Tunisian Holiday

As promised, here is the full coverage of our Tunisian adventures. :D

The Beach Bum
Tunisia is a very typical beach holiday spot for Europeans. Only 2 hours fly away, it promises all-year sun and exotic Arab-African adventures. (Don't let geography fool you though... we had 3 sunny days the rest was unfortunately cloudy and windy)

{Here I was still fooled by the weather :)}

{The newest addition to my Happy Feet around the world collection :)}

{The beach was OK, a bit too touristy and windy  for my taste with monstruous hotel complexes and water sport centers on top of each other ( I tried kite surfng and catamaran sailing, but the water was too cold to enjoy it :) Seems lots of fun though! :) }

The Culture Seeker

To be completely honest we didn't get quite so much culture in our program as I previously hoped (we were too far from the Sahara and the oasis' of the South). We did visit the nearby Sousse (2nd biggest city of Tunisia) several times, where I was blown away by Arabic design and architecture. There is something about doors.... each was prettier than the other and I fell in love with all things blue and white.

{Me and my giant boyfriend AC :)}

The Shopaholic

I really looked forward to visit the local bazaar (souk). While the smell and atmosphere was amazing, it was way too loaded with fake, made in China merchandise, which was a biiiig disappointment. I found the merchants too agressive (at one point they started to throw things at us when after a long negotiation we decided not to buy :) and the starting prices were borderline offensive. (I need to approve my negotiation skills, even though I did bring the prices down I still think I paid too much for some things). I do not want to scare anyone away as I did like the experience very much and we did find some great, authentic souvenirs to bring home. :) Leather, silver and ceramics are the most typical Tunisian goodies to splurge on!

Souvenirs:

1. Boho brown cross body leather bag - I love that it's new but has a vintage feel

(and my mum had one just like this in the 80's :)

2. Real pretty black leather bag with Tunisian motives

(Camels, Dunes and Fatima's hand for luck) 

3. Silver jewelry: my name in Arabic and a gorgeus gorgeous ring

4. Blue&white ceramic server, perfect for small dinner parties

5.. Jewelry box made of crushed seashells

Overall it was a very relaxing holiday. I finished two books and I did get a nice tan too. We tried new sports and enjoyed immersing in a new culure. While there are other places I'd recommend more for a vacation, Tunisia has certainly a lot to offer for beach bums, culture seekers and shopaholics alike.

P.S: No, I did not do a camel shoot.... I felt it's only authentic if you do it in the desert... but, will certainly make up for that in Egypt in July! :)