Omg so many things to laugh at since I was on last!! You guys are funny :D
I need sunscreen because I have lupus and never go in the sun...except for this one car show every year (this weekend). I have my "lupus umbrella", but last year my legs got sun, and I went into a flare up afterwards. Soooo I need sunscreen for the bits the umbrella might not cover at times :)
If I remember (lol) ill bring my iPod and take pics of purty cars.
Well been back a few days and just about recovered. First thing I have to say is we had a great time, as we tried to fit in as much as possible in a short time it was tiring. The Sahara trip took two days, covered over 1200K and involved 4 and 5am starts. But I get ahead of myself...
Thoughts on Tunisia.
We arrived about 22:00 and were met by a cheery hotel host. The room was clean, and though simple was all we needed to get our head down at night. A hunt for a cash machine took an hour thanks to walking past it three times but once found we drew out some Dinar and headed for a drink, yes despite being a Muslim country it is easy enough to find a drink if you want one. Happily this also found us a great restaurant where we had a couple of great meals in a real nice atmosphere. The staff were lovely and we were soon on hugging terms.
The exchange rate is good, and with the low value of the Dinar you double your money, a Dinar in Tunisia spends like a Euro in Ireland and you get 2.2 Dinar to the Euro.
Politically the country is in a state of flux, and this does show. Some basic jobs like rubbish collection is not being done, the beach for example was very messy, and rubbish is gathering at an alarming rate on road sides. Also driving is hampered by non functioning traffic lights on many junctions. Also petty con men lurk to snare unsuspecting tourists pretending to be their waiter or taxi driver.
Tunisia is a Muslim country, and this was very much why I chose it. We are bombarded with negative media coverage, the right wing in the UK and US use this to create a climate of fear around Islam. I wanted to see for myself and confirm my instinct that folk are folk and not so different to ourselves. Every meaningful interaction we had confirmed this. Friendly open people keen to help, assist and chat. Invites into peoples homes and a strong and long tradition of hospitality is never far away.
One thing I learned is the rather negative opinion of western women comes largely from our own media, Semi naked women in pop vids and papers beamed via satellite into their homes, and this is just about all they see, so like us they get a twisted view of our society, imagining that our women are all sluts just as we get the idea they are all terrorists. Neither view is true, and both views are the fault of our respective media.
The highlight of the trip was the Sahara...Though I have to say I feel I have seen it but not experienced it. The tour was done with military precision, it had to be. To get us on a Camel in the desert just in time to see the sun set, and the next morning out on the vast salt flats to see it rise called for very early starts. But, the tiredness just left you as you experienced these moments in time.
Everywhere you go there are people hawking cheap tat as souvenirs. Some are quite aggressive and a woman on her own will be a target, but even a couple like us got some hassle and I did have to get quite aggressive once or twice. The Souks (Markets) in my mind are a waste of time, crowded, full of cheap shite and very insistent sellers. We went to two, the one in Hammamet where we stayed, and one in Tunis...Within 5 mins we were out of both of them sitting in a cafe and chatting to locals...much nicer.
From the agricultural north to the Desert in the south Tunisia has a constant changing landscape, you can see sights unchanged since biblical times, a Shepard in traditional robes minding his flock, to the Berber and their cave dwellings where the older generation still live. I also got a better phone signal is the Sahara that I do at home, so the modern is also there.
I must go back, the Sahara grabbed me, I wanted more time, time for the silence, time for the solitude and time to talk more with the people who lived there.
Yeah, I could see how a video of Miley Cyrus sent east might give people the wrong impression.
"Not all our women are slutty and gross - honest!"
Ha ha funny you should pick that one, it was the one I held up as an example of something most of us here would say was wrong on so many levels...When you see it through their eyes and sensibilities it just gets worse,
I might add here this is a country with equal rights and pay for women, legal abortion, a health service of a very high standard, free education to university level and every man jack there is multilingual in at least three languages...Makes Ireland look backward,
Yeah, I could see how a video of Miley Cyrus sent east might give people the wrong impression.
"Not all our women are slutty and gross - honest!"
Ha ha funny you should pick that one, it was the one I held up as an example of something most of us here would say was wrong on so many levels...When you see it through their eyes and sensibilities it just gets worse,
I might add here this is a country with equal rights and pay for women, legal abortion, a health service of a very high standard, free education to university level and every man jack there is multilingual in at least three languages...Makes Ireland look backward,
Retropatriaest, ut patetex eorumvulgari usuarmisgladium.Bonum manefilobonum nocte!
It was Chris, I really only touched the base points. From Punic and Roman ruins, to chilling with Toureg tribesman our time was packed with new experiences. Mrs Knight rated it as our best trip ever, which was a relief as this was all on me, I picked and organised it without telling her where we were going until the last moment.
Yeah, I've heard the new "Miley" song and when taken in the context that it was written about her recently deceased relationship with Hemsworth, it's a decent tune. However, having also seen the recent "Miley" hijinx in the media, I get this intensely bad taste in my mouth as it were when I hear it, and I turn the station. To sum it up, a good song but I can't escape the feeling she's trashed it up to the point I don't want to hear it....
Knight, sounds like you need to take at least a week or more...Next one on my list is Sturgis...I guess you could call it a cultural exploration too?
Oh, good morning!
Does anyone else sense a pervading apathy around here of late?
My wife and I had breakfast with a woodchuck the other day. He/she just sat there staring at us while we ate our McDonalds it was both peaceful and creepy at the same time.
Morning y'all. Hubby worked a full day yesterday, then had to go in at 11pm and work another 8.5 hours. I didn't sleep well (kept hearing noises I couldn't instantly identify lol). Looks like a day of sleeping around here. At least my Roku has earbuds with the remote, so I can watch stuff and not wake him up.
OTTERS! And woodchucks....I don't know what a woodchuck looks like??
No that would be gunpowder, the crossbow while powerful was slow to load and the armour so designed to deflect arrows and bolts. The real end came with the cannon, as you can imagine that really made armour obsolete. Though for a short time very light and fully enclosing armour was used in close combat to protect from the new rapier style blades. Siege armour used as protection on castle battlements also lasted a few years more, very heavy and thick to resist musket balls.
You're lucky... the judge's here barely acknowledge us.
Any morning above ground's a plus...
The obvious answer, she ran out...
[URL=http://s797.photobucket.com/user/OutcastB/media/images4.jpg.html][IMG]ht...
Good Morning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phnv3qwZKAo
What is with all the otters? Someone around here got an otter fetish?
Someone thought we Otter changes things up in here.
Thread officially derailed! Time to go home everyone.
Morning y'all.
It says "Otters and other stuff"...
Pay attention Squirrel!
Omg so many things to laugh at since I was on last!! You guys are funny :D
I need sunscreen because I have lupus and never go in the sun...except for this one car show every year (this weekend). I have my "lupus umbrella", but last year my legs got sun, and I went into a flare up afterwards. Soooo I need sunscreen for the bits the umbrella might not cover at times :)
If I remember (lol) ill bring my iPod and take pics of purty cars.
OTTERS ARE CUTE.
LOL I'm going to keep the thread title till Oldschool runs out of Otter pics. I suspect this could take some time...
In other news I'm off to see Rush tonight, I remember watching that season and what a season it was.
Well been back a few days and just about recovered. First thing I have to say is we had a great time, as we tried to fit in as much as possible in a short time it was tiring. The Sahara trip took two days, covered over 1200K and involved 4 and 5am starts. But I get ahead of myself...
Thoughts on Tunisia.
We arrived about 22:00 and were met by a cheery hotel host. The room was clean, and though simple was all we needed to get our head down at night. A hunt for a cash machine took an hour thanks to walking past it three times but once found we drew out some Dinar and headed for a drink, yes despite being a Muslim country it is easy enough to find a drink if you want one. Happily this also found us a great restaurant where we had a couple of great meals in a real nice atmosphere. The staff were lovely and we were soon on hugging terms.
The exchange rate is good, and with the low value of the Dinar you double your money, a Dinar in Tunisia spends like a Euro in Ireland and you get 2.2 Dinar to the Euro.
Politically the country is in a state of flux, and this does show. Some basic jobs like rubbish collection is not being done, the beach for example was very messy, and rubbish is gathering at an alarming rate on road sides. Also driving is hampered by non functioning traffic lights on many junctions. Also petty con men lurk to snare unsuspecting tourists pretending to be their waiter or taxi driver.
Tunisia is a Muslim country, and this was very much why I chose it. We are bombarded with negative media coverage, the right wing in the UK and US use this to create a climate of fear around Islam. I wanted to see for myself and confirm my instinct that folk are folk and not so different to ourselves. Every meaningful interaction we had confirmed this. Friendly open people keen to help, assist and chat. Invites into peoples homes and a strong and long tradition of hospitality is never far away.
One thing I learned is the rather negative opinion of western women comes largely from our own media, Semi naked women in pop vids and papers beamed via satellite into their homes, and this is just about all they see, so like us they get a twisted view of our society, imagining that our women are all sluts just as we get the idea they are all terrorists. Neither view is true, and both views are the fault of our respective media.
The highlight of the trip was the Sahara...Though I have to say I feel I have seen it but not experienced it. The tour was done with military precision, it had to be. To get us on a Camel in the desert just in time to see the sun set, and the next morning out on the vast salt flats to see it rise called for very early starts. But, the tiredness just left you as you experienced these moments in time.
Everywhere you go there are people hawking cheap tat as souvenirs. Some are quite aggressive and a woman on her own will be a target, but even a couple like us got some hassle and I did have to get quite aggressive once or twice. The Souks (Markets) in my mind are a waste of time, crowded, full of cheap shite and very insistent sellers. We went to two, the one in Hammamet where we stayed, and one in Tunis...Within 5 mins we were out of both of them sitting in a cafe and chatting to locals...much nicer.
From the agricultural north to the Desert in the south Tunisia has a constant changing landscape, you can see sights unchanged since biblical times, a Shepard in traditional robes minding his flock, to the Berber and their cave dwellings where the older generation still live. I also got a better phone signal is the Sahara that I do at home, so the modern is also there.
I must go back, the Sahara grabbed me, I wanted more time, time for the silence, time for the solitude and time to talk more with the people who lived there.
Damn, sounds pretty cool.
Awesome description of your travels... thanks!
Yeah, I could see how a video of Miley Cyrus sent east might give people the wrong impression.
"Not all our women are slutty and gross - honest!"
Ha ha funny you should pick that one, it was the one I held up as an example of something most of us here would say was wrong on so many levels...When you see it through their eyes and sensibilities it just gets worse,
I might add here this is a country with equal rights and pay for women, legal abortion, a health service of a very high standard, free education to university level and every man jack there is multilingual in at least three languages...Makes Ireland look backward,
It was Chris, I really only touched the base points. From Punic and Roman ruins, to chilling with Toureg tribesman our time was packed with new experiences. Mrs Knight rated it as our best trip ever, which was a relief as this was all on me, I picked and organised it without telling her where we were going until the last moment.
Yeah, I've heard the new "Miley" song and when taken in the context that it was written about her recently deceased relationship with Hemsworth, it's a decent tune. However, having also seen the recent "Miley" hijinx in the media, I get this intensely bad taste in my mouth as it were when I hear it, and I turn the station. To sum it up, a good song but I can't escape the feeling she's trashed it up to the point I don't want to hear it....
Knight, sounds like you need to take at least a week or more...Next one on my list is Sturgis...I guess you could call it a cultural exploration too?
Oh, good morning!
Does anyone else sense a pervading apathy around here of late?
My wife and I had breakfast with a woodchuck the other day. He/she just sat there staring at us while we ate our McDonalds it was both peaceful and creepy at the same time.
Good morning all! The air is nice and crisp this morning. It is really refreshing.
Loosely translated...very loosely...
Back is our country, as is clear from the use of their arms, the sword of the vernacular. Good morning, good night thread!
Oy!
Morning y'all. Hubby worked a full day yesterday, then had to go in at 11pm and work another 8.5 hours. I didn't sleep well (kept hearing noises I couldn't instantly identify lol). Looks like a day of sleeping around here. At least my Roku has earbuds with the remote, so I can watch stuff and not wake him up.
OTTERS! And woodchucks....I don't know what a woodchuck looks like??
Hideous ugly beasts, and not trustworthy....
They stare alot...I'm told...
Ah. Didn't the Crossbow end the armored warrior?
No that would be gunpowder, the crossbow while powerful was slow to load and the armour so designed to deflect arrows and bolts. The real end came with the cannon, as you can imagine that really made armour obsolete. Though for a short time very light and fully enclosing armour was used in close combat to protect from the new rapier style blades. Siege armour used as protection on castle battlements also lasted a few years more, very heavy and thick to resist musket balls.