I can't even begin to express how much I love this place. It has been a part of me since I was a baby, I grew up there... first kiss, first boyfriend, first love, first job, first heart break, first time travelling anywhere alone; a place where I pretty much extended my family in a weird way! Apart from your parents/siblings, you don't meet many people who would do virtually anything for you without expecting something in return.
Tunisia is where I have a part of my soul!
I am now trying to go back again as much as possible in the last couple of weeks. No matter what else is going on in my life, when I am there, I am HAPPY. I start to remember to appreciate the smaller things in life like nature, and true friendships. Spring time is particulary beautiful. Flowers are starting to bloom, oranges, pinks, and purples everywhere, a constant blanket of stars in the sky at nights and days that are slowely getting warmer. The smell of night Jasmine, Arabic music in the background, the sound of motorbikes and hustle and bustle of the Medina, the sound of the Mosque loudspeakers in the middle of the night. All of this makes me feel at home.
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On the way...still snow covered mountains over France and Spain..
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On the way back from the airport... 2 years without seeing eachother!
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My brother, Ali
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Visits at Daddy's House...
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My little sister!
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Nap time, but someone didn't want to nap....she wanted to dance...
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Laughs:)
Having fun at the hotel...
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Zied and I at my old desk... demonstrating a fun part of the Hospitality industry!
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Daddy and I at work
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A trip to Sidi Bou Said
After 7 years, we decided to return to Sidi Bou Said for a visit. We were missing 50% of our group, but we thought if we don't do it now, it could be another 7 years. Ali came to pick me up from the airport a few weeks ago in Tunis and we went straight to the little blue and white village. It was super busy being a school holiday in Tunisia. We made our way up and around the cobbled streets and hills to our cafe overlooking the more mountains and the beach.
We passed by a 'memory landmark' on the way- a tree we had all carved our names in to seven years before. It had been well marked since then, and we could not find out names (I did find a JP but I don't know if it was mine). Both of us full of ..I don't know what the word is...when you're heart and mind is full of memories and you can't stop smiling.
We got a juice, had a walk around and reminisced.
TREE OF LOVE STORIES
Being in the Hospitality industry, hotels are my thing (obviously!) and I wanted to explore some of the new ones in Sousse. I like to take ideas and find inspiration in new and beautiful things so that one day, hopefully, I can incorporate them into my own hotel, or at least the one I am working in for now. I had a few hours free one day and decided to go to Movenpick, a Swiss owned 5* in the city centre.
I went with my buddy, Mr. Camera, (I need to give him a name).
As I was waiting for a taxi to take me home, I was standing beside the first sign of Spring time:
Some more of Tunisia's beauty...
More visits....
Visits to Nadir. If anyone knows me at all, they know who Nadir is!
Also visits to my best friend, Taoufik, at his work...
Two weeks ago I also got to meet my future 'sister in law', Ali's fiance! I couldn't be happier for him!!!
YUMMY
That same feeling I can't describe came again when I was sat at the same table with Nadir and Ali. It had been close to 5 years since we have been all together. I was smiling from ear to ear for the entire time.
After breakfast and a cup of tea Ali and I got the train to Tunis capital! It was my first time on the train there, and Ali's second and it was a memorable experience. It was about 100degrees in the carriage with no AC, apart from the possibility of open windows. That possibility, however, was not approached until a lady 1 seat behind us decided she was going to relieve herself of her lunch. Yuck!!!
Two hours later we arrived in Tunis and I said bye to Ali and hello to Zied who was waiting for me at the train station. I only had a few hours left before my flight so we went for lunch in El Mouradi Gammarth and I got to see a bit of the city which I hadn't seen before...
Welcome to
Hollywood Gammarth!!
Happy Wednesday!!
I leave you with this...
Only the friendship of those who are good, and similar in their goodness, is perfect. For these people each alike wish good for the other qua good, and they are good in themselves. And it is those who desire the good of their friends for the friends’ sake that are most truly friends, because each loves the other for what he is, and not for any incidental quality.
That such friendships are rare is natural, because men of this kind are few. And in addition they need time and intimacy; for as the saying goes, you cannot get to know each other until you have eaten the proverbial quantity of salt together. Nor can one man accept another, or the two become friends, until each has proved to the other that he is worthy of love, and so won his trust. Those who are quick to make friendly advances to each other have the desire to be friends, but they are not unless they are worthy of love and know it. The wish for friendship develops rapidly, but friendship does not.
Aristotle The Nichomachean Ethics, 1155a3, 1156a16-1156b23
