A day afoot in Tunis

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I'm staying at the Belvedere Fourati in Tunis which is almost next door to the city zoo, so I paid about $5.50 and walked through it and then went to the Centre Ville to the old Medina. The zoo was like the old Catskill Game Farm, but with palm trees and photogenic African birds.

I spent all day walking around with my camera. It felt great after three months of enforced security measures, escorts and drivers in Algiers. Even with the blisters. Even with the flu I brought with me from our newspaper's air conditioning system which is directed in one laser-like blast of cold at certain seats in the place.

My first impressions of Tunis are: I like it. Right after we got off the plane I walked to a women's room near the luggage carousel. The door was open, and parked outside were a small fleet of pails and mops and cleaning carts. I thought it might be closed for maintenance. But no, inside three young cleaning girls in blue uniforms and scarves were sitting on the floor, knees up, smoking and talking together. It was cute, like high school.

The city puts me in mind alternately of Istanbul and Paris. And it's so nice to see women in shorts and couples at outside cafes again!