Our flights were thankfully unremarkable. Touch down in Casablanca and then the slow movement through passport control. We were overly confident that finding an ATM to withdraw a wad of Moroccan Dirham would be a snap. Not so much. I was vaguely surprised to see a Bank of Africa ATM. “Unusual “, I thought. Until my brain caught up and, oh duh, we ARE in Africa. That ATM rejected me but the Arab bank ATM gave me what I wanted.
One Dirham = US$0.09ish. 100 Dirhams = US$9.00ish.
We found the taxi our hotel had booked for us and off we went. 20 miles of desolate earth flats, broken by an occasional rocky mound or small farm. The driver flowed slowly with the light traffic.
Many warned us that there is not much to “see” in Casablanca so get in and get out. Move on. True, there are not many sites that get touristic billing. Still, there is a lot to observe. The city is the biggest and most modern of the Moroccan cities. Though “modern” is not the word that came to mind as we entered the city for the first time. No gleaming glass and steel skyscrapers. I saw a sprawl of white, blocky multi-storied buildings visible through a shimmering morning mist.
At the hotel, our room was not ready so after checking in, the porter/all around greeter steered us to the breakfast buffet. A nice Moroccan spread. Even though it was only 10:00am, staying awake was becoming a challenge. Even with a cup or two of super delicious cappuccino.
By 11:30, our room was ready and so was I. Crash! Lights out. An hour of deep sleep. Here is where my story gets weird. I woke up completely disoriented. Well, I know. That’s not odd. I found myself looking for the other person. What other person? No clue. But I had the strongest sensation of another presence. I assure you, no alcohol or drugs had been imbibed. That feeling stayed with me the rest of the day and through the night. I decided Moroccan jinns (genies) are real and kept hoping to be granted three wishes.
From genies to mosques. In the afternoon, we hailed a petit taxi for a wild ride to Hassan Mosque II, third largest in the world and one of the few open to non Muslims. Only at specific hours. The taxi driver dropped us in front of the mosque museum and shooed us towards the mosque. “Go look for free” he said.
The outside is free to look, but a ticket is required for a guided tour of the inside. And one cannot wander alone.
The mosque is ginormous. During Ramadan, the place can hold 25,000 inside and 85,000 outside. The floor is partially carpeted for the prayers’ comfort and where not carpeted, the marble floor is heated. The roof opens in the same manner as an observatory. There are areas for prayer and for ritual cleansing. The guide treated the large group like first graders. As we began to to walk, a man called out “wait, there are still two women coming”. The guide replied, “okay, you stay and wait for them”. Later, when she asked if everyone could hear and some said “no”, the guide said “come closer then”.She would clap her hands to shush us and admonish anyone taking video (only photos she said).
After the mosque, we went in search of food. We came across a small restaurant where all dining was outside and one could order a pizza or a tajine. In other words, not fancy. I went for the chicken tajine. Grubb opted for the fish version. The old man waiting on us shook his head and showed us pictures (on his phone) of whole fish (baked) surrounded by scoops of curry rice, stewed tomatoes, onions, eggplant. Yes, he went for it. The meal came with a dessert that was a tapioca (or maybe rice?) type pudding drizzled with a cherry syrup. Total cost? $15 for all.
We walked back to the hotel, about 30 minutes. And then, lights out. For me and my genie.
In the first photo it looks like the lower is fading away. Maybe the background confusing the computational photography. Actually a nice effect though.
Yes, a bit of an illusion. There was a coastal mist hanging about but still, the tower didn’t appear as faded in person.