Casablanca is not like the movie. The alluring elegance that might have been here in the 30’s and 40’s, is now a thriving metropolis of ever growing dirt-stained buildings, crazy drivers who don’t follow any logic, hagglers, and no spark (at least to me). Basically a large city with the highlights being a beautifully maintained flower garden outside the Sacred Heart Cathedral (the inside is closed for renovations), a 25,000 person mosque that allows foreigners to enter, and a few different Medinas and souks that could smell better.
Most of the Moroccans that live in other parts of the country come to Casablanca in hopes of better job opportunities, but other than that, there isn’t much of a drawl. The evening our Chefchaouen bus arrived back in town, we met up with Mary, our lovely Australian friend we’d met in the Balkans 4 years ago and invited along on this Moroccan adventure. We shared a cab ride to the famous Rick’s Cafe - yes the Rick’s from Casablanca, but it’s only been around since 2004 and was opened by an American expat that loved the movie and saw an opportunity to make a buck.
Classy white table cloths with linen napkins atop, adorned small tables lit by Turkish lamps spaced across the marble floor with a an internal courtyard separating the 2 levels. We sat next to the bar, but 10 feet from the musicians (who started playing later in the evening). With a glass of Moroccan wine and a plate of duck confit, I was a happy camper. This meal almost beat out Chefchaouen’s tajin.
The following day we visited all the touristic sites and walked the 5 miles from the Medina back to our hotel before meeting up with the other people from Intrepid. Usually these tours cap at 15 people, but because tourism has only been allowed back in Morocco since February, only a father and son joined the three of us. The good thing is - we all fit in a large taxi, we won’t have to wait for a ton of people in the morning to leave for an activity, and it’s kind of a cozier tour of the country. The bad, or sad, part is that we don’t get to meet more people and share stories of each other’s countries, we feel we will always have to stick together (which could become exhausting), and sometimes it’s just more fun with larger groups to travel around places.
So far everyone is nice. We took an hour train ride to Rabat- the city of parliament and the current Capital, which was ten times cleaner than Casablanca and had Art Deco buildings spread among the government offices. Morocco is a monarchy- run by a King, but there are also elected officials who have input on certain laws, but ultimately, the King has the last word. The current King’s family has been ruling Morocco since the 17th century.
From the train station, our tour guide, Khalid, lead us to the start of Kasbah des Oudayas- a small old city inside castle walls that had a lookout point to see the Atlantic Ocean and the Buregreg River below. Lots of families were out swimming and enjoying the beaches at the water’s edge.
On the walk to Hassan Tower - what was supposed to be the first “Hassan Mosque”, but was never completed due to the death of the 12th century king that commissioned it and is now just a minaret next to a grand Mausoleum that isn’t open to the public, but has guards on horses you can take pictures of, we all meandered through the local souk. Robby and I made Mary, Brian, and Nathan try some pressed sugar cane juice, which was immediately refreshing since the weather was reaching 90 degrees.
We walked a total of 4+ miles doing the circuit around the notable sites of Rabat before taking a 2 hour train to Meknes- The 4th largest city in Morocco, known for its imperial past, including the remains of Bab Mansour, a huge gate with arches and mosaic tiling. The gate leads into the former imperial city.
Before taking taxi’s to the old Medina, we dropped our luggage off at one of the nicest hotels we’ve been in - clean, working elevator and AC, a roof top bar (that actually serves alcohol), and is modern. The downside- there is supposedly a night club and it’s said to get very loud. I guess I’ll see after a nights rest.
Since tomorrow is Friday, the Moroccan day of rest (and most things will be closed), Khalid invited us to view the The Mausoleum of Sultan Moulay Ismail, the King who made the city his capital in the 17th century and fortified the city with tons of walls since he was a violent man and feared his enemies would get to him. He even hired a private army from the Sahara because he was worried soldiers from the local tribes would eventually try to overthrow him. The mausoleum was four rooms lined in yellow, green, and black mosaic titles with ornately carved wooden doors and lamps along the sides. Four tombs resided in the last room, holding King Ismail, his wife, grandson, and one other person.
After paying our respects, we had dinner with a local family inside the Medina. The wife cooked chicken couscous for us with a variety of hot side “salads”- seasoned potatoes, roasted carrots, baba ganoush, and a tomato and pepper dish. Couscous is typically a meal served on Fridays- Morocco’s day of rest, because it’s a big portion of food that can be shared by the whole family and the neighbors. It’s served with veggies on top (must have a squash or pumpkin included), then the meat, with the couscous on the bottom.
Once we were stuffed, the family bought out fresh apricots and nectarines, followed by Moroccan mint tea and homemade meringues. Too bad we weren’t walking back to the hotel because we could have rolled. As if my stomach wasn’t full enough, Robby and I headed to the rooftop of the hotel to watch the sunset and enjoy a glass of Moroccan wine. The waiter then brought out free olives and cheese cubes, of which I didn’t want to be rude, so I indulged.
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