Day 14 - Morocco

Of all the gin joints….

Well…today was Casablanca.   This was a bucket list destination, and I’m glad that we saw it, but it was nothing like I expected.   I guess I watched too many movies and expected a glamorous Morocco…very far from what we saw.

Morocco is a third world country and Casablanca easily threw that in our face.  It is a crowded city, filled with hovels (with satellite dishes on every roof!) that is sadly dirty and in disrepair.   Many of the women in Casablanca were dressed in traditional garb and the men in regular clothes.  Surprisingly, the streets are filled with cars and the traffic jams are worse than New York City.  The drivers are even more impatient than NYC cabbies and horns blare the second a light turns green.

Like other third world countries/cities, there is the contrast between rich and poor.  Our tour visited the Hassan Mohammed V mosque.  It is the 2^nd largest mosque in the world and one of the only ones open to the public.  It is exquisitely beautiful.  The outside area can accommodate over 100,000 people and the inside 25,000.  The mosaics and other tile and plaster work are breathtaking.  The minaret is the largest in the world and can be seen from everywhere.  Our guide was excellent and we learned so much information about the Muslim faith.

We then left Casablanca for a 1.5 hour drive to Rabat, the capital of Morocco.  It’s only a 1 hour drive but it takes a ½ hour to get through the traffic to the highway (which should only take about 5-8 minutes)!   Rabat is a bit more cosmopolitan but many areas are still very poor.  Here we saw many more women with just a head scarf.  Our guide explained that the younger women want to flaunt what they have and only “fat” women wear the traditional garb to hide their figures.  It was easy to tell that he was born and raised in this country. 

We visited the outside of the King’s Palace and learned that the King does not reside here…it is where he entertains visitors.  While we were there admiring the building, over the outdoor speaker came this loud yelling/chanting in Arabic.  We all looked at each other uneasily, not sure of what was happening,  and then we realized that it was 12 noon and a call to prayer.   Talk about taking us out of our comfort zone!!!  The Muslims pray to Allah five times a day and each time, in certain areas, the call and prayers are delivered aloud. 

Next we went to the mausoleum where a number of past kings are buried.  Again this was a magnificent building with beautifully garbed guards.  This was the fairly tale Morocco that Hollywood has portrayed.  

Lunch was included in our tour and, to be honest, after seeing the restaurants on the streets, I was very apprehensive about eating.  So, we were thrilled to discover that our lunch was being served in one of the top hotels in Rabat.   We were escorted to a beautiful room, seated around banquets of eight, and served a traditional Moroccan lunch.  We began with a vegetable plate that was not only delicious but pleasing to the eye.  It contained eight different vegetables each in a small mound cirling the plate.  There were carrots, string beans, beets, eggplant, spinach, onions, red peppers and a tomato/cucumber mixture.  All cooked with mild but exotic spices.  Then they cleared the center of the table and put down the largest serving bowl I have ever seen.  Inside this beautiful silver –domed server were four roasted chickens cooked in Moroccan spices with cous cous and olives.  It was so delicious!  Then, for dessert, they brought out the largest fruit bowl I have ever seen…it was overflowing with bananas, apples, pears, kiwis, grapes, plums and locally grown figs.   OMG…the eight of us felt like we were royalty and we enjoyed our lunch royally!!!  Even Bill…Mr Fussy Eater…sampled some of the vegetables and loved the chicken!!!  Who would have thunk it!!!!

After lunch we asked the tour driver to: “Take us to the Casbah” and he did!!   A casbah is a fortress and this one in Rabat dates back to the 1200s.  Much of the village inside is just as it was then.  The “streets” inside were reminiscent of being in Eze in France, however these were made of concrete and painted white and blue.  But they were winding passageways with many steps and they led down to the ocean.    It was a great experience!

Then it was back in the van for the trip back to Casablanca.  The wind began to pick up and by the time we got back to Casablanca it was raining and, hard to believe, the traffic was even worse.  We made a short trip to visit an old Catholic church with beautiful stained glass windows and then headed back to the ship.  Unfortunately, because of the weather, we never got a chance to go to the bazaar.  However, we were told by others that the people there were excessively pushy, so maybe it was for the best.

All in all…I am happy to say that we have been to Africa (OMG…another continent to add to our list!) and have seen Casablanca.  Oh…by the way…there is a Rick’s Café in Casablanca, however, we did not go in it.

Here’s looking at you kid!!!