Mediterranean Wedding

Today was finally the day of the big wedding! Here is a photo from later in the evening when the bride and groom had their first dance:



In the morning, I was surprised by the number of people at breakfast as I heard many went out last night after returning to the hotel. I was up as I had planned to visit the Bardo Museum, the largest in Tunisia, 2nd largest in Africa, and very important for Mediterranean culture.

Several of us met our guide in the lobby and headed to the museum which is about 40 minutes away. It was a former Hafsid palace - they were of Berber descent and the region had been ruled by beys which is a Turkic chieftain:



Here’s the original palace entrance:



It’s most known for its extensive collection of mosaics. Here’s a display showing how they conserved and transferred the small stones:



Here’s a mosaic dedicated to the Christian story of Daniel among the lions:



The palace had a residential section, so we likened it to the east and west wing of the White House. We entered the residential part of the building which reminded me of the architecture I saw in southern Spain:







The tiles were also incredible and many of them paid homage to the Blue Mosque of Istanbul with 6 minarets:







The residential courtyard:





The bedroom of the bey:





In this room, there was an exhibit on the archaeological excavation of jars of coins which were laid out here:



A mosaic showing the days of the week and Zodiac and beautiful ceiling above it:





Here was the niche where the bey met with visitors and conducted official business, so they placed this mosaic here:



Here’s the great hall where they held gatherings and events:





A mosaic of Neptune and the four seasons:



A room dedicated to the Greek stories of Ulysses and the Odyssey - here, he is trying to avoid the sirens:



Upon return I immediately headed to the pool for a light lunch which included a Tunisian salad and virgin piña colada. It felt so good to be sunbathing and lying down as we couldn’t sit in the museum due to the lack of benches:





There was a strict schedule as we were reminded in the WhatsApp channel. So we all got ready mid-afternoon for the black-tie affair. Here’s a few pictures of the Georgetown ladies:





We were explicitly told not to take photos during the ceremony, but someone uploaded this one in the WhatsApp group. There were photographers, videographers, and a drone to capture the lovely ceremony:



After cocktails and a walk down the hall lined with us holding sparklers, we were in the ballroom. Here’s a photo of their first dance:



The obligatory Georgetown photo as various cliques and friend groups were called to be with the bride and groom:



A photo of our table - the right is mostly Georgetown folks and the left were the bride’s friends!



There was an incredible amount of dancing as the room was booked until 2 am. We even did the Jerusalema again! But it was mostly dark with strobing lights, but here’s one photo a friend took while we paused:



The mix of Afro-beats, Caribbean, and pop music was so much fun. At one point, there was a Nigerian versus All Other dance-off and it was amazing. I also kept knocking into the same videographer as we all danced up a storm and in my opinion, they were taking a lot of b-roll - like us listening to speeches and eating. I hope we all made it memorable and everything they wanted for the big day!