Trip Journal - Marsa, Carthage, Gammarth 28 Oct

Cafe SafSaf

Today my destination is Carthage, on our way we stopped in Marsa & Gammarth both coastal towns. Where most middle class Tunisian spend their summer. The small centre of La Marsa is quite charming & not much to see. Safsaf cafe is the main attraction a camel draws water from a well.

We had a sandwich Fricasse - tiny delicious sandwich with tuna, harissa, olives and olive oil.

All the coast road is beautiful a combination of green & blue. I am lucky that the weather is great sunny with cold breeze.

Carthage today, is mainly Roman sites, including theatres, temples, villas and baths. Many of the sites stand in ruins, including the Roman Amphitheatre and the thermal Antoine Baths, which were once the largest baths built by the Romans.

All these sites have one ticket of 7 dinars value! I started from the theater, moved to the museum, cathedral, baths & then the villas. I walked up the nearby Byrsa Hill enjoying the view of beautiful houses and gardens. Once I reached the top at St. Louis Cathedral I had a superb view of Carthage.

The Baths left me with a calm sensation & appreciation for Roman civilization at that time. I loved it, I felt like touching all the stones, ruins. The battery of my camera decided to die in this particular place. Maybe so I carry the feeling of this place in heart than in a digital format.

We stopped for lunch. I had a Tunisian salad made from diced cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, onions seasoned with olive oil and garnished with olives, eggs and tuna. It is similar to the French Niçoise. I have never in my life been in a place where Tuna & Eggs are as essential ingredients as in Tunisia! Maybe as a person who don't eat chicken or meat I am left with less options. Maybe!

Mild headache I started to catch up with Tunisian version of Arabic.

Dido Queen of Carthage

On the 15th of Oct I was in a bus heading to Syria, after cycling for some days in Lebanon, I was sleepy, could not keep me eyes open.
Out of no where, the old lady besides said: I want to tell you the story of Dido. Me... I started mumbling who is Dido & why now!
But, out of respect & curiosity I listened. I enjoyed the story, and did not have any clue of what I should learn from it :-)

Here I am on the 26 of Oct landing in Carthage Airport, Tunisia. What a coincidence.

Once upon a time... There was a king dying in Tyre (Lebanon now), made his very beautiful daughter Dido and son Pygmalion his joint heirs. But on his death the people took Pygmalion alone as their ruler though Pygmalion was yet still a boy. Dido was married to her uncle Sychaeüs but the marriage didn't last long, as she was widowed by her newly crowned brother, who murdered Sychaeüs for his money.

Sychaeüs’ ghost warned Dido to leave Tyre and she fled with her loyal followers across the sea to the Libyan coast, taking with her sacks of gold. The party arrived at Cyprus where a priest and some women joined them in their expedition.

Eventually Dido and her followers arrived on the coast of North Africa, where she asked the local inhabitants for a small bit of land for a temporary refuge until she could continue her journeying, only as much land as could be encompassed by an oxhide. They agreed. Dido cut the oxhide into fine strips so that she had enough to encircle an entire nearby hill, which was therefore afterwards named Byrsa "hide". That would become their new home. Many of the locals joined the settlement and both locals and envoys urged the building of a city. In digging the foundations an ox's head was found, indicating a city that would be wealthy but subject to others. Accordingly another area of the hill was dug instead where a horse's head was found, indicating that the city would be powerful in war.

But when the new city of Carthage had been established and become prosperous, Iarbas, a native king demanded Dido to become his wife or he would make war on Carthage. Dido preferred to stay faithful to her first husband and after creating a ceremonial funeral pyre and sacrificing many victims to his spirit in pretense that this was a final honoring of her first husband in preparation for marriage to Iarbas, Dido ascended the pyre, announced that she would go to her husband as they desired, and then slew herself with her sword. After this self-sacrifice Dido was deified and was worshiped as long as Carthage endured. In this account, the foundation of Carthage occurred 72 years before the foundation of Rome.

Maybe people who read or listen to Dido's story eventually go to Carthage :-)