Friday night at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Tunis, Tunisia North Africa

That 12 hour layover in Frankfurt is just a killer. First thing I did was check out the bed room in the Lufthansa lounge and sure enough there was an empty one so I managed to sleep for 5 hours. I'd left Vancouver the previous evening and spent 10 hours being served delicious meals and drinks by the friendly Lufthansa in-flight staff. I love business class on Lufthansa. There's the little overnight kit containing a toothbrush and paste, clean socks, eyemask and ear plugs for the light sleepers, a dark chocolate treat and other various odds and ends. Last trip it came in a cool tin container but this time the usual grey zipped bag. I like to walk around the Frankfurt airport checking out the duty free and various restaurants though I always end up in the same gift shop with all the tacky Germany souvenirs. The one thing I'd like to buy is the huge beer stein that must hold about 5 pints and costs something like 150 euros. Its a serious piece of equipment and I can't imagine raising 5 pints plus the weight of the mug with one hand. We're definitely talkin' two hander! On the way home in September I'll make room in my bag for a German Beer Stein.

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The flight to Tunis takes about 2 1/2 hours and arrives at 11:30pm. My driver Nuceur always greets me with a smile and though he knows very little english and I know limited french we seem to communicate with hand motions and lots of laughter. Tunis is a very cool little city and I always wish I had time to explore the Roman ruins and especially the souk.The gift shop in the airport has some good souvenirs but expensive so the souk is the best choice for pottery and other local crafts. No giant beer steins though!

 I stay at the Golden Tulip Hotel which is in Carthage just to the northeast of Tunis. If you get the right room you have beautiful views of the Mediterranean and if you find yourself in the wrong room the barking dog and yapping goats will keep you awake till all hours. If you arrive on Friday night the music from the mosques just down the road will entertain you way past midnight and drown out the dogs and goats.    

The goats live down in those trees with the dogs and other unidentified screaming lifeforms.Its a nice contrast to the lovely rooms provided at the Tulip complete with beautiful wooden desk inlaid with the Mecca directional arrow. Price of a cab to the airport is $20US or 20Tunisian DT

Heres the beverage list from the Golden Tulip. French Champagne anybody?

Cyrene, Libya

took a day off and spent 12 hours in a van driving around northeast Libya to the World Heritage Site at Cyrene. Here are a few photos taken there. The last photo is taken in the Forum. Hafid is our driver and he wants to be a statue someday so here he is practicing. It was a very hot day so he only posed for a short time. We had a great day seeing the sights and meeting a few Libyans. We even had lunch in the 'Cave Restaurant' which is in Sahdhat. We visited the Wadi el Kauf bridge which was very impressive and a waterfall near Darnah. The Green Mountains reminded me of home. Theres a lot of interesting places in Libya and I hope to see more of this splendid country in the near future. The weather is starting to feel like summer and for the past week the temps have been in the low 40's C.

young Dutch boy survives air crash in Tripoli, Libya

Ruben van Assouw is the only survivor of the plane crash May 12, 2010 at Tripoli International Airport that killed 103 people including his brother, mother and father.

The tail section is the only intact piece of the plane. Everything else is in fragments. Its hard to believe anyone could survive this disaster. Rescuers found him still strapped in the seat. He suffered 2 broken legs which the good Libyan doctor's performed surgery on and numerous bruises. He's recovering in the hospital in Tripoli and has been visited by his relatives from Holland. My heart breaks for this young boy and wish him all the best for a speedy recovery.

Afriqiyah Airline flights to Europe and other countries in Africa.

the Pyramids at Cairo, Egypt

Starting the descent into Cairo. I had the perfect seat for viewing the Pyramids and managed to snap this photo through the plane window. Took a taxi from the airport to the pyramids and had the driver snap the photo of me sitting at the side of a very busy highway with the pyramids in the background. We drove up to the entrance and dodged camels and other assorted beasts of burden. Many tourists and mayhem around the shops and alleys. Was a fantastic sight to see the Nile River as well. Cairo is quite the city!

Pizza night in Benghazi, Libya!!

Spent Friday night walking the streets of Benghazi and ended up in the Souq. Checked out a bunch of jewellery shops filled with gold and silver bracelets, rings and such. All the shops start opening around 6pm on Friday and the souq is filled with shoppers. We ended up having a pizza at the shop on Pepsi Street.

always wanted to stand at the end of one of these....

I always think of that scene in the movie Easy Rider where the deal is going down at the end of the airport runway. I finally got my chance to stand at the end of a runway! It was great till the security vehicle arrived and wondered what we were doing.

 

'just happened to drive onto the end of the runways sir and thought we'd get out and admire the view'

Benghazi

Took a stroll down the seawall in Benghazi on a beautiful Friday afternoon. Didn't find the pizza shop on Pepsi Street but enjoyed walking around the city.