El Jem - Tunisia

While in Tunisia we also went on a tour to El Jem, this town has some of the most amazing Roman ruins and mosaics, including the amphitheatre in which the film Gladiator was based.

The bus ride there was very good with the guide being very informative, telling us about Tunisian traditions, agriculture, education, employment, wildlife in fact anything that popped into his head as we travelled along the road. He would just see something as we went by and that would set him off, he was very good though. He also told us about the olive trees, just as our previous guide did, but stressed how important they are to Tunisian people, with many trees being family heirlooms passed down from one generation to another. 

Before we went to the amphitheatre we went to the museum which is built on the site of an old villa. The most interesting pieces in here were the mosaics which showed the goddess of Africa, these are the first mosaics of her that have been found. 

A lot of the museum is actually outside and is the original foundations and remains of the Roman town, showing a road and houses. 

On the short drive from the museum to the amphitheatre we passed many men who were wearing long brown or black woollen coats. We were told that these also are family heirlooms, being very expensive and are cared for from one generation to the next. 

Once in the amphitheatre we were shown and told about its many features and got a chance to explore. We saw all the tunnels and enclosures under the amphitheatre , which the animals,gladiators and other participants  involved in the games used. 

The building is quite safe to walk around so you can climb very high up to the cheap seats and also wander around the many tunnels under the ground. 

As you can see there is a great height to the building which allowed lots of seating for the large audiences they attracted. 

The photo below was taken from the posh seats were the senators and important people would have sat. As you can see it had an excellent view of the arena. The whiter seats on the right were also classed as posh seats! 

We had a good time exploring there but it was freezing. We only had our walking sandals on so our feet were like blocks of ice by the time we returned to the bus. The place is well worth a visit though and we would recommend this rather than  a visit to Carthage. 

Berber Village

As part of our bus tour we went on a very scenic tour of the countryside in Tunisia, the landscape was lovely and we passed many storks nesting , I did try and get photos of them but I just couldn't time it right as we sped passed them on the bus. The government there have made special platforms on poles running beside the electric wires to stop them actually using the electricity poles to nest on. 

One of our stops was at a traditional, beautiful berber village which was mainly painted in blue and white. The bus parked in the main car park which was lined with market stalls, these were also coloured blue and white. 

This is the Main Street of the village which was lined with shops and houses. Some of the houses were open to the public, the tour guide took us in one and it was amazing, beautifully adorned with many intricate tiles. 

Going through the front entrance you enter into a small courtyard which leads into other rooms. One of the sections of the house was for prayer. The picture below shows the area where the family would wash their feet before going to prayer. On the left hand side at the back you can see stairs which lead up to the prayer room. 

This is the prayer room which as you can see is covered in lots of tiles which make up a bigger picture. The ceramic hand above the window is called the hand of Hammas, or Fatima's hand, this is supposed to bring good luck to the family and ward off evil spirits. 

This is the steps leading to the prayer room which are just as ornate as the rooms. 

The house we were in was obviously of a high standard and must have belonged to a wealthy, influential family. It is now a museum with access to all rooms which are set up with traditional furniture, artefacts and dummies wearing authentic clothes. There was access to the roof which is flat and showed lovely views across the area. On leaving the house we had free time to wander around the village. 

Carthage, the Antonine Roman Baths and Bardo Museum.

On the second day of our holiday in Tunisia we went on an organised trip to Carthage, we knew about this place before we travelled and had looked for a hotel nearby so we could visit. The journey still took a couple of hours to get there and the trip took in visits to the Bardot museum and a Berber village.  The journey enabled us to see a lot more of Tunisia and the many olive trees that grow there. Many of the olive orchards had boundaries of cactus plants which I thought was quite clever and a very effective way of keeping people out, with the large spiky plants creating a very intimidating barrier. 

For some reason both me and David thought the ruins at Carthage were on a bigger scale, more the size of a small settlement whereas it is just the ruins of a bath house that the Romans had built. I must admit it is a very big bath house but still it is just one building. There is a model there that shows what it would have looked like in its heyday and illustrates the amazing skill, effort and technology that the Romans had. 

It was interesting to see but in a way ,with its large columns it reminded me more of a factory from the Industrial Age, with the remaining columns reminding me of chimneys soaring into the sky. 

There were a couple of slabs of masonry showing writing and these large stone balls which were used in large catapults by the Romans to attack the enemy.  The balls were so big it would have taken at least two if not more men to put them in place. 

On the trip we went to a couple of museums that had mosaics in them. The biggest museum and the one that has the most mosaics in Tunisia is the Bardo Museum. The mosaics are very interesting and show a lot of detail, a lot of hard intricate work has gone into them. They vary greatly in size too, some are the size of small rugs and were often fitted just like that on the floor while others were huge taking up a vast floor space. 

As you can see some of their statues were really big, once again David comes in handy to show the scale. Apparently in Roman times the bodies of statues in their togas and cloaks were often made without their heads and you could just slot on the head you wanted. Very clever, I think and that way you could reuse a statue as people fell in and out of power. 

Some mosaics showed a story or scene depicting everyday life often related to the area or owner of the building and their interests and hobbies. 

Carthage was founded by the Phoenicians in 814 BC and was once home to Hannibal but it really raised in status during the reign of the Roman Empire. 

Port El Kantaoui

After a few days in Scotland, David got very itchy feet and was in the mood to set off again. We couldn't go for very long as we needed to be back for the pups arriving from Bulgaria and of course there was the all important Hibernian versus Arbroath football game that could not be missed. We wanted to go somewhere in Africa as this meant we would have been in the five main continents during our year off. We looked at both Morocco and Tunisia, we heard good reports about both although Tunisia did come out best overall and there were flights from Glasgow to there, so that settled that. 

This was the first package holiday we have done in a long time and there was very much a holiday atmosphere on the plane, it was a lively crowd which actually seemed very strange. There was constant noise, chatter and dare I say it quite a bit of drink being consumed.  

We arrived at night time so couldn't really see what the place looked like but the hotel was beautiful and our room was lovely. In the morning we woke up to this amazing view from our room. As you can see it was quite cloudy on the first morning but we still braved a walk along the beach. 

There was a meeting for new guests on the first morning which gave us choices of what was available in the area. We booked three trips, Carthage, El Djem and  a vist to a local animal park followed by an African culture evening. 

At the meeting we were told of local scams to look out for, these included locals pretending to know you, saying that they served you at your hotel the day before and offering to show you around but taking you to their relatives shops. Another was that they pretend to pick up a coin, usually an euro and asking you what it is worth to get you engaged in conservation. We were also told that when haggling we should aim for 25% of what they originally ask for. 

After the meeting we headed off to the harbour. It was nice wandering around there and the sun came out to make it even more pleasant. It is winter in Tunisia so it is not their busy season which meant all the stall keepers and boat trip companies were out to grab any passing tourists. I really don't like that when you can't walk along in peace, I have to keep reminding myself that they are just trying to make a living. 

There are lots of pirate ships vying for business. When I told them I suffered from sea sickness I was kindly offered a free plastic bag, I declined. 

It was lovely and peaceful there due to being out of season. You can either walk down to the harbour  by road or along the beach . On the road walk there are some fixed price shops, perfect for me as I don't like haggling. We did it as a circuit, the beach only had a few people on it, we did see men in wetsuits going out with spear guns but I am not sure what they were catching. 

When we returned to our room the housemaid had made these lovely creations from our bed sheets and towels, what a skill to have, I wish I could do that. 

A wee break away.

We stayed a few days in Arbroath over the New Year and it was freezing, I am glad we went to Bulgaria first which helped to acclimatise us a bit, I can only imagine how bad it would have felt if  we had come straight from Vietnam. 

We did try and get out and about as we go a bit stir crazy when we have to stay in, so on one of the days we wrapped up warm and headed out to do the Arbroath to Auchmithie cliff walk. This is a beautiful walk at any time of the year and always looks different depending on the weather, season and time of day. 

This photo is at the top of the Victoria Park and the path leads from here in one direction to the cliffs and in the other direction to the harbour and town. 

The cliffs are made of a beautiful red sandstone, this erodes over time and in recent years there has been a few rockfalls and landslides. The photo below shows the Needles E'e, which originally was a cave but the the roof has collapsed leaving the mouth of the cave visible, this happened a very long time ago.  This is a popular part of the cliffs for fishing and for some of the local youngsters to hang out. 

The area below is known as Dickmont's Den and was popular in the past for smugglers who would smuggle their goods up the inlet and whisk them away over the rural land and fields close by. 

In January we usually go down to see our daughter in panto in Whitley Bay, so this is where we headed next. This year the pantomime was Sleeping Beauty and once again it was very enjoyable and it  also gave us a chance to catch up with our daughter, who we hadn't seen for about 6 months. As we are still officially on holiday for the year, we decided to treat it more like a holiday, staying down there for longer and then heading to Jedburgh to do a bit of exploring.

The road to Jedburgh was very scenic and looked very dramatic in its winter colours and shows that you don't have to travel abroad to see amazing landscapes. 

We were originally planning to use this wee break away to visit Alnwick Castle, Chillingham Castle and Jedburgh, as we had often travelled passed them or close by on our jaunts down South. However we had to make a change to our plans as most things were shut, I pity any tourists across here just now as they may be lost for things to do. Some places which were open such as restaurants and cafés were not always very accommodating either.

 We walked into one place in Jedburgh which was advertising a soup and sandwich deal in their window, with no specific time on the sign to say when the deal was on. The place was deserted not a soul in and no sign of life even behind the bar , although there was a lovely welcoming fire going in 

the fireplace. We shuffled about and coughed, you know the usual things to get attention and eventually a lady appeared. I asked for two of the soup and sandwich deals just to be told we were too late in the day for that deal, so we left, they obviously did not need our custom. I know some companies do these lunch time deals but I am sure it would have been easy enough to do two sandwiches and soups especially when there were no other customers around. Thankfully there was another cafe around the corner where I got a lovely bowl of mushroom soup and a  fantastic sandwich while David got a hearty beaked potato. 

Mary, Queen of Scots House which was closed but you can walk in the small gardens there. 

We did wander around the streets of Jedburgh and it seems very quaint, old-fashioned (in a nice way) and I would like to go back when there is more open. It still has a lot of independent, unusual shops to browse in and does not have the typical town centre type of shops to go in. I like places with a bit of individuality. 

A sign in one of the alleys,  or closes  as some people may call them. 

Jedburgh Abbey which was open. Hooray! 

Just outside Jedburgh is a lovely bed  and breakfast called Hundalee House, it is set in a very old house which has a lot of character and is well worth an overnight stay. The owner is lovely, very welcoming as is her little dog. The owners have sheep and have also extended and developed the orchard on their land which originally was linked to the Abbey. 

These ceramic pots were in the guesthouse, the smaller one in the front is labelled Cider while the one on the left says Domestos. Hopefully these two don't get mixed up! 

We woke up to a fresh layer of snow which made the countryside even more beautiful. After a lovely cooked breakfast we set off for a Glasgow airport for our next trip to Tunisia. 

Hootsmin, Hogmanay in Scotland !

During our travels we have changed plans as we go, apart from our two organised tours we have mainly played it by ear, as they say. This has worked out really well, with us visiting some places we hadn't even heard off before we left home but found out about on the way. This has also given us the flexibility to change the time scale of what we were going to do, for instance we were going to stay longer in New Zealand but decided to pay our daughter a visit in Bulgaria instead for Christmas.

During November we concocted a cunning plan to go back and visit family at home for New Year, first footing them as a surprise on Hogmanay. Hogmanay is New Years Eve in Scotland, where family and friends get together to celebrate the start of a New Year by visiting them or being with them as the bells ring at midnight. Going to family and friends houses at the start of the year is called first footing where you traditionally take a wee present, such as shortbread biscuits and a drink to make a toast for a good year ahead.

We were going to tell our son, who is staying in our house while we were away, well it was only fair to give him a chance to tidy up! Also we would need to hide there for three days prior to NewYear as the flight we were going to get was on the 28th of December. Apart from him it was going to be a surprise for family members but then we tried to organise transport in Scotland. We were going to get flights to Edinburgh that would be fine but from there it was tricky to get tickets to Arbroath. So, in the end we asked my sister if she could pick us up, which thankfully she did and actually it was lovely getting off that plane and having a friendly, familiar face to greet us and help us with our bags.

It was strange travelling through familiar streets and seeing sights we already knew after so many months away and it was lovely to get back to our own house and our own bed. Now hiding from my mum and dad really began in earnest, we arrived late at night so that was fine we sneaked in easily enough but it was keeping them away from the house which was the problem. On the first day our son decided on a pre-emptive attack and went to visit them, as they have a tendency to pop in for a cuppa and a blether with no warning. Reassured by this we relaxed we put the fire on, let Hank the house rabbit out to play, David was on the laptop, washing machine was on the go and I was busy sorting things out. Then a messaged ping through from our son that they were coming down anyway , so it was action stations switching off everything , catching the rabbit and then hiding in our room. What a palaver, but quite funny we had one other moment like that during our hiding spell but at last the moment came when we could be released and it was lovely to meet up with mum and dad at my sister's house.

Christmas in Bulgaria - Bansko

What a flight it was to get to Bulgaria, or should I say flights. We had an overnight flight from NewZealand to Shanghai, then onto Turkey and from there to Bulgaria. Our first stint was with Air New Zealand and previous flights with them were not great, shall we say. This plane was actually quite good but it's in flight entertainment was so new and up to date it still had glitches. On previous flights with them there were still separate remote controls at your seat attached to wires which you had to use and got entangled in all the time.  This latest plane had touch  screen but messages kept appearing on screen telling you that you needed to pay for films etc. The stewards came around saying they would reset it and things would be free but randomly and inconsistently it would ask you to pay for films, even when you were halfway through. I had a very young girl next to me who was watching a cartoon who put her mum's  bank card through the machine at least three times to pay for what she wanted to watch.  She was told she would get the money back, let's hope he did. 

We arrived in Shanghai very early in the morning and then had a 16 hour wait for our next plane. We were hoping to visit Shanghai but needed to collect our bags between flights and didn't fancy wandering around with heavy rucksacks.  After that it was a short journey on to Bulgaria. 

We arrived in Bulgaria to be greeted by a lovely young man called Stefan. Keira, our daughter in Bulgaria had arranged for him to pick us up and drive us the two hour journey to Bansko. It was such a relief to see him after the hours we had travelled already. The sky was grey and very misty but the sun was doing its best to break through. 

Keira was in her garden when we arrived along with 5 puppies. Her dog Stella had 6 puppies while we were on our travels, one of which has already been rehoused leaving her with 5. My son is taking one, who he has called Ollie, here he is on the settee.

I am taking the black and white puppy who is in the picture below, who I have called Buddy. 

As you can imagine , it was a very warm welcome with 5 excitable and to be honest big pups saying hello. Stella was inside the house but there were also two strays which had made themselves at home on the decking outside her house. David made it his mission during the holiday to block entrances into the garden to keep the strays out. The smallest stray was easily kept out but the biggest stray, who we called Ginger was more persistent and it became a battle of wills between David and it. 

Keira has a lovely view from her house, snow capped mountains basically encircle it. Bansko is an up and coming ski resort which has a lovely feel and atmosphere to it, which I loved and I don't even ski. It is small enough to feel friendly and welcoming but has lots of choices of restaurants and shops which are very reasonably priced.  We have also visited Bansko in the summer which is equally as charming, with alpine flowers covering the mountains and lots of interesting trekking trails. 

This is the first Christmas we have spent with Keira for years and it was nice to wake up in her house on Christmas Day, even though the tree was demolished by the pups on Christmas Eve. Thankfully we managed to save three crackers so we had something to pull when we sat down for our meal. Keira made a fantastic three course lunch, including turkey with all the trimmings which put me and my attempts to shame. 

Tea time in Keira's house. 

Stella getting into the Christmas mood. 

David was desperate for a white Christmas so thought Bansko would be a safe bet. As you can see the weather was actually very nice and sunny, in fact I think it was more wintery in Scotland. On Christmas Day we did head up the mountain where there was snow and we saw lots of skiers, snow boarders and sledgers of all ages. It was buzzing with excitement and even though we just strolled around it was nice to be part of what was going on. 

We had lots of fun in the snow but I have to admit we did not make the snowman, we just posed with it. 

On Boxing Day it snowed, we woke up to a lovely layer of white which put an smile on David's face. The pups loved playing with it but were soon asking to come in. 

Over the next few days lots of snow came down making a wonderful snowy scene but sadly we had to leave as we were going to surprise my mum!