First and foremost HAPPY NEW YEAR. I wish you all lots and lots of money this year.
I changed the new year in Greece sleeping and spent most of new year’s day in Rome and Tunis.
My preparation for this overseas expedition begun a couple of days ago when I started assembling all the necessary stuff for the biking trip. Since I cannot carry a lot w/ me it was not a great deal of work but because it is very little that I carry I must make sure that everything on the list is there, including my toothbrush and underwear.
Thank God, this time I started disassembling Spithas to put him in his box in the morning of Friday and not a couple of hours before my departure.
Thank God because I found that the screw that is holding the saddle, without which I cannot ride, needed to be replaced, and the new pedals, even though they were identical brand as the old ones, they needed a different size of allen wrench that I did not have. I rushed to Marousi, at Dimitris bike shop and he was able to take care of everything. Relieved I headed home and on the way I ran into the municipal band.
Finally I returned home and took care of everything.
Spithas in his box
For the rest of the day I went downtown to wish happy new year to a couple of friends and then went to my friend George’s house to see him and also access the internet. By 20:00 I was back home taking care of the last details and by 22:00 I was in bed.
I got up the FOLLOWING YEAR at 2:00am and after a quick shower my friend George and Katerina after their new year’s party drove by and picked me and Spithas up to drive us to the airport. Thanks a lot!!!!
It was late and some people were still asleep.
I was flying Al Italia at 6:55. I had to wait for a couple of hours before checking in.
Spithas at the airport
When checking in started at 4:40 I hit the first snag of the year. The lady at the counter looked at Spithas’ box and said that the box was oversized. I had to go weigh the box and then sent me to another location to pay the hefty fee for oversized luggage. The lady at the new location was very polite looked at Spithas and asked for the dimensions which I did not know and I had to give her an estimate. I was ticked off w/ all the questioning w/o realizing that she was trying to help. She asked me if when I stood up the box it would be taller than her. I told her that she had to be joking upon which she came out from behind the counter and stood next to Spithas and she was indeed taller. “I am taller than the box,” she said, “it is not oversized.” I guess she used her height as a convenient measure. That height issue resolved the entire issue and I went back and checked in.
Next I went to wait at the gate and took a nap for about an hour. After that we boarded the plane and I napped till Rome. At DaVinci airport I had to wait for the connecting flight. That airport does not really offer many amenities.
To get from the gate to the aircraft we had to drive in a bus. The ride was really long, more than 20 minutes long, to the extent that I started wondering whether we will drive or fly to Tunisia. We even had to stop at some point to make room for a plane that was taking off.
Getting on the plane
An hour after we took off we arrived at Tunis. It is a short ride. If you look at the map, you’ll see that Africa and Europe almost meet at that point. After I got off I went through passport control, customs, and then went and picked up Spitha’s box. First move was to go to an ATM and take money out. Since I was not sure what to expect when it came to prices I w/drew a moderate amount. Next I pushed Spithas’ box out of the building trying to spot a location where I would put him together. My first surprise when I was out in the open air was that the temperature was lower than what I left in Greece. It was barely 13C (55F.) I did find a spot that would be difficult to locate by passers by. I did not want to be too conspicuous.
Things went smoothly
and progress was fast
As I was taking the last picture a policeman came up to me and in an aggressive manner asked me what I was doing. I thought he was asking about Spithas and began to tell him that this was my bike and … but cut me off and asked me why I was taking pictures. He demanded to see all the pictures I had in the camera and after he saw that they were strictly of Spithas he calmed down and told me that it was OK but I could not take any more pictures.
After Spithas was in one piece I biked, took a picture of the airport from a distance, after making sure that policeman could not see me
and asked around how to go to the town center. It was actually less than 8 Kms away and soon I was entering the capital city of Tunis
I lodged at the first hotel I found, the Grand Hotel Alger
It was kind of a dump but also very cheap. Good enough for Spithas and me. Incidentally, another biker (local) helped me find Barcelona square where the hotel is and did all the talking for me. So far my impression of people is good, even though it is too early to say.
After I settled in I decided to go for a walk. It was still before 17:00, a Saturday, and the first day of the year, so, everybody was out in the streets. I immediately started to invest myself in the two things that people do when they find themselves in a foreign place. I started paying attention to the surroundings and also take note of how people looked and behaved. The city was beautiful, not to an extreme, but very pleasant. It was rather clean, not as clean as the Turkish cities but clean enough. The buildings did not have any distinct architecture to give the city a different personality but altogether it is a beautiful city.
It was kind of a dump but also very cheap. Good enough for Spithas and me. Incidentally, another biker (local) helped me find Barcelona square where the hotel is and did all the talking for me. So far my impression of people is good, even though it is too early to say.
After I settled in I decided to go for a walk. It was still before 17:00, a Saturday, and the first day of the year, so, everybody was out in the streets. I immediately started to invest myself in the two things that people do when they find themselves in a foreign place. I started paying attention to the surroundings and also take note of how people looked and behaved. The city was beautiful, not to an extreme, but very pleasant. It was rather clean, not as clean as the Turkish cities but clean enough. The buildings did not have any distinct architecture to give the city a different personality but altogether it is a beautiful city.
Free riders on the tram (notice the two guys at the back of the vehicle)
The cathedral
I’ll have to inquire tomorrow if there is a sizable X-ian minority to explain the cathedral above.
Regarding the other prong, that is, the people I’ll say that my impression so far is that we are dealing with a very good looking stock of people. Both men and women are tall. In all the other 30 countries that I’ve visited, my height puts me above average. Here, however, I was average or below. I did not see any man or lady that I would call short, and simultaneously I saw plenty that were from tall to very tall. The ladies are very shapely and carry themselves w/ grace. It was impressive.
Murhy’s law, as you all know, is always at play. As I walked around I noticed so many other hotels and since mine was a dump and it was already too late to move I went in to ask for tomorrow. I walked into hotel Salammbo which happened to be on number 6 of “rue de Grèce” (street of GREECE,) which by itself makes it a good place to be and got the info in order to return tomorrow. As I was told, there were no available rooms and would have had to wait till tomorrow, anyhow.
I walked the streets up and down and finally as my fatigue started catching up w/ me after stopping at a “soublaki” place to grab a bite, I retired to the hotel and was sound asleep by 21:00.
Cartago delenda est!!!
