Tunisia: Saturday, February 27 - Island of Djerba!

Woke up at 5:45am. Headed down to breakfast at 6:30am. The dining hall is a separate building from the hotel. You walk through a pretty courtyard as the sun is rising.





The dining hall



Back of the hotel looking at the courtyard area.



Pool area looking out onto the Mediterranean Sea.







Sunset on the Mediterranean





Met these two on my way back to the hotel room. The one at my near was quite the talker that morning. She had lots to tell me.

We checked out of the hotel and were on our way to El Jem at 7am. It has the world's third largest existing colosseum, and is in better shape than the one in Rome. There were other larger ones but the Vandals destroyed them. Luckily this one was kept and is still in good condition, but just like the colosseum in Rome, it was used as a marble quarry so barely any of the original exterior remains.









Overlooking the city of El Jem from on top of the colosseum





My roommate Ashley took this picture of moi. They actually let you walk all over the colosseum. Even on this very narrow strip of nothing.

After El Jem, we got back on the bus and headed toward the ferry boat that would take us to the island of Djerba, which is the Island of the Lotus Eaters in the Odyssey. The scenic ride through the northern parts of Tunisia is beautiful and is almost entirely all olive groves that go on for miles. Tunisia is a huge producer of olive oil.






We had a lunch break at a little hole in the wall place where I mistakenly ordered pizza and have now experienced the worst tasting pizza of my life. Lesson learned: do not attempt pizza outside of Italy. Stick with the coucous and brik.

Finally we made it to the ferry boats and it was quite windy on the water but it was awesome watching the island getting closer.





That island on the horizon is Djerba!



And yes, our coach bus came too.

We drove up to a little town called Guellala which is known for it's pottery where they paint with traditional designs. The pottery is also very fragile because all they use is the salt water and the clay can be a little more brittle. We ended up finding a shop where they sold pottery and jewelry and the men there were very nice and not too pushy at all. They had a kick wheel out and showing people how they throw a pot.





We were supposed to head to the Ghriba synagogue but it was closed to the public for a holiday celebration so we planned on visiting it first thing next morning. We headed to the Houmt Souk which is a really big flea market on Djerba and I must say, I really really did not like it. It was one big flea market for tourists. Everyone was selling the same thing and trying to tell you how original it is... I ended up buying two scarves from a seller who was quite the pain in the ass and I had to walk out 4 times before he gave them to me for 6 dinars a piece. He originally wanted 40! When we settled on a price he shook my hand and wiped his brow to show me how much of a hard ass I was with the haggling. And I agree, he was determined to rip me off. Geez... It's just scarves for crying out loud!

So after that joyous occasion we headed to the Hotel Castille and was greeted by the hotel director himself and they had drinks for us and everyone was so nice there! The layout of the hotel was a total maze though. We went over the river and through the woods until we found out room.











Yet again the shower and toilet are separated.

We had dinner in the hotel which they set up a huge table just for us and had us come a half hour early so we could eat first. I wish I got a picture of the dining area, it was really big and had a lot of good food. And free drinks! All the other hotels on this trip charged for the drinks. Which is comical considering this hotel was on an island and clearly gets everything imported from the mainland.

Later a bunch of kids went to the discotheque and fell madly in love with the dance instructor. I must be getting old because I was too tired for that. haha. I wanted to make sure I got enough sleep for yet another early wake up call.... tomorrow I would be venturing to Douz and heading out into the desert!