Sousse, Tunisia

We sailed the last leg of our journey from Malta to Sousse, in Tunisia during the morning, with a clear sky and good weather. After breakfast, our historian David Barnes gave us an enlightened view of Islamic Civilization, which prepared us further for our next adventure: Tunisia.

After lunch we boarded our buses, and set out for an hour-long drive south into the country, to two outstanding UNESCO World Heritage sites. Our first stop: the village of Thysdrus, which was the original Roman name for El Djem.

The countryside is covered with millions of olive trees, sometimes interspersed with almond trees. We visited the museum first, where we admired dozens of mosaic floors, sometimes on walls for easier viewing. Incredible scenes of wildlife: birds, lions attacking boars, and many gods.

Immediately after this, we moved to the vicinity of the amphitheatre, the third largest Roman amphitheatre in the world, built for 35,000 spectators. It is very well preserved, but one wonders where so many people lived, as there is no presence of a city next to it.

Returning to Sousse, we stopped at the Medina, where some of us walked through part of it, and purchased a few souvenirs. Back at the ship, we had recap, and then a scrumptious dinner!