so, fall break is over, and i am sick with raffreddore (congestion). however, i had an amazing time in tunisia and florence. an italian teacher at temple rome organized a group of 28 students to go on a bus tour of tunisia. we started in tunis and did a huge loop around the whole country. the northern part of tunisia is much like southern italy in terms of climate. the southern part of tunisia is desert. it was a week long trip, and after one day of rest, we went to florence. there we ate tuscan food (a nice change from roman), went shopping on ponte vecchio, and wandered around the city.
tunis: procession for the changing of the flag at government headquarters
carthage kitty
cemetery at carthage full of sacrificed stillborn babies
tunisian tea with almonds 
there is a code that the buildings need to be white and blue. the white keeps the city cool and the blue protects the wood.
carthage and the mediterranean
baby on tombstone
cafe' in sidi bou said
view from the top of the hill at sidi bou said
mosaic map at memorial to americans who died in tunisia in WWII
memorial
myself at el gem, the tunisian amphitheater 
date palm oasis from the mountains
matmata, where star wars was filmed. this is actually the movie set.
troglodyte house: troglodytes are a people who live in houses carved from the rock of mountains. we were able to visit one that people still live in. they fed us bread and tea.
lisa feeding the camel at the troglodyte house
matmata again
troglodyte woman grinding grain for bread
their pet dog
and pet guinea pigs and rabbits
troglodyte boy with his camel and our bus driver
the hotel with the cous cous that made everyone sick
alison and myself
maria, the coordinator of the trip, and her fiancee 
we went camel riding in the sahara. this is my camel. he was really a charmer.
gateway to the desert 
date palm
we woke up one morning and there were peacocks all over the hotel. they make awful noises in the morning.
my camel again
we went on a horse and carriage ride through the date palm oasis and drank palm juice and smoked palm leaves.
the salt lake. it really was incredible. 
ah, the bus.
pond in the mountains
our guide through the mountains
shopping 
canyon near the algerian border
an abandoned town
olive oil lamps in mosque
water retention basin
our bus broke down one morning for about an hour; no big.
cut to FLORENCE
santa maria novella
o wait, this is tunis. my pictures are apparently out of order
in tunisia
mosque
florence, outside of the duomo
duomo
leonardo davinci on the pavement
adam
eve
unfinished pieta by michelangelo
ghiberti's gates of paradise
piazza in florence
portrait artist at the uffizi gallery
ponte vecchio
the gates at night
duomo bell tower 
funny-footed lamp posts
