Our day started with a tour of Casablanca. We made an early start (08:30) to avoid the heat and to fit everything in. Our day will end in the city of Fes.
Afterwards we continued on to the quite extraordinary Hassan II Mosque, one of relatively few Mosques where non-muslim visitors are allowed inside. The Mosque can accommodate 20,000 men at prayer plus 5,000 women and about 80,000 outside. It was built on land reclaimed from the Atlantic and is one of the most amazing places that I have ever been to.
We found Rick’s Café from the movie. It isn’t real. An American lady realised the place didn’t exist so she created it. Good for her – it’s doing well.
From Casablanca we travelled on by coach to the Moroccan capital, Rabat. We visited the Casbah (means fortress) from where there was a fabulous view over the city. Since today is Saturday, the entire population of Rabat seemed to have headed for the beach.
Lunch was al fresco Moroccan fish & chips… well, swordfish & chips actually. Try asking for that at 11pm on a Saturday night at the Chippy.
We visited the mausoleums of the last two kings of Morocco. They are protected by the Royal Guards who look rather spiffy in their white uniforms
Finally it was time to move on. Trains wait for nobody (except royalty and we were a bit short of royals). The 16:27 to Fes was calling…
That’s it for today. Tomorrow is Fes day. I know it’s tacky but I feel I should end the day with this clip. I never tire of it…
TimOnTheTrain 