FROM LONDON TO CAMBRIDGE AND YORK

Our room in the hostel was perfect to spend one night, but we had some difficulties with the bunk bed ! It was quiet hard to get to the "first floor" because there were no steps or a I wanted to sleep in the upper bed, but I was to tall ! So Ilona had to sleep there. Each time she moved I thought I was on a ship and the waves were schaukeln me to sleep.

Today it was a very tiring day ! We left London at 6.30, after having a coffee on the parking. We are a group of people from a little everywhere, so far I know that there are 2 South African ladies, a few Malasians and some Americans.

The weather was dry and it was not so cold and we arrived in Cambridge around 10 am



First thing we did was taking "punting" boats and were pushed around like in an Gondola from Venice. The weather was a little grey, but it didn't rain and we enjoyed the ride on the rive Cam very much, We saw quiet a lot of the famous Univrsities and it was a real interesting ride.



After a walk through the town we returned to the bus and continued our way to York.

We had our lunch in the coach driving towards York where we arrived around 2.30 pm.



and visited the very beautiful old center.



We stopped at an old Pub under which had been discovered a Roman bath. It was very interesting to see !

We arrived around 6.30 at the hotel Ibis, very tired and had to wait for ages to get our dinner ! Also Internet connection had a horrendous price, 5 £ for one hour. Trying out Internet connection I suddenly found myself connected to Skype Wifi, which I didn't even know.

So I was able to write at least a little report about our first day of travelling !

ROUNDTRIP THROUGH TUNISIA DAY 7

This morning we left the Hotel Diplomat in Tunis (photo above). It was our last day of the round trip. Unfortunately the atmosphere between our group was a little disturbed because of the constant fighting between the driver and the catastrophe on legs who was supposed to be our guide.

As I had sat behind the driver and Dominque or Nicole besides me all the way along,  we saw of course everything which the others didn't see. The driver had to remind him all the time what he had to explain as he slept peacefully with the microphone as pacifier in his mouth ! So the group was split into 2 parts one part for the driver (the French speaking people in the group) and the others were mostly Flemish. Apparently they weren't disturbed at all about the stupidities the guide said. One even told me that if I want to have explanations during the trip I should book an "intellectual" one ! Please consider me as intellectual from now on.



There was not much to see besides very original street sculptures between our drive from Tunis to Sousse, one part of our group left us in Hammamet which was due to its beaches the first tourist destination in Tunisia and we got off in Sousse at the Hotel Riadh Palms. The guide didn't come with us to Sousse as he should have done, but abandoned us with the driver. Fortunately ! because he was very kind and explained a little about the modern life in Tunisia, the corrupted president and showed us also his residences and one which he had had built for his 5 year old son ! No wonder that people are not happy. But they don't want the Islamists neither at least the people who have some culture and don't want to loose their freedom which they still have now. Like in all countries the poors and less instructed people are always believing what the politicians promise especially when it's wrapped in a religious gift parcel !

After lunch we checked into our room, simple but comfortable unfortunately without internet connection, I have to go for that to the reception area. There is Wifi in the huge entrance hall. The afternoon we spent at the beach which was full of people roasting in the sun. We found a little place in the shade for the 3 of us and will see how it works tomorrow.



Hotel Riadh Palms where we will stay until wednesday

ROUNDTRIP THROUGH TUNISIA DAY 6

This time we all sat in the bus at 7 am, to drive 200 km from Kairouan to Tunis the capital of Tunesia



along the highway we saw storks which had built their nests on electricity pylons ! It was so funny to see a stork nest on each pylon ! 



Then we arrived in Tunis around 10.30 am, and our guide took us to the Medina, the old town center. It looked like a Souk, one junk shop besides the other and we were quickly fed up to see all the time the same things. As usual he didn't explain nothing about the history of this place, and when somebody asked a question he didn't know. He increased the inhabitants of Tunis from 2,412,500 inhabitants to 9 million, when somebody asked him how big the city was. As nobody knew better we believed it. Except me, because since he mixed up tomatoes with melons and pretended that a river was dry because Algeria had cut the water off (!!) I checked with dear Wikipedia and learned that whole Tunesia has just under 10.7 million inhabitants !

In the "Medina" the wallet of a man of our group was stolen by a pickpocket, with all his papers and even the flight ticket. How stupid of him not to have left at least his passport and flight ticket in the bus !
Our little mad guide lost completely his head and ran around like a headless chicken. Finally the driver took the situation over and helped the guy to go the police to inform them that the papers were stolen etc etc. which made us wait for 2 h in the bus, while our efficient guide called his boss to ask what to do and how to change the program !

Finally they tried to catch up the lost time and we had Spaghettis as lunch in a 3* hotel, which was awful. In these North African countries you have to have 4* to get a correct hotel.



After the Spaghettis he took us to the Bardo National Museum without knowing the opening and closing times so that we arrived rather late and had to run through the museum, fortunately the guide there was a nice Tunisian girl, but our efficient guide had to translate for the Flemish speaking people, although they all understood French. Question of principles. Therefore our guide translated everything what the girl said into dutch/flemish, by adding things the girl hadn't even said. Result was nobody listened and went away taking pictures !



When our Marathon run through the Bardo museum was over we were driven to the Roman ruins of Carthage There he continued to explain flowers and some stones but very few about the history of the site. We decided to take photos and read the history later ! What you see on the pictures is an overlook and I am sitting on a urn of I don't know whom, I didn't know the guide only told me that later. I hope the ashes of the Roman was not upset by my bottom on his ashes.

When we finished our running through the ruins fortunately without any incident, he took a not very happy group back to the coach and we drove to Sidi Bou Said, a very charming little old town, the houses all paint white and the windows and doors in blue.



We visited one house of a wealthy family which had now transformed their house into a little museum. It was the best thing I really have enjoyed ! Of course I will write about this very special home later.

Tomorrow the roundtrip is over and I hope our guide will return to school to learn a little more about his country ! Besides reading 5 times his program without keeping it, and sleeping during the trip, he wasn't a big help ! I had never ever had such a lousy roundtrip ! First thing I do when I come home is to write to our travel agency, to tell them that it is better if we take a book about Tunesia along instead of  an incompetent guy with black outs ! I certainly have some funny stories to tell later !