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Kids on the street |
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Interior King Hussan's mosque |
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Interior King Hussan's mosque - ladies Hammam which isn't used |
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Along the coast - island village that is a monument to a famous person who died |
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Pastries |
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Street stalls |
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Ines and the bastilla |
First day of April! I forgot what it is like to be in a hotel with paper thin walls - needless to say, not a lot of sleep.
Mardi and I took off at 8.30am on our 3 hour tour : first stop Hussan II mosque which took 6 years to build (finished in 1993), and is the third largest mosque in the world - spectacular! We were very lucky as the roof was partially open so great amount of light streaming in; second stop with new driver (Simo) was the Boulevard de la Corniche - affluent suburb on Atlantic beachfront, lined with bars, clubs, and people playing soccer - not very inviting the water as a dirty brown colour; to the Nouvelle (new) medina - built by French in 1930 to idealised western standards and full of Saudi's; past the Royal Palace; to the local market and into a biscuit store in an old medina - great assortment of almond meal biscuits; to a cafe for coffee and biscuits; then he dropped us off at a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet (Restaurant al-Mounia) that Simo said was the best in Casablanca where we had lamb couscous, olives, bread and a lot of banter with the elderly male waiters. Started chatting to Ines from Mexico and she shared with us her giant sized basilla pastry (really light pastry, almonds, milk) which was absolutely lovely with mint tea. The setting, company, food and service was brilliant.
Went back to the hotel for a rest then Mardi and I went out to wander the streets to take more photos and look around Casablanca.
Next was the first group meeting for the tour - I am the youngest on the trip; there is 9 of us in total, 3 x couples, and then 3 ladies travelling by themselves. The leader is indigenous to Morocco - he lived in the Sahara til he was 12 years then his family moved to the city. He is a great source of information on Moroccan life. We went out for a group dinner - I had a tagine of kefta (meatballs with eggs) and then had an early night as exhausted from being out and about.
To end of Casablanca, I have taken 250 photos already!!
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