known as Hannibal's quarter survived in the rubble beneath the Roman city and has now been excavated. It was a surreal experience to stand beside the ancient walls, stare out over the old Punic port at the Mediterranean and think about the great civilization that once existed here.

There is more to be seen at Carthage, including a Roman theatre, Roman baths and the sanctuary of Tophet (one of the aforementioned child burial grounds) but we ended our tour at Hannibal's quarter and took the metro back to our hotel for an early dinner at the Café Andalous. Although the ambiance in the restaurant is pleasant and the waiter was very friendly, the food was mediocre and we realized that we should have gone back to the neighbourhood Tunisian restaurant where we could have had a better meal for less than a quarter of the price.

The next morning the skies were sunny and I had just enough time for a last walk down the avenue before loading our luggage into the taxi for the 90 minute drive to Monastir. Tunisia is pleasant in springtime, with wildflowers in bloom and perhaps a little less garbage along the roads than we remembered from our drive to Tunis in September. We arrived at the marina, got our bags over Aisling's bow with the driver's kind help, and climbed onboard with a bit of trepidation. A gas can had leaked five gallons of gasoline onto our teak deck (thanks heavens no one lit a match!), the hanging locker in the forward cabin smelled a bit mustier than usual and there was almost enough Sahara sand on the decks to start our own private beach, but otherwise things looked good. Unlike last year, both the engine and the fridge started on the first try. "Spike", the cactus that Wally and Martha bought for us in Cartagena last year, was still alive. As we gradually unpacked the bags and stowed our belongings, we made various happy discoveries- 35 euros stashed in a little handbag (gotta love it when that happens!) a sealed box of All-Bran (almost as valuable as the euros), two jars of aioli, a bottle of our favourite French salad dressing and a bottle of Spanish cava. It will probably take us over a week to get everything cleaned and sorted out, but it's great to be back onboard Aisling!