The new medina (old town!) of Yasmine Hammamet is 25 years old. Since we are already here, let's take a look anyway.
All new construction. Everything smart and clean, very friendly people, selected souvenir shops and here and there even roller coasters, pools, childcare and the like.
Again we struggle with the enticement slogans. Immediately we are addressed in German or French, "Nice Rolex? Good price!"
Gerd rests in himself and has a new strategy: he takes the Rolex salesman at his word and engages him in conversation. "May I ask something? How can I politely say that I don't want to buy anything?" Puzzled look. "You know, we don't have a home, we don't want to buy anything, we don't have a place. And we're not fans of souvenirs and takeaways either. So how can I stroll through a market unscathed without being rude?"
I am as surprised as the trader. What comes next is a wonderful conversation. We understand a bit more now, he tells us about two bad years, about his wish to bring every single one of the few guests to the shop first. And maybe he is lucky, only he wouldn't see us at the beginning.
A little later, the conversation turns to luxury watches. Gerd tells us frankly that he works for a few of these brands and will certainly not support buying replicas here. The dealer is amazed at the thought. We ask him what he would think if, for example, Gerd's customers noticed that he was wearing a Tunisian copy of a watch. (By the way, we don't wear watches at all, whether they are customers or not).
He smiles, understands us and kindly dismisses us from his shop. This time we have learned a lot and are even happy to have started the conversation.
I have to remember this: distract from the topic with a friendly counter-question and perhaps also gain a little understanding from the dealer. Let's see if I can do that just as well as my loved one.
Merci for "travelling with us
We are thinking about taking another break from travelling in the summer and visiting our families in Germany and Switzerland. One of the ideas is to organise a Lecture about our long journey to the Persian Gulf to prepare. If you would like to, what would interest you the most? We will also tell stories here that don't find a place here on the blog. We're thinking of the Bern and Berlin area - simply because we have family there. But other places are also conceivable. Feel free to write to us.
Do you think our travel experiences might be of interest to others? Then you can share the Share post quietly. By e-mail or however you want to do it.
In addition, if you haven't already done so, you can use our Newsletter subscribe. Here you will receive all our experiences in your mailbox whenever we publish something new or once a week on Fridays: live-pur.ch/newsletter
We are also very happy to hear your views, your tips or your questions. Just comment on the post!
