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Favorite thing: NAME: Deformation of "Kart Hadasht" ("the new town"), the name used by the Phoenicians in the 9th century B.C.

LOCATION AND ACCESS: In the outskirts of
Tunis (15 km north of the capital), on the Gulf of Tunis. Excellent paved roads from Tunis to Carthage. International Tunis-Carthage airport used by the major international airline companies.
DIALING CODE: 01.
ACCOMMODATION: Several hotels (see Hotels Listing)

Who has not heard of Hannibal and this city who dared brave the might of Rome? Now the ruins of both these great empires lay open to the sun and wildflowers. Declared a national monument the town of Carthage and nearby Salammbo abound in vestiges of the Punic and Roman empires, baths, dwellings, temples, shrines and the fabulous naval port of the Carthaginians.
The hill of Byrsa, where in the 8th century BC, Carthage was founded by the legendary Princess Elissa-Dido, is a storehouse of history .Newly restaured, the former cathedral of Saint Louis, which crowns the hill is now a cultural center and the nearby nationalmuseum of Carthage holds an impressive collection of Punic statues, steles and urns . How strange that this breathtakingly beautiful site should have been the theater of such violence, as a Roman historian wrote of the fall of Carthage "the city was then razed and burnt to the ground and the accursed land covered with salt to ensure its barrenness."

For a thousand years, Phoenicians were masters of the Mediterranean and over 200 war ships and innumerable merchant vessels were sheltered in the nearby port of Salammbo. At its center the Admirals island still exists and archeologists are reconstituting the pavilion with its shrine and docks. Next to the ports the ancient sanctuary of the goddess Tanit (Tophet) a quiet, shady square of hundreds of funeral steles.

The Romans returned to Carthage and built on its ruins a new Carthage resplendent with great buildings, theaters, villas and baths. Carthage became the administrative capital for Africa and its importance can be seen in the Antoinine Thermal baths, one of the largest built under the Roman empire with the "cool room" an amazing 47 meters long and 15 meters high. The Roman theater is still used today for the summer festival of Carthage.

Fondest memory: http://www.tourismtunisia.com/togo/carthage/carthage.html

Favorite thing: Cheapest mobile calls are to buy a Tunisian sim card when you arrive.
Calls to UK will cost around 1TD per minute about 45p, far cheaper than UK rates of £1.35 per min.
When buying top-up's you pay extra (ie 20TD will cost a little more) but that is just the way it is done. Due to Tunisians not having large sums of money many outlets will just top the phone electronically (ie send you the mins from their donar phone). Do make sure that your pone is unlocked before you go though. When you return home either sell the card on ebay etc, or bring some top-up cards and add 5TD every 6 months so that it is not switched off. I use my card each year that I go.
If your phone is too new to unlock cheaply get hold of an older 2nd-hand one, O2 do not lock their cheaper tariff phones, so they'll accept the Tunisiana card. Not all phones accept the text settings automatically, if you want to send text you need to check the setting, they should be able to do that for you when you buy the sim.

Favorite thing: In Spain during the XIIth century all the people that were not Christians or however had Jewish or Muslim relatives had to leave the country. Some Andalusian immigrants came to Tunisia and they tried to build constructions using the styles and decorations they were used to in Spain. So thanks to these people we still can see in Tunisia "a piece of Spain", because these towns really look like some villages in Andalusia. Even if they are clearly an "off the beaten path destination" in Tunisia, they worth a visit.
I'll try to visit and write about all these towns; Some examples are Zaghouan orTestour

Favorite thing: After the English-American disembarks in Morocco and Algiers (8-11th November 1942) the French North Africa took part of the fight on the Allies’ side. On 9th November the German troops disembarked in Bizerte and landed in Tunis. Tunisia would be the scene of the first land combats lead by l’Armée d’Afrique on the Allies’ side. Some important dates to remember:

* Since 19th November 1942 General Barre and his French Forces put up resistance to a German attack in Mejez el Bab (northwest Tunis). It was the beginning of the hostilities in the Tunisian Campaign
* Different combats took place between November and December; Djebel Ahmara, that dominated the Medjerda Valley (named by the British troops the “Longstop Hill”) went over to the enemy’s hands
* On 18th January 1943 the German “Tiger” tanks appeared for the first time in an offensive in Oum el Abouab. The American armoreds stopped this attack in the north Ousseltia
* On 4th February 1943 Marshall Rommel’s Afrikakorps crossed the Tunisian border and together with their Italian allies they reinforced their defense over the Mareth line that went from Matmata to the sea before counterattacking on 14th February through Sbeitla and Gafsa
* In the south, on 17th February 1943 the 8th British Army run up against the Mareth line from three different axes:
-Frontal attack by the 30th British Army Corps
-Attack from the east and direction to Gabes by the New Zealander Corps. The New Zealanders, together with the General Leclerc’s “L force” support, occupied Ksar Ghilane on 22nd February
-Attack over Gafsa and Maknassy by the 2nd American Army Corps

* After some violent combats Sfax fell on 10th April and Sousse two days later. During the following days the “L force” took the coast and the New Zealanders took Takrouna.
* The final offensive started in May 1943. The Americans took Bizerte on 7th May, the British entered in Tunis on 6th May and made their way to Hammamet on 8th May and to Bou Ficha on 12th May
* The French 19ème Corps d’Armée was in charge of the attack to Zaghouan. On 7th May la Division de Marche d’Oran, commanded by General Boissau, took the Pont du Fahs and joined the British on 12th May.

* On 12th May 1943 General Feyberg and General Boissau received the surrender of the German and Italian troops. The Allies become the masters of all North Africa.

Favorite thing: Arabs don’t like the blue color very much. Take a look at the flags of Arabic countries: they are basically red (red means blood for them) and sometimes they use other colors like black, white or green but blue color does not form part of their culture. So why are Sidi Bou Said and Tunis in general so blue and white? This is thanks to Baron Erlanger. Baron Rodolphe d’Erlanger was a French-American nobleman who lived in Sidi Bou Said. He loved Sidi Bou Said and wanted to buy it and transform it in a kind of Monaco full of yachts, casinos and beautiful people. Fortunately this land was not for sale. The Baron was the responsible for Sidi Bou Said current look (blue was his favorite color). His palace (Palais Ennjema Ezzahra) with beautiful views to Sidi Bou Said’s bay is a good example. The Baron was also responsible for the revival of Tunisian traditional music. Nowadays there are beautiful concerts in his palace (take a look at my tip “musiqat at Sidi Bou Said”)

Favorite thing: Byzantine era has always been neglected in Tunisia (and by tourists!) but there are some fine Byzantine remains that worth a visit. Most of the military structures (basically forts) in Tunisia have Byzantine origins; you can find remains of basilicas at most of the roman cities too like in Cartago, Thignica. Sbeitla or Haïdra.

In 533 Byzantine (the western half of the Roman Empire) Emperor Justinian sent an army under his general Belisarius, which crushed the Vandals and took Carthage.
Years later we can find an autonomous society with an independent character from Constantinople It seems that that period was marked by an administrative and economical revival and a vigorous religious life until the arrival of the Arabs, who defeated the Perfect Gregory in 647. Despite this, Christian and Muslim communities coexisted in Tunisia for some six centuries more and the disappearance of Christianity in Tunisia it's not very clear yet.

Tunisia is Saint Agustin’s homeland too, one of the most important figures for the development of the Christianity, who lived and studied here. Born from a Christian mother and pagan father he was baptized a Christian only in his mid-30s and in the course of his work in North Africa.

Nowadays there are no indigenous Christian communities in Tunisia.

Favorite thing: Tunisia has kilometers and kilometers of nice beaches and turquoise sea. You can swim and sunbathe in the morning, walk along its corniches during the afternoon and admire the Tunisian sunsets in front a cup of shaii at a nice cafè. Most of these sea villages have nice medinas too. Places like Hammamet or Sousse are very famous but full of tourists in summer time too; others like Mahdia or Nabeul are just hidden gems

Favorite thing:
It took me ten months to write it but this is maybe the best tip about Tunisia that I can offer to the vt community.
Resident or visitor, there are 4 basic rules that should help you to survive in Tunisia, specially if you want to interact with local people:

1-Don't ask yourself too many questions.
2-Even the simplest operation can become a real Odyssey in Tunisia.
3-Be patient . . . here everything is "inchallah". . .
4-Always, remember always, contrast the information (specially the indications to find a place) that you receive.

I could add an illustrative example based on my own experiences to any of these rules but i prefer that you discover them by yourselves. . . Am I a bad girl?? No, just "cherrira" ;-)))