Morocco

 On Sunday we visited the esoteric city of Casablanca, made famous by the 1940’s film of the same name. 

A little known fact regarding this enduring film. It was originally set in Lisbon. (Boy, that sure doesn’t roll off the old tongue the same way, ya know!) At any rate, the movie was filmed in California. Also, Humphrey Bogart was shorter the Ingrid Bergman, so they used some Hollywood magic to increase his stature. (“Here’s looking up at you, kid.”) 

We did see Rick’s Cafe (named after the cafe in the movie, and referenced in the quote “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns in the world, she walks into mine…”) but not much to see here. Only a little gin joint just steps off of the dockyards. 

While “Casablanca” means “White House” in Spanish, the languages spoken in Moracco are a form of Arabic as well as French. At 3.4 million residents, it is one of the African continent’s largest cities. 

The kingdom of Morocco has 37 million residents, and is one of only a handful of “closed currency countries” that we have visited. (This means you cannot get their currency from outside of the country, and it is illegal to remove their currency from the country.) 

The biggest attraction in Casablanca is the Hassan II Mosque (which is called called the La Mediatheque Mosque by the locals). It is Africa’s largest mosque, and has the capacity to hold 25,000 worshipers on the inside, and a whopping 80,000 on the outside. (Oddly enough, we were here on a Sunday afternoon, and only saw a few hundred folks.) 

We also dove down the La Corniche costal avenue, which runs between Casablanca’s  two (Beverly Hills-like) neighborhoods, Anfa, and (believe it or not) “California”. 

Also, we picked up a bit of history along the way. “For hundreds years, Morocco was a “French Protectorate”, with some northern regions controlled by Spain. These two countries were reluctant to give Morocco it’s independence, and in the mid 1970’s, the country organized The Green March, and 350,000 “volunteers” marched on Spain and French embassies in Casablanca which ultimately lead to their gaining independence. Apparently, there are still hard feelings…

Lastly, we noted that the city has very few parks, but quite a few beaches. Interestingly, we did not get cellular service here.

A quick look at the Royal Palace and the fountain at the Mohammed V Square (a.k.a. Pigeon Square) rounded out our visit to Casablanca. 

The following day, the ship docked in Agidar, Morocco. It was a gloomy day, and we arrived in port late. (Interesting, there were 3 “Chinese War Ships” in port when we arrived, and we had to wait several hours until they left, and we were allowed to approach the port area. Hmmm…

It was a gloomy day, very foggy. Later in the day, when the fog began to lift, we noted that there were two jumbo jet aircraft parked precariously on the cliffs above the port. While some locals indicated that these were being converted to restaurants, others said that they were part of an upcoming amusement park. Either way, they made for an interesting photo of the otherwise nondescript port. 

Agidar is best known for Souk El Had, its indoor/outdoor market. At 8,000 acres, it is said to be the largest in Africa. The local say that anything that can be bought in Morocco, can be purchased at this market. 

They also have a famous river swimming spot called Paradise Valley. While it is a several mile walk down stone staircases to get there, it is a true dessert oasis. 

So all-in-all, Morocco was a nice enough place. Maybe someday we’ll come back, or as they say in these parts, “play it again Sam”.

Next stop, Portugal, but that my friends, will be a story in itself. 

Thank you for visiting. 
– Mike
”People don’t take trips… trips take people”, John Steinbeck – Travels with Charley: In Search of America“