Loving Tunisia!: Shopping in the Old Souk!

A Visit to the Old Souk in downtown Tunis

Shopping and Christmas are natural partners and we spent Christmas Day wondering in the Old Souk in downtown Tunis. We didn't realize that Christmas is a holiday in Tunis, even though it is a mainly Muslim country (with a Christian population of 25,000 dispersed throughout the country and 1,500 Jews). On the way through the city near the Souk, we drove along a nice road that had a center pedestrian walkway, lined with trees and passed beautiful buildings and the Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul (there are 22,000 Catholics in Tunisia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Tunisia).

Beautiful Old Buildings line wide sidewalks

Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul

Center Tree-lined Walkway to the left

Naturally, because it was a national holiday, there was lots of traffic and as we got closer to the Old Souk, there was no place to park since due to our leisurely morning, we didn't arrive until around 11 am. Never mind - perhaps because we have a rental car (recognized by our rental car license plates which are blue) a man sighted us and started waving hysterically for us to follow him down one of the small, narrow side streets near the entrance of the Souk. We were a little leery at first, but because of our good faith in humanity, we followed him. Soon we learned that he was the first of a series of men who had staked out the alleys and 'controlled' the parking! In a tandem fashion, he handed us over to the next person who guided us down the next street until we arrived at our destination. There a man with a huge ring that held at least 50 car keys prepared a parking space for us by rolling a few cars bumper to bumper to create enough space for us to squeeze into! 2 Tunisian Dinars later, we were off towards the Zaituna Mosque, the official center of the Souk! For those of you who don't know Arabic, Zaituna means Olive.

OK! There was a cool "Bab" or "Door', a large official gateway arch standing without it's wall, that undoubtedly existed to protect the Souk's shops and inhabitants. There is a plaza area surrounded by old, beautiful buildings and a few coffee shops strategically located not only to serve tourists (which it seemed like we were the only ones), but locals as well.

Cool 'Bab' Entrance

Bab plaque

Me inside the Bab

Coffee Shop in the Bab Plaza

Older Buildings in the Bab Plaza

The Bab Plaza Area

In between these old buildings, the Souk begins! There are many meandering alleys and we randomly started walking down one. Naturally we had no map of which area of the Souk we were in because apparently, like all Souks, they are arranged according to products for sale: there's the gold souk, the household area, the leather area, perfumes, copper, etc. Before we left, I read about this, but without a guide, it wasn't obvious where one began and one ended!(http://www.tunisia-live.net/2012/04/06/lose-yourself-in-the-souks-of-the-tunis-medina/)

In fact, they all seemed to be 'tourist' souks and were full of lots of your basic souvenir items towards the beginning of the plaza near the Bab. Apparently this area is a cruise ship destination, so with a limited amount of time for disembarking, this makes sense! (http://cruises.about.com/od/mediterraneancruises/ig/Medina-of-Tunis/). There were shops selling high end brand name knock offs (LV, Burberry, Longchamps), but not professionally done - still good for toting around while traveling in case you don't want to ruin the real thing. If you know what you are looking for, you are sure to find it in one of the shops! It just takes time, or going there with an experienced shopper.

Because the Zaituna Mosque is the center of the Old Souk (souk means marketplace), our alley ended up right there! Naturally, being tourists, we had to start snapping photos and this behavior quickly drew the attention of scouts out to snatch us and lead us to their various shops. We were caught by a guy named 'Lutfi' (a version of Abdul Latif), who promised to take us to a place on the top of the buildings where we could take a panoramic view of the Souk where we could see the minarets of all 15 mosques in the city! I needed this photo. After shooting a few shots of the Zaituna Mosque, we set off on a frantic walk through the catacombs of the market, passing many interesting shops, old fountains, facades and covered alleys as we went!

Front of the Zaituna Mosque

Zaituna Mosque Arches

On Our way through the alleys!

Shops and Apartments

An old door

Beautiful Windows

Gold!

Silver!

Alleys off Alleys

Antiques!

Fatimid Architecture: Black & White Stripes

We arrived at Lufti's shop after following him at a frantic pace. I think that Lutfi wanted us to hurry so we didn't get distracted by other shops and also so he could get back out to the mosque to pick up other customers!

It was a slick operation, similar to what you experience in Cairo, but I found the Tunisian souk salesmen to be more polite and less aggressive than their Egyptian counterparts. We were introduced to the shop manager and led up some stairs to the roof for the panoramic view of the city and it's 15 minaret towers.

Entrance to Lufti's Shop

On the roof of the store

Hani, Khaled & Me with Zaituna Minaret behind us

Carpets getting the Antique treatment - weathering!

Then we saw the 'Sultan's Bed' which was impressive and reminded me of the bed that was in the TV series "Al-Hareem Al-Sultan" (which I am addicted to). I was wondering why this wasn't in a museum if it were real!

Mosaic Reproductions

After looking at some lovely carpets, we took our leave and were on our own through the alleys and shops. The shopkeepers beckon you into their lairs with "Welcome!" as you pass by.

There were lots of interesting things to look at and years of bargaining in Kuwait helped out. At first you ask the price and it's usually the tourist price. But you need to get your bearings before you negotiate. Then you act like your not interested in the item. The price goes down. Then you say that it was cheaper in another shop. The price goes down. Then you say 'No thanks' and start to leave the shop. Frantically, the salesman will shout out his real price, this is usually the lowest he will go. We used this technique the entire day and was amazed at the price variations. At the end, the prices all converge to within a lower price range and then it's a matter of quality & color selection, size availability & customer service!

Lots to see!

On our initial way into the souk, I saw a lovely ceramic tajine that I wanted but since this shop was located near the Plaza, we didn't want to drag it around during the day so I told the shopkeeper that we would return and buy it; he didn't look like he believed us. Then hours later when we came back through to his shops we bought it for 20 Tunisian Dinars he offered, after it's original price was 65! He stuck to his word and didn't try to increase the price, it was a steal and I'll return there to buy more. I will definitely return!