Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The Winds of Dougga

Bronwyn and the boys and I headed out to Dougga for, wait for it, more Roman ruins.  Because we just can't get enough.  Dougga is about halfway between Tunis and Algeria.  There was talk of me driving out by myself because the boys weren't feeling so hot the day before and after driving out with Bronwyn I can tell you, I would have had to do some serious pantomiming to find my way there.  How would you act out, "Ancient Roman Ruins of Dougga"?

The drive was very lovely though.  Rolling hills filled with fruit orchards.  We stopped at a fruit stand and bought some pomegranites, oranges, pears, and grapefruits.  Don't they look gorgeous?



The kid running the joint spoke a little English and seemed really proud to use it.  He kept pointing out fruits and saying their English names.

Dougga is set up on a hill overlooking a valley and the site is quite large.  It has a few temples and an amphitheater and lots of other buildings that I can only guess what they were.  7-Eleven, maybe? 







It took over 2 hours to get out there and we only stayed for about 45 mintues because, Holy Roman Empire, it was COLD.  So, so cold.  And the wind.  Oy, the wind!  No wonder the Romans left the place.  You fool yourself, living on the Mediterranean, into thinking that every day is sunshine and gentle breezes, so we just were not prepared for that kind of assault.

But hooray for my snuggle buddy.


Side note:  Doesn't the Winds of Dougga sound like a great band name?  From the 70s maybe?  I'm picturing lots of hair and synthesizers.

8 comments:

Chris said...

Amazing pictures! It looks like such a cool place to visit.

With all of your pantomiming experience, I want you on my charades team next time we play.

The Katzbox said...

These pictures carry me away. I'm stealing them away and putting them on my desktop...I'm just letting you know to assuage my guilt. They are stellar. They have so much emotion and history and feeling...they are haunting. I adore them. Thanks for posting. And you look beautiful, by the way.

Keep this up!

Laura said...

I'm sure they had 7-Elevens back in the day. Which means that even then, you could have wished for a wealthy benefactor that would buy you a Slurpee machine!!

Rach said...

Now you have a new catch phrase that I might steal from time to time (Holy Roman Empire). I have already stolen Knights of Columbus on occasion, and it makes me look clever. Those pictures are GORGEOUS!!! I need to go to Tunisia. Those Romans knew how to build stuff. And Jacob saw the picture of you and Sam and got a little jealous of Sam. We must have a non-sick meeting so you and Jacob can become even better besties. But that can't happen this week, because we are currently contaminated with the barf bug.

Valerie said...

Unless you're getting sick of Roman ruins, keep talking about them. I don't have an excess of them in Brooklyn, and I think they're the tops.

Amanda said...

Great pictures! I'm betting the wind we are having here could rival that Tunisian wind. They actually had a school closing due to the wind. We don't mess around here. Also, I just realized that I live down the street from a Knights of Columbus hall. If that isn't worth a visit, I don't know what is. They even have Chili Suppers and stuff that we should attend. I do agree that Holy Roman Empires is a great new phrase.

Heather said...

Rachel--Great post, as usual.

Chris-- "With all of your pantomiming experience, I want you on my charades team next time we play." Hilarious.

Holy Roman Empires, I want to comment on every comment here!
I love you all.

teresa p said...

I love all of your posts from the last couple weeks (I'm catching up on a huge backlog of blog reading) but only have time to comment on a couple.

First, like Heather, I'm totally stealing "Holy Roman Empire" as well.

Second, I love these kids! Henry with the tour bus and jumbo shrimp. Classic! And every time I see a picture of Sam now I think of this baby http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5s1QNfXGn4 Adorable!

Sorry if this song is now permanently stuck in your head. We can comisserate when you get home.