Casablanca

 

Hassan II Mosque

We arrived at our first African stop, Casablanca in Morocco! Perhaps over romanticised by the movie of the same name, Casablanca is the largest city in Morocco and its financial hub. The city itself is more or less a big, modern city with an interesting mix of architecture. It is unfortunately also busy, chaotic and feels dusty without any real charm. Perhaps a bit harsh...we enjoyed our visit but it was definitely a once and done for us. 

We got a cheap and cheery private tour as our main aim today was to visit the Hassan II Mosque and online reviews suggested that the most efficient way was to prebook something. The tour was very basic but it suited us. Our driver guide was pleasant enough but was essentially minivan service for us touring the city with concise commentary along the way. We made a beeline for the mosque to catch the first English tour. Our guide was able to skip the lines to buy tickets and the differences between the mosque and the ones that we saw in Turkey was interesting. Our verdict was that the size and scale was impressive, as was the setting with the Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop, but the workmanship of the mosques in Turkey was much more refined and elegant. The other noticeable difference was the more relaxed etiquette for woman. No head coverings required here!

One of the largest ports in Northern Africa and we were witness to it!

The van was comfortable and had sparkly ceiling lights, what more could we want

Very impressive from afar. The minaret is so big and tall it has a lift inside. Completed in 6 years with workers working 24/7 in 3 shifts

Houses 25,000 worshippers.

Retractable cedar roof. Opens in 3 minutes and closes in 2 minutes

The ablution rooms

The kids said it was like going to Epcot...

A towering feature of the landscape

Our guide than drove us around to see the highlights - including the rich residential areas, the French area, the palace, the souks, Mdina, a Catholic cathedral (!) and the kids favourite...Pigeon Square. Oma was kept happy with shopping at the bazaar before we were dropped back at the ship for a late lunch. By now, Oma and Opa had worked their magic with the Indonesian crew. We had a mini gathering and they presented Oma and Opa with the requisite jar of sambal to enhance their meals...