A Drawn Out Farewell

As our flight to Washington did not depart until 4:25 pm in the afternoon, we were under no pressure to move quickly on this final morning.  Aside from hitting the breakfast buffet before it closed down at 10:30 am, we were on our own.  As we were on such a high floor, and our room faced away from the main road, it was blissfully quiet in the hotel and we all slept in much later than usual.

K and I went down to breakfast ahead of Anna, and came across multiple pockets of folks from our tour.  In all, almost 20 of us were scheduled for an airport transfer at noon, with all the others leaving on a nonstop to New York scheduled to leave 10 minutes before our flight.

After Anna joined us and we enjoyed a protracted breakfast with a spattering of good-bye conversations with others, we walked across the the small souk area, so Anna could see the bags we had eyed the previous evening.  It was Friday morning, the holy day in Morocco, so many shops were not yet open, or would not open at all.  With so many shops closed up, the souk had an entirely different look to it.  In addition, as we were the only people really there to shop, the shopkeepers -- who had all but ignored us the night before -- were overly eager to attract us into their stores.  We tried to ignore them as I sought to recreate our steps from the previous evening.  I could not, however, find the main store to where we were heading, and the other was not open.  K and I seemed more disappointed for Anna than she felt as we headed back toward the hotel.  We exited as we came, but about two blocks down the main road, I asked them to hold up while I snuck up a narrow alley I hadn't seen before.  That alleyway opened up into a small square, on which our target shop was located.  I raced back to get K and Anna, and we returned.  The shopkeeper seemed surprised that we had actually returned, but in the end, Anna did not care for any of the bags, so it all been for naught.  Still, nothing lost.

Walking to the Souk Area on our Final Morning

We still had just over an hour before having to leave, so Anna and I dozed while K read.  We met up with everyone else at noon, and Abdou accompanied us to the airport.  Friday traffic in downtown Casablanca was horrible, and the drive took just over an hour, even though I am certain the physical distance cannot be more than 10 or 15 miles.  A second Gate1 agent met us all at the airport, and assisted us through security screening to enter the airport, and then the actual check-in process.  This was the first time we had booked our airfare through Gate1, which includes this transfer assistance.  I have to admit it was nice.  The experience at the airport was a little chaotic, with immigration taking far longer to leave the country then it took when we arrived.  We chuckled, too, as we again found ourselves in the queue with a sea of Hokie orange, as they were returning with us on our DC-bound flight.

We had over an hour to kill in the airport lounge, to which a few others from our tour also had access, so it was nice.  When we finally made it to the gate, we had to go through another physical security check.  I laughed, as I had inadvertently left a full water bottle in my backpack.  It had not been discovered or confiscated during two previous security screenings.  At this final one, however, it was seized.  I still question this, but I was beyond arguing at this point.

Waiting in the Airport Lounge

Boarding our Flight in Casablanca

Ready to Roll!