After an afternoon nap and basically sitting around bored in the Green Palm, it was dinner time. Places like this have a standard dining room, with usually a typical buffet and this didn't seem to be an exception.
We walked through the rather large dining area and found a little veranda out the back of the restaurant, taking a tiny little two top away from the feeding frenzy. Our server was a really nice young man, warm, with a wonderful smile. He spoke little English but we had no problem ordering us a bottle of wine. He would turn out to be one of the typical genuinely nice people we encountered in Tunisia….one of many.
As we walked pass the dishes,we noticed that there was an unusually large amount of pasta dishes…..really overcooked looking pasta dishes. We had gotten into the habit of going after more vegetable oriented dishes along with availing ourselves of the pretty decent olive oil at these buffets. We noticed that many of these typical dishes were rather "scarce". The Missus asked our server why they didn't have mechouia, the wonderful grilled pepper/vegetable salad She had gotten to really enjoy.
The reason? "Tonight is Italian night, no mechouia." Kind of a bummer. He then asked us, "you like mechouia?" Of course we answered "yes, it is very good." He pointed to the ground and said, "tomorrow, Tunisienne night…..still…." And pointed to the ground. So, that was the deal; there was a theme to every night's dinner, and tomorrow was "T
unisia night". We nodded and went on with our meal. About ten minutes later he walks up to our table and drops off this plate….of mechouia! We're just flabbergasted. He tells us, "I tell chef de cuisine, you really like mechouia, so we make you some." Say what? Shades of Vientiane! Say what you will about the politics and religion, but I've always asserted, we as people, are much kinder then the borders built by flags and rhetoric, and more alike than different. This gesture alone, made staying here a pleasure. On our way out, we wanted to thank this young man….the only thing we could think of was giving him like 20 dinar.
On our way out, the Missus noticed a line in frontof the cheese station….which by the way, was stocked with some pretty decent cheeses. So of course, my crazy wife decided to man the station….walking up and starting to serve the guests their cheese….much to the amusement of the young man who returned to find one of the guests, albeit a slightly off center one working his station.
Walking out of the restaurant, we noticed this bulletin…..listing the "themes" for each night's dinner.
I was just glad we weren't here on Tuesday ("Mardi") for "Oriental night".
There wasn't much more to do during the evening, I went down to the bar for a beer and worked on getting photos uploaded and working on a short post. The next morning we woke early, Ben would be picking us up for the last half day portion of the tour…….this being Houmt Souk and some outlying areas.
The sun was already shining brightly, but the restaurant was completely empty except for us. I'm guessing most folks were sleeping in after a night of partying. When I went upstairs to our room the previous night, folks were coming down to go to the nightclub in the resort.
Breakfast was simple and light…..I've come to enjoy the tomato-cheese-olive and bread type of breakfasts.
As usual, Ben met us promptly at 8 am and we headed off. The first stop was the town of Midoun. This was Friday, the day of a large market in the town.
We arrived pretty early, so many vendors were still setting up……most of the booths were just filled with tourist stuff. I'm guessing many of the tourists some here in cabs from the resorts to buy souvenirs……
Our next stop was on a sleepy street in the town of Erriadh, also known as Hara Seghira ("small ghetto"). Many people are not aware that Djerba once had a rather large Jewish community which some say dates back to 586 BC, following Nebuchadnezzar's taking of Jerusalem, making this one of the oldest outside of Israel. El Ghriba Synagogue, located in Erriadhis the oldest in North Africa and the site of a major pilgrimage in May of each year.
After arriving, we had to wait across the street from the Synagogue for a detachment of soldiers to arrive and the "Fat Man" who held the keys to the place. Each visitor has to go through a metal detector and possibly some screening before visiting. The reason is written on the right; on April 11th, 2002 a natural gas truck fitted with explosives drove past the security gates and detonated; killing 19.
Though the first Synagogue was first built here when a "holy stone" fell from heaven and a mysterious woman appeared instructing people to build the synagogue, this building was constructed in the 20th century.
The colors are strikingly Mediterranean, with bright blues and whites. The interior is also full of the striking blues, but is somewhat tempered by its design.
I was told that one of the oldest existing Torahs is kept here and also the story that, "when the last Jews leave Djerba, the keys to the synagogue will fly to heaven……."
After this rather somber visit, we headed off to Houmt Souk, the largest town on the island. We stopped at Borj El K'bir Fort, also known as Borj Ghazi Mustapha.
This fort was the site of a huge massacre in 1560 when Dragut (Turgut Ries) the Ottoman Commander defeated a coalition army of Phillip II of Spain, over-running the fort.
According to the story, there were about 6000 of the garrison killed and their skulls were stacked up on the shoreline as a warning. The monument was taken apart in 1848 and the bones buried and this was placed at the site.
You really wouldn't give it but a brief glance if you didn't know what once stood here.
Ben told me that to this day, Houmt Souk is never shown on any tourist maps in Spain. not sure if that's true, but it sure makes for a heck of a story, huh?