On the first day we only managed to go to the Place d’Independence to eat something and walkaround. The options were:
§ Lots of creperies, where you can have delicious salty or sweet
crepes (egg/cheese/thon/... or chocolate/almond/honey/etc.) for around
1 Dinar – 1.5 Dinar each. 1-2 are sufficient for a meal.
§ Sandwiches with Döner Kebap (called “Chawarma”) or other
fillings.
§ Roasted chicken (around 2.5 Dinars for 1/8 chicken, salad and
fried potatoes on the side).
§ Quite expensive restaurants with typical Tunisian food, etc.
There are also lots of cafes where men sit; and lots of them where females
and males can both go, but you have to stand. As we wanted to sit outside,
we went to the Place de la Victoire closeby. However, we had to pay 8 Dinars
each for a tiny portion chicken, and regretted it badly. This was the most
expensive meal (in total: 27 Dinars!!!) we had during our stay in Tunisia,
including open buffet in four star hotels.
TUNIS 10 October 2000
  |
On the same place, there is also a tourist information, where you can
find all kinds of brochures, maps, etc. Except at the tourist information
and very seldom at other places you will somebody who speaks a little English.
It could be a good idea to learn some French or Arabic, or bring a French
dictionary as all signs are in French & Arabic, and I had the impression
that every single person speaks these languages.
We spent the whole day walking around the old part of the city the Medina. There are lots of historical mosques, medreses (universities), mausoleums, etc., as well as a large closed bazaar with hundreds of shops, and narrow old streets with houses, shops, restaurants, etc. |
|
| Streets in the Medina | ||
 Great
Mosque of Tunis |
Muslims can enter all sights like mosques, mausoleums, etc. for free, non muslimsare only admitted to the patios, and have to pay a fee. |  |
| The Minaret of the Great Mosque | ||
After hours of walking around between lots of shops full of carpets, perfumes,
earthenware, clothes, etc. And other souvenirs; narrow streets with simple
houses with beautiful doors and windows,etc, we had lunch in one of the
non-touristic restaurants in the side streets. It was typical Tunisian
food: Couscous with lamb meat ("Couscous a l’agneau"), pasta with lamb
meat (macaroni a l’agneau), vegetable sauce, 1 litre of Coca Cola, and
a big bottle of water, all together for 7 Dinars.
In the evening, we wanted to have a drink, so we asked a few people for a bar where also females went. As they did not know, we went to a hotel bar:The Oriental palace Hotel, Rue Janue Jaures, 5 stars. It had a roof bar, medium quality; beer cost 3 Dinars for local beer.
On the Place de l’Independance, there are also some car rental agencies, like Hertz, Europca, Firstcar, etc. At Firstcar, a local company, we found the best price. For 7 days, we rented a new Fiat Palio 1.0 with airconditioning, taxes and unlimited mileage included, for 280 Dinars. They took credit cards. Credit cards do not work in most places, so it is a good idea to have cash.
Doors
We noticed that houses themselves in Tunisia were very plain, but the doors and windows were heavily decorated. Some doors:
