HOLLAND
GERMANY
AUSTRIA
ITALY
TUNISIA
Nights were spent in italicized locations.
2000 October 20: Friday
| Sep 20 |
Portland |
| Sep 21 | Charles
de Gaulle, Delft |
| Sep 22 | Amsterdam,
Delft |
| Sep 23 | Delft,
Rotterdam, Stromberg |
| Sep 24 | Dinkelsbühl,
Munich |
| Sep 25 | Schloss
Neuschwanstein, Munich |
| Sep 26 | Munich,
Solnhofen, Rothenburg ob der Tauber |
| Sep 27 | Rothenburg
ob der Tauber, Salzburg |
| Sep 28 | Berchtesgaden,
Salzburg |
| Sep 29 | Salzburg,
Vienna |
| Sep 30 | Vienna,
night train |
| Oct 01 | Venice |
| Oct 02 | Venice,
Verona, Florence |
| Oct 03 | Florence,
Pisa, Cinqe Terre (Monterosso) |
| Oct 04 | Cinqe
Terre: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, Monterosso |
| Oct 05 | Cinqe
Terre (Monterosso), Rome: Coliseum, Forum |
| Oct 06 | Palestrina,
Rome: St. Peter's, Vatican Museum |
| Oct 07 | Rome:
Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountaine, Palatine Hill, etc. |
| Oct 08 | Santa
Maria Capua Vetere, Caserta, Naples |
| Oct 09 | Pozzouli,
Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Caserta, Naples |
| Oct 10 | Positano |
| Oct 11 | Mt.
Vesuvius, Pompeii, Positano |
| Oct 12 | Paestum,
Positano |
| Oct 13 | Positano,
Amalfi, Ravello, night train |
| Oct 14 | Taormina |
| Oct 15 | Catania,
Palermo, Trapani |
| Oct 16 | all-day
ferry, Tunis |
| Oct 17 | Tunis,
Thuburbo Majus, Zaghouan, Kairouan |
| Oct 18 | Kairouan |
| Oct 19 | Mactaris,
Sufetula, Kairouan |
| Oct 20 | Kairouan,
Monastir, El Jem, Houmt Souk |
| Oct 21 | Ajim,
Medenine, Ksar Hadada, Tataouine |
| Oct 22 | Ksar
Ouled Soltane, Douirat, Chenini, Foum Tataouine, Matmata |
| Oct 23 | Matmata,
Douz, Chott El D'Jerid, Tozeur |
| Oct 24 | Sidi
Bouhlel, Chott El Gharsa, Tozeur |
| Oct 25 | Chebika,
Tamerza, Mides, Seldja Gorge, Tozeur |
| Oct 26 | Sidi
Bouhlel, Chott El D'Jerid, Tozeur |
| Oct 27 | Chott
El Gharsa, Chott El D'Jerid, Sidi Bouhlel, Tozeur |
| Oct 28 | Chott
El D'Jerid, Sidi Bouhlel, Tozeur |
| Oct 29 | Dougga,
Sidi Bou Said, La Marsa |
| Oct 30 | La Marsa,
Rome |
| Oct 31 | Rome,
Atlanta, Portland |
|
|
|
| ©2001-2008 by Mitch Darby - all rights reserved. | |
I was disappointed to leave Kairouan. I had a very good time there and had befriended many of the local shopkeepers. But I had other things I wanted to see and so I needed to stick to my schedule. Once out of the city, I headed east to the coastal city of Monastir.
01) KAIROURAN | I
took this photo just outside the gate to the medina. My hotel was the
second building from the left. My room was the third floor window all
the way on the right.
02) MONASTIR | The
ribat (fort) is famous for appearing in Monty Python's LIFE OF BRIAN and
for being restored. In fact, it has been restored so many times that no
one is sure just what parts of it are original.
03) MONASTIR | For
a few Dinars, you can explore the ribat on your own.
04) MONASTIR | Looking
south from the tower. The beach was the first one I encountered with fine
sand instead of gravel.
05) MONASTIR | Looking
north from the tower. The two spires on the left are part of the Bourguiba
family tomb. Habib Bourguiba was the first President of Tunisia and held
that office from the 50's until 1987 when he was displaced by the current
President Zine el-Abidine ben Ali. Bourguiba died in 1999.
06) MONASTIR | Looking
south towards the tower. It's not very high. Standing on the tower, I
could reach up and touch the flag.
07) MONASTIR |
The Bourguiba mausoleum can be seen at the far right. Bourguiba was born
in Monastir. Once President, he was responsible for reforming the country.
He gave women equal rights, banned polygamy, and challenged some of the
more strict interpretations of Islamic law.
08) EL JEM | South
of Monastir, the town of El Jem is absolutely dominated by the ruins of
this Roman Amphitheatre. Depending on what you read, it's between the
2nd and 6th largest discovered. Based upon my own research, I think it
is the 3rd or 4th largest known. It has been dated to around 230 AD.
09) EL JEM | The
"playing field" and risers on the right have been restored.
Note that there are only two trap doors in the floor. The underground
chambers were far simpler than those I encountered at Pozzouli.
10) EL JEM | The
state of the ruins allows one to imagine the various levels of construction.
Foundations are in the foreground, risers in the middle distance, and
the upper tiers are visible in the distance.
 11) EL JEM | The archways are every bit as impressive as those in Rome's Colosseum. |
 12) EL JEM | The view over El Jem. |
13) EL JEM | A
short distance away is the eroded remants of an older amphitheatre. This
proved to be the final (twelvth) amphitheatre I visited. I had planned
to visit the Roman towns of Haïdra and Carthage (with their amphitheatres),
but simply ran out of time (and interest!). Recent aerial photographs
have indicated that there may have been a third amphitheatre at El Jem
as well, but its ruins are not visible from the ground
I left El Jem shortly after 1pm. It took the rest of the day to reach the island of Jerba further south.