Showing posts with label Morocco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Morocco. Show all posts

Friday, 29 December 2023

Tangier

 

The Beach where waters of the Atlantic Ocean met those of the Mediterranean Sea

Our private tour was another organised in a hurry at the last minute via Expedia. Despite the initial pick up time confusion, our family had a good time in Tangier. It helped a lot that we didn't read the fine print and "all-included" meant entrance fees, camel rides, cave entrances and lunch was included. Bonus as we weren't aware of this! We did pass on the camel rides as the camels didn't look happy...

Tangier had a completely different feel to Casablanca. The city felt cleaner, and was more pleasant to the eye, perhaps because it was built on hilly slopes full of greenery. We were taken to beautiful viewpoints and given a city driveby tour. Perhaps it was because our guide, Ahmed, was more enthusiastic and relatable. We definitely needed him to navigate the way to the Casbah and then around the souk. We had fun in the stores looking at various goods and given demonstrations. Having done it before in Turkey, we knew how it worked. The Moroccans were just as hospitable as the Turks, and we stocked up on cashmere and argan oil. 

Lunch was at a touristy restaurant, complete with music. The food was not bad. For us, it was "free", we were tourists and we had to eat somewhere, so the experience was fun. Understandably, not all the other tourists taken there felt the same way. 

Tangier gave us a taste of Morocco. One of the earliest versions of this trip was a land based tour of Morocco complete with desert stays. It evolved into a cruise to accommodate the grandparents and we're glad we came, albeit very briefly. Here is to next time!

Original walls built by the Portuguese

It was too hazy but if clear, you could see Gibraltar across the water

Sometimes it seems not much has changed...look a playground! Must play...

That mentality applies to all the kids...

Practising for instagram

The master


Hercules Cave. Legend has it that this was where he rested before his 11th labour

Hand carved

Not sure what my camera was doing...but it made us look like intrepid explorers so let's keep it

Up next the old town

Original gate

This kid loves the free tea! This time mint

Oma loves the shopping and bargaining

The mosque that our guide went to for prayers while we were at lunch. Friday was their holy day

Loom demo. Men did the work here

The very friendly shop owner

Refugees? Movie extras? Ninjas?

It was a fun day. Our guide Ahmed on the right

Lunch. The verdict was that our family were not cous cous people

This pastry was hard to describe. The white stuff on top was sugar! But the inside was savoury

Our lunch

The musicians

Desserts and tea


Thursday, 28 December 2023

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...