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Tunis is the capital of Tunisia, the northernmost country in Africa, but the city feels neither Arab nor African. It's a place where old and new mix without any seeming conflict, in both the architecture (with Moorish and French influences) and way of life.
On one corner in the capital city of 2.5 million, you might see a group of girls in tight jeans and tops with dangling earrings possibly heading to one of the modern shopping malls. On another, an old lady with a traditional head covering stands with her camel. (Women have not had to cover their heads there since the mid-1980's.) Meanwhile, a street sweeper wields an old-fashioned thatched broom while he chatters away on his mobile phone.
Outside the very Arab souk (main market) in the well-preserved Medina (Old City) is a square with a fountain where we spied men sitting and talking dressed in garb that would look at home in Rome (one wore a light tan suit -- his blue shirt open -- and tasseled loafers without socks). Passing them were men in traditional red skull caps.
Tunisia's history dates back over some 3,000 years. The country has been occupied by the Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Turks, Spanish and French. During the 12th to 16th centuries, Tunis was considered one of the most important and wealthiest cities in the Arab world. It finally gained independence from France in 1956. Tunisian presidents are elected, although the same leader ruled from 1957 to 1987. His successor, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, ruled from 1987 to 2010, when nationwide demonstrations over unemployment, corruption and poor living conditions forced him to resign from office. "We have elections, but we know the outcome of these elections before they take place," said our guide, noting that the system is more a wink to the concept of democracy than reality.
This is a poor country, with a 15-percent unemployment rate. It is one of the world's largest producers of olive oil. Other products include citrus, wine and dates. Tourism is an important business here (more than five million tourists visit each year, mostly French and German), though cruise calls are still pretty exotic and limited largely to European ships (like those from Costa and MSC Cruises) and U.S. lines that offer more exotic Mediterranean itineraries (such as Oceania). And though it may be considered a third world country, we saw few genuinely poor folks. The streets and towns were extremely clean, and crime (though we heard of the occasionally run-in with pickpockets) is low.
To be sure, if you get off the ship on your own rather than a shore excursion, you will immediately throw yourself into a foreign atmosphere including cab drivers at the pier haggling to give you a tour -- more intense haggling than I've come across in other places. And the souk is very much a place where Arab traditions rule -- so are many coffee houses, which are for men only.
But all in all, you'll find a laid-back city, very liberal by Islamic standards, and much more Western than you'd expect.
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