 It's my last day in Tunisia. Today I want to take you with me around the old Medina of Tunis and I want to show you some of my favorite spots because though I've been here for a while and I spend a good amount of time just strolling around the old Medina, this is the first time where I really grab my camera and film inside the Medina so I'm going to show you some of my favorite spots whether it's coffee shops, terraces or really just places of interest that I think you'll enjoy when you are in Tunis. Let's go. This right here is one of my favorite streets in the Medina. It's right around the corner from the hostel where I'm staying. This is I think the only youth hostel in the Medina. It's called Hostel La Medina and right around the corner is actually this street with two of my favorite cafes in the Medina. There's Cafe Hamouda Basha and Cafe Driba and what I really like about these two cafes is that one of them it's full of young people. It's always the case which I find very interesting about the old Medina. I'm used to old Medina as being like more conservative like older people but it's not the case here in the old Medina of Tunis so one of them there are always young people just gathering towards the end of the night playing music together which is always fun to see and then the other cafe next to it used to be actually a printing house here in the old Medina so every business in the Medina if they need anything printed like business cards or posters they would go right there. All of the business is really cool because you can still see all of the tools that were used for printing right there and one of my favorite things to get there when I go and sit down is some mint tea with the nuts because here in Tunisia when they serve their mint tea they add either pine nuts or almonds and it really adds to the flavor so this is the main street here. On this next street this is one of the beautiful mosques here in the Medina. This one is called the Hamouda Basha is the name of this mosque and then all the way behind it is Mesjid Zaituna which is much more popular here. Also this indoor walkway where there are a bunch of cafes or places to grab breakfast in the morning it's pretty neat but I actually just met a gentleman who offered to show me another neat spot this is the place I actually have been here but I forgot the location so I'm so glad that the gentleman helped me to to get here Sultan Palace okay so this place called Sultan Palace they do sell a lot of things but what's interesting about this part is that you can make your way all the way up to the top okay okay so they have some photos all the way up there with some of the presidents who visited the area and he just pointed to Muhammad said he's the king of Morocco and what's interesting about this place is that they have a really nice terrace with a wonderful view and it's actually the case in many stores here in Tunija and actually all around the country you just don't know you walk into a store maybe they sell carpets just like they do here but when you are in the terrace it's just an impeccable view so let's check it out oh nice nice very nice okay you have seven most yeah yeah the view from up here is impeccable especially if you make your way up here during sunset or for the summer it's just beautiful and this place it's there isn't really a cafe for you to sit down and enjoy the view but right next to it there are a few cafes actually i've been to that one all the way there and it's really awesome yeah oh wow it's beautiful and the carpets wow all of them nice well in Tunis They put them together and then they turn them into oil and oil. Then they are put in the safe. Then Tunis is 70% of the price. This product is from Europe, in France. In the south of France, they have a place called Grasse. Grasse is the place for Europe. It is the city with the pure foam in Europe. Then they mix it with alcohol, and they make it with the oil. This is why in Tunis, there is a lot of pure foam. This is the essential oil made with alcohol. Yes, with dates. Look, without alcohol, without chemical product. Pure natural essential oil. This one right here is Jasmine. It's the national flower in Tunisia, right? Oh my gosh, this is so good. This is the green lemon. The green lemon is made with pure foam. So strong. Very lovely. I got myself a roll of Jasmine essential oil, because I actually needed some perfume. I've been thinking about it for a while. But also because the guy was super helpful and kind. So I was like, why not? Anyway, so I walked to make my way back to Mesjid Zeytuna. This is the mosque of Zeytuna. It's the most popular mosque here, one of the oldest. It's got a lot of history. And it's actually open for visitors. It's open for Muslims and non-Muslims. If you're not Muslim, you are allowed into the courtyard, headscarf for women, and appropriate wear for men, usually not shorts. There's a street further out that I want to go check out to show you guys. I made my way back to one of my favorite streets. I usually would walk this way, facing Mesjid Zeytuna. And then here they do sell a lot of Shashi'a. This is Tunisian Shashi'a. More Shashi'as are right there. And then they do have this place right here called the Jawajim. It's actually a Tunisian dessert. It's always very busy. I haven't tried it before, but it looks more like, I don't know how to explain it. Like maybe a milkshake or yogurt with a lot of nuts and dates. And it looks pretty interesting, but it's just so thick. Beautiful handmade carpets. So this is a super common dessert. It's a very popular dessert. So this is a super common thing here in the Old Medina of Tunis. All of these are baskets or gifts for bridal gifts. So basically, for either bridal showers or even for the weddings, they would prepare baskets like this with a bunch of gifts. And you see like it's nice bridal colors. And then they would have trays like this with some sweets, maybe dates, nuts. And it's so beautiful. This is one of many shops around here specifically for that. So these are the baskets. They would have baskets like this and you would fill them with sweets, candies, nuts. These are usually the options. Some of them are fancier than others. Common in the culture in the Middle East, North Africa even for proposals if you want to propose to the person you love or to the bride, you have to go to their home and bring something with you. They would usually be in the form of a basket like this. I actually just read on the sign that it's not just bridal. Some of them are even gifts for kids. Young kids, when they get circumcised it's a big deal, big event. There's usually some celebration going on so you can take a basket as a gift. And back to the mosque of Zaituna. I'm going to skip. I'm not going to go in right now. It's just not well equipped for that. I really like these t-shirts with the sheshia glasses and moustache. Very, very Tunisian. There's a sign right there for a place called the Dar Belhej if you make a left. And it's actually a really nice place if you want to go for a nice sit-down dinner. And it used to be a house of the bays, I think, or the governors and they do have a nice teaching area. It's a really nice place if you want to go and have some dinner. And they also have this lunch special for three course meals 35 Tunisian dinars, which is really nice. This street is so busy. It also doesn't help that it's a Saturday today. But there's this corner right here in the Medina where they sell a lot of sweets. You can see some of them right here behind me. And the one that I like the most is the Makrut. I apologize for the light on the camera. It's not so good. But usually if you want to buy some, they're really nice so they hand you a piece or two just to try, if you really like it. Just handing pieces of sweets to everyone to sample is really cute. Just got myself a piece. So good. When it's warm, it's 100% better. It's so good because I've tried it cold. I've tried it warm. And oh my gosh. The flavor when it's warm, it's just so good. Tunisia and Algeria. Algeria, Tunisia and France. Tunisia and Morocco. This is a restaurant El Ali. This is a restaurant that I was recommended by somebody actually from Instagram who's Tunisian. And I went there for lunch one day. Service was good. It was nice and quiet. I also like the street with old umbrellas. This is the exit. This is the main square as you leave the Medina. Let me just scooch a little bit further. There's a hotel right there. The fountain. And there are a bunch of vendors here in the square. There's so much going on, it's pretty busy. Like I said, this is Saturday and they're selling bread. This is the famous fennel snack where they just clean up some fennel, adding some salt. It's actually really good and healthy. And out here they're selling pineapple, coconut. And then, I want to show you this spot that I really liked for some bambalouni. Bambalouni is a Tunisian donut. It's very soft, especially when you eat it warm. And then they just add sugar on top of it. Sometimes nutella. But the original one is just sugar. And this is my favorite place. Right there. Bambalouni. And you can see that it's so busy. The trick when I'm traveling is if I see a lot of locals that's a good sign. And it's always busy. It's probably one dinar for just the original one. Flowerman. There it is. When you leave the Medina, this is called this arch right here. It's called the Bab Le Bahar. The gate of the ocean. This big arch right here. There's always a... Oh, actually, no. I shouldn't go this far because there are usually some police forces right in front of it. So it's pretty safe out here. The police is really doing their job. But I was going to say this is the start of the main street Shari Al Habib Bur Giba. So if you want to make your way, let's say for example like to Khartaj or Sidi Buseid, you will want to walk all the way down on the main street to make your way to the train station. But yeah this is the old Medina of Tunisia. I'm just going to make my way back to the hostel to pack up and get ready to leave and if I see anything interesting on the way I will be sure to share that with you as well. And I'm trying to make my way to find a very special house that I've been to. I'm trying to show that to you guys. And it will be pretty interesting especially for those of you who learned or speak Arabic and are quite familiar with the Arabic culture and literature. I'm very excited for this one. And we are right here. Okay this looks like a simple normal house but this is actually the house where Ibn Khaldun grew up. He's one of the greatest social scientists in the Middle Ages. He was a philosopher, an Arab philosopher, writer, sociologist and he was very well respected and known in the Arab world and actually all around the world some of these principles were used widely and globally. This is the house where he grew up here in Tunija and he went to school because that was in the Middle Ages. So he went to school and he started school at the Masjid Zaytuna, the mosque of Zaytuna, the one that I showed you earlier. But yeah it is right here. There's actually a library or librarian with a small library, tiny little library right next to the house of Ibn Khaldun. I actually came last time and I wanted to grab a book but I didn't have time. So I'm glad I did it right now. I bought this book from him and it's not written by Ibn Khaldun but it's got a collection of memoirs from his life and also his experience traveling to Morocco, living in Tunija and also traveling to Andalusia and also right here just to explain this to you. This is also a Masjid in this Masjid, the teacher of the teacher, Abdulrahman Khaldun he didn't go straight to Masjid Zaytuna to go to school. So usually he would start in Kutab, smaller community mosque per se, which was right next to his house and then he thought there he was a teacher in the Kutab and then after that he graduated then went to Masjid Zaytuna, which is not too far from here but I'm really excited to read this on my way today because I have a flight later in the day but I think I will end up my adventure right here at the house of Ibn Khaldun, one of my favorites Arab sociologist and I will see you guys in the next one. Bye!