Nov. 26, Thursday
Happy Thanksgiving!
The sun is shining, the storm has abated, and Thanksgiving Dinner awaits, (even for those many fellow passengers from Canada, Japan, Australia, Egypt, Germany, Sweden and Denmark).
At midnight last night I did laps around the pool and watched the twinkling
lights of Algeria about two miles away fade into the distance. It's smooth
sailing now - and at 10 a.m. tomorrow the Rock of Gibraltar (called the Pillar of Hercules) will come into view. After my exercise, I returned to my stateroom to find that my door key no longer worked. (Are you beginning to get a sense that this shakedown cruise of Ocean Explorer I has some major shaking to do?) But back to the key-I approached my faithful Goan steward Franki; a screwdriver didn't work, so he gave the door several swift karate kicks.
This worked like magic.
Unfortunately, now I have to do the same to get into my stateroom.
Never mind such minor inconveniences! It seems that a major inconvenience to many on board is lack of computer access.
The natives are getting restless and are threatening to riot if they can't send e-mail messages. The management in desperation has just called an emergency computer meeting ,and I was shocked to find around 300 people in the grand ballroom. The poor computer guy could hardly get out alive. At one point he said, "This is terrible. I want my mom!" There's no telling what the computer guys have been doing the past four days-but they got an earful at the meeting. But as a result, (now 24 hours later) the "media center" is open, and I just sent my first message, though I can't tell whether it actually arrived.
Our first port of call was Tunis. After a flap with Tunisian authorities who insisted on taking their time to collect our passports before we could disembark, a group of us headed for a fabulous museum. The Bardo Museum houses undoubtedly the best mosaic collection in the world. We strolled through many white-washed rooms and fountain filled courtyards, marveling over enormous domed ceilings of mosaic and gold leaf and treading lightly on the beautiful designs embedded in mosaic floors in this former king's palace. The Bardo Museum contains an extraordinary collection of Roman mosaics and sculpture, works of art that bring to life myths of ancient Greek gods, and life-like depictions of the Roman conquerors, and the Phoenicians who founded the city. Next stop was the nearby Tunis medina, the old walled city. We wandered through the souks (markets) - a labyrinth of tiny stalls lining the narrowest of arched tunnel ways, with the pungent aroma of lamb kabobs, chicken, dates and mint tea reminding us that we were ready for the next meal, which wasn't due for several hours.
Children and adults followed us through the souk, shaking their wares and showing off rugs, silver jewelry, leather goods, and wool hats. In many stalls working artisans didn't look up as they wove on huge looms, shaped wool hats, or cut strips of leather to create shoes and purses---all available at bargain prices. (It's an insult not to bargain, we are told.) One of our group bargained for a silver bracelet that started at $20 and ended with a purchase of three "real?" silver bracelets for $3. Tunis was far more beautiful and cleaner than I expected. Carthage, the original capital, is located nearby.
The Romans destroyed Carthage in 146 BC by burning it to the ground and burying it in salt to forbid residence in the city for a quarter century, Tunis became more important after the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, and today as the nation's capitol, it is a city of magnolias, roses, and jasmine, with oranges hanging from trees everywhere.
Next stop: Casablanca.
