Casablanca
“I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”
-Rick from Casablanca
After a relative quick flight from Barcelona I arrived in Casablanca. I had a million thoughts occurring in my mind as on the flight from Perth to Paris I watch’s the original movie “Casablanca “ such a great movie and so appropriate.
The ride in from the airport was interesting sort of desert like and then finally we were at the coast road and able to watch the ocean (Alantaic) waves crashing and rolling rolling. The hotel was in close proximity to the Hassan II Mosque so there is no alcohol. I had arrived a day early before the tour started so I enjoyed the hotel facilities.
I walked along the beach the sand wasn’t soft and white like in most Australian beaches. The sea-mist was thick and made you think it was smog. I walked along the beach paddling in the water but it was cold and the sand burnt your feet. Not that many people as it was a work day. If you look at photo left hand side second row you can see the Golden Arches in the distance. The picture on the right of the second road is the hotel low profile
Some of the food I ate and the mocktail is ginger and cucumber which was so nice. The fish and calamari were very good avocado eggs were on the menu for breakfast.
The main tourist sight in Casablanca is the grand Hassan II Mosque it is the 2nd largest mosque in Africa we arrived early to beat the heat it was typical of most mosques with wide opened spaces to allow for up to 105,000 worshippers. The decor inside was mostly sourced from Morocco but the glass and marble was from Italy. It was completed in 1993 by the King Hassan II.
The minaret is 60 stories high topped by lasher light that points to Mecca.
The minaret covered in sea-mist
On the way out of Casablanca, the bus we passed the famous bar/restaurant Rick’s cafe it came to life by an American diplomat based in Morocco in 1998 and opened in 2004 with all the nostalgia and memories of a great movies. I’ll try for a booking whenI return to Casablanca.
