Casablanca and Rabat - October 21

Turns out being free to roam is tiring.  I went to bed last night at 10:15 and slept over eight hours.  I woke up just after we docked.  Turned out we did not need to do a Covid test in order to leave the ship.

I had chosen the tour, "Ultimate Morroco - Casablanca and Rabat" which included lunch and was about ten hours long.  We were a little late getting off the ship because the officials were checking our health records.

Our guide, Mustafa, told us that Casablanca was the third largest port in Africa as we headed to our first stop which was the Hassan II Mosque.  This mosque has the highest minaret in the world which has a laser beam that points towards Mecca at night.  It can hold 25,000 people inside and another 80,000 outside.  It has many beautiful mosaics.  5,000 women are allowed inside and have a special entrance to the second floor through the minaret.

Casablanca was named Anfa before the Portuguese arrived.  Anfa is still one of the areas of the city with some beautiful homes which we saw after a drive along the Corniche seeing some of the private beach clubs along the way (Morocco has a 3000 km coastline on the Atlantic Ocean).  

Our next stop was in the medina (old city).  We walked through a number of old twisty roads lined with small shops, cafes, and homes.

The last stop was at Mohammed V Square which has numerous government buildings surrounding it and thousands of pigeons.

We then started the hour and a half drive to Rabat, the capital of Morocco.  Although I had a lot of sleep, the drive put me right to sleep and I dozed on and off the entire way.

The Kasbah was our first stop.  A kasbah was a fortified portion of a city.  We walked through, seeing the pretty, white-washed homes and shops and numerous cats.

By now it was about 2pm and it was time for lunch.  We ate upstairs in an amazingly decorated restaurant.  The food was served family style and delicious.  I discovered I liked pomegranates - I don't think I have ever had one before.

After lunch we visited the Royal Palace (the king does not actually live there but it is where he works) where we were told to leave (evidently something important was getting ready to happen).  We also went to the see the mausoleum of Mohammed V (the grandfather of the current king, Mohammed VI) and the unfinished Hassan mosque and tower which is almost 1000 years old.

Then it was time to make the drive back to Casablanca and once again I did some snoozing.  
We were back on the ship by 6:10 so I was able to make it to dinner (I thought I might eat in the Lido if we were later) and even had some time to edit my pictures - I took so many I drained one battery).

Instead of going to see the evening entertainment, which was the latest "Death on the Nile" movie, I walked a mile around the deck as we were leaving the port.

We now have two sea days before getting to Tunisia.

Smooth sailing until next time!

Hassan II Mosque

Mosque

Beautiful mosaics at the mosque

Above and below - Casablanca street scenes

new opera house

electric trams introduced in 2012 to reduce traffic congestion

Mohammed V Square with two ladies feeding the pigeons

above and below - at the medina

shops selling local products including shoes

Minaret - the five balls represent the five obligations of Islam or the five prayers of the day

the current king - Mohammed VI

Kasbah of Rabat

beautiful doors - on the left is the original door to the Kasbah

Kasbah views

above and below - cats of the Kasbah

the headstones in the cemeteries are very close together

street scenes of Rabat

the restaurant

the container at top held the chicken piping hot, meat and vegetable dish, cold vegetables, chicken

fruit and cookies after the meal

more beautiful doors

guards at the Hassan mosque

Mausoleum of Mohammed V

above and below - the tower and pillars (that were to hold the roof) of the unfinished Hassan mosque

Mosque on the grounds of the Royal Palace

the Royal Palace