Secret Tour of the Medina

I would show you pictures... but it's a closely guarded secret. Not really. I forgot to put my memory card back in the camera so when I went out today, it was 'camera non-functional'. I'll try hard to give you my impressions and paint a picture for you by stealing images off the Internet. Thank you Google Image Search.

First, I've been to the Medina before. One of my friends took me down there almost the first week I was in Tunis. We laughed at the merchants who start shouting in the language they THINK you are, and then ripple through a bunch of languages hoping that you'll turn your head when they say something in your tongue. Apparently, we two strawberry blondes look Russian. Or there was a Russian tour in town. Either way, they started with some slavic sounding language before trying English with us.

When we went to the Medina, we entered at the mini Arch de Triumph called the Porte de France. We walked down one crowded alley, crossed over, then worked our way back down toward the main entrance. We wandered for about an hour, then had a nice cup of tea before heading back to the hotel.

This trip, we had a native guide. I would tell you her name, but I'm sure I can't spell it, let alone pronounce it. She was adorable. She was raised in Tunis and lived downtown, next to a metro train stop, and across the street from the Medina walls.

The Medina was the original 'walled city' that used to have the doors closed at nightfall. It has enormous block walls that must be 15 feet thick. I don't know if the walls are intact completely around the Medina, but I'm pretty sure you could follow them around. And it's big. With our guide, we wandered the Medina for three hours and never back tracked a single step. I had no idea it was so big. Then when we left in taxis, she had them skirt the Medina so we could get a good view of the exterior wall, and see the scale of the place.

She took us down shortcuts and alleyways I would never have attempted alone. Or in a group. Or armed with uzis. She showed us where the Tunisians shop. Where the goods are not marked up for tourists. She even helped bargain and bartered with the merchants when one of the tour members wanted something specifically. She knew the best vendors for every item and steered us to the best deals, the known values and made sure we didn't get ripped off.

Then when we were tired out, she took us home to her house where she fed us lunch. She served us cold drinks, local marinated olives, fresh bread and harissa while she prepared lunch. She made classic lubilubi sandwiches with chickpeas, a Tunisian quiche that doesn't have a crust, and even a homemade chocolate cake. That's right. After doing us the favor of shepherding our wandering crew all through the backstreets of the Medina and showing us all the secret places to shop... she took us home and cooked for us, served us lunch and made us feel like welcomed guests.

Have I mentioned how nice everyone is in Tunisia?

--Sandee Wagner