Been There Done That Too…

Casablanca

// April 20th, 2008 // Morocco, Transatlantic Nov'07

I had decided before arriving in Casablanca to arrange for a guide. Normally I would have gone exploring on my own but there had been some problems in Casablanca a few months before and I didn’t want to take any chances. So, before arriving in Casablanca I had arranged for a tour guide through a recommendation on the Cruise Critic forum boards. While the guide originally recommended wasn’t available, he recommended another guide. At the last minute, the new guide contacted me to let me know that a friend of his would be meeting me and he would catch up with us around lunch. As a member of the Tourism Board he’d been pressed into service because of the shortage of English speaking guides and there were 2 cruise ships in town that day both with mostly English speaking passengers. He assured me his friend would take very good care of me.

His friend picked me up at the port and we headed for our first stop – the Hassan II Mosque. This is the only Mosque in Morocco that non-Muslims are allowed to enter. Upon arriving at the Mosque I met up with my guide, who was leading a group through and had me join them. The location of the Mosque on the water with one entire wall with a series of doors that open to the water, and the sheer size are awe inspiring. One of the largest modern relgious buildings in the world, I’m not sure which is more impressive: the detail and handcrafting of the incredible woodwork, or the fact the Mosque was entirely built from DONATIONS. There were NO State funds used.

After visiting the mosque, the driver took me to the most interesting stop of the day – the old Catholic Cathedral. Now a museum featuring exhibits on the various desert tribes of Northern Africa. While the exhibits were very well done, the most interesting feature of the church were the stained glass windows. Most weren’t religious, including a wonderful series featuring the signs of the Zodiac. This is one stop that if I hadn’t been with a guide I would have missed completely, and it was the highlight of Casablanca. None of the tours from the ship stopped here either.

Leaving the church we went for a scenic drive around Casablanca and picked the guide up again, now that he was done with his Tourism Board duties and we head to the resort/beach area of Casablanca for a lovely lunch at a seaside hotel. The setting was great, and my guide was very interesting company. Seems he used to hang out in the bars in Tangiers back when Jimmy Hendrix was there.

Finishing lunch we continued on to do some shopping stopping at a couple of stores that I’m sure were owned by a relative (that figures for this part of the world), and ending up roaming around the Central Market. I found a couple inexpensive paintings, always a good souvenier. They don’t weigh much and they’re easy to pack if they’re not too big.

After returing to the ship, we were treated to an incredible sunset as we sailed out of Casablanca. The sky looked like it had been lit on fire and glowed behind the Hassan II Mosque. I couldn’t have asked for a better farewell to my day in Casablanca.

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