Morocco
Casablanca is a gritty, working city where people from all over the country come to find jobs. It is the largest in Morocco and seems more utilitarian than tourist oriented. We stayed in a less than charming hotel in a great location, the old medina. Again, compared to Marrakech where the thriving medina is mostly for the tourists, Casablanca's old medina was for the poorer locals, the more affluent of the city reportedly never setting foot in it. We spent a lot of time wandering - sometimes in circles - listening, smelling and looking. Vendors of shoes, clothing, food and hardware were completely uninterested in us - no one trying to lure us into their stores - knowing that their wares were geared for daily life, not keepsakes.
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| We were travelling with a Rick so had to have a drink at Rick's cafe. The owners definitely took advantage of the movie fame but it was very tasteful and from the look of the plates, a fine dining experience. We sat at the bar and had a glass of vin as Casablanca played on the bar TV - ok, so that wasn't so tasteful, but everything else was. |
On one side of the medina within meters was the modern city centre, bustling with business people, very modern trams that looked like Bombardier brand, tall buildings and posh hotels. On the other side was an extremely sad shanty town surrounded by tin walls made from metal scraps. A city where all types live and work together.
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| The Hassan II Mosque. Surrounded by the ocean on three sides, it is a sight to behold. |
On the third side, on the Atlantic is the Hassan II Mosque, the third largest mosque in the world, finished in 1993. A huge, St Peter's-like square with polished marble floor on the approach dominated by a minaret 650 ft high with beautiful tile work and carving. Everything about the place is majestic.
The mosque, the only one in Morocco where nonMuslims can enter, holds 25,000 people - 20,000 men on the main floor and 5,000 women on the second behind wooden screens. It has a retractable roof to turn it into a courtyard for "vertical communication" with Allah. The floors, walls, doors, ceilings are all spectacular.
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| The mosque was designed by a French architect, funded by public subscription and built by a team of 35,000 artisans, it took six years to build working 24 hours a day. |
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| 200 ft high ceiling. The glass covered part of the floor looks down on the ablution area below. |
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| Amazing artistic work on every surface. |
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| In the basement is the water for ablutions. Muslims symbolically wash their feet, hair, face and hands each three times before prayers. This area is for the men. The women have a replica separated from this. We didn't see it. |
We wandered the modern city a bit, explored the waterfront looking for a marina for Milly in the future - there is none. The weather kept us from roaming too far afield and we were a bit tuckered from our tour. I don't think we'll return to Casablanca. Fun to see but once is probably adequate.
The Moroccan tour was fantastic and we will definitely look forward to returning to the country as we leave the Med on Milly - who knows when.
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