Sousse, was the destination for a Mediterranean beach vacation. Its stretch of sand, runs as far as the eyes can see. Our section was about 2 km north of the city centre, close to Mövenpick Resort & Marine Spa. It wasn’t impressive in neither size nor beauty. Maybe that’s why it was a pretty quiet place, or the fact that it was at the end of summer. Either way, fine by me. What wasn’t ok, was the jellyfish that came in with the tide in the late afternoon. Initially I thought it was just some seaweed, looked like a bendy flower stem with thorns, but when I came into contact with it, it gave me burns, that took a day to heal. Later, I overheard people getting some treatment put on, by the life guards.
Besides the beach, there were not much around in this area. There were construction work going on at that time, so maybe exciting things have popped up since then. We had dinner at a hibachi restaurant at one of the neighbouring hotels, which was a great experience.
As for the city centre, more precisely the medina (the old town), as I didn’t venture into the modern city of Sousse, it has the authentic vibe. The real deal, kind of, even though the souk had many “souvenir” shops, not in the magnet and t-shirt way, but Tunisian things one would be inclined to bring back home. The Great Mosque of Sousse, was an unusual one, at least for me, cause I’m not used to the lack of minarets. Albeit, I can imagine it getting boring in the long run…
Port El Kantaoui, on the other hand, is very different from Sousse. It feels like it was built to cater to tourists – far from my type of scene. Based around a marina, home to luxury yachts, it is filled with restaurants, cafes, and shops. In the evening, it was packed with people. Port El Kantaoui is 10 km from the centre of Sousse. There is a mini train, running along the corniche, which you can use to get there. Free of charge.
Food wise, I was introduced to brik / burek, the Tunisian version. It looked like a crispy pancake, which it wasn’t, folded into a half circle, with three separate “air pockets”, each containing a soft boiled egg. Loved it! The perfect breakfast / lunch dish! Drinks wise, it was all about jasmine tea, for me. The smell filled the air 🙂
On this week long visit, I also went on an organised day trip to Tunis.
Website: discovertunisia.com/en/discover/around-sousse-and-port-el-kantaoui
Note: Photo of Port El Kantaoui is by Monaam Ben Fredj.
