Casablanca

The largest, and perhaps one of the most famous cities in Morocco is the port city of Casablanca, known as an escape route during the war in the famous movie starring Humphrey Bogart. Most of the reviews we had heard of the city were to land here and leave as there isn't much to do. However, as we had a fair amount of time in Morocco we decided to stay a couple of days at the beginning and end of our trip. While we agree that there isn't a lot to do in Casablanca, we immensely enjoyed our short stays in the city by heading to the central market for massive, freshly shucked oysters and crab, heading to the new medina and meeting the locals (notably more friendly then many other parts of Morocco). We also managed to find a highly recommended patisserie called Bennis and a camel butcher with the head of his produce on display (I sat back with a pained look on my face while Ryan photographed, much to the butchers amusement).

The Hassan II Mosque is one of the few Mosques that welcome tourist to see inside the decadently decorated structure built on a rocky outcrop of reclaimed land. Been the 3rd largest Mosque in the world approximately 25 000 worshippers inside and an additional 80 000 in the surrounding courtyards. The tour we took pointed out the titanium doors, hidden microphones, the places where the roof can be opened to the sky, the bathing chambers to prepare for prey and the Moroccan baths below. Admiring the amazing building made us imagine how special it would be inside this building when the roof was opened and 25 000 people were praying, apparently a large number of people convert prior to Ramadan - maybe to enjoy this experience (according to our guide on our desert surfari)?

On our return to Casablanca we were keen to have dinner at Rick's cafe, a place inspired by the cafe from the movie Casablanca. While waiting for our table we enjoyed a pre dinner drink and watch the movie before heading to the table to a fabulous meal shared with Mum and Dad. It was much fancier then we were used to after our tour through the desert, but it was a great experience.

- Louise -