Frankly, My Dear, I Don't...oh wait. Wrong Movie!

Today was another, and final transfer day, but we had far less ground to cover.  After a later-than-usual wake-up call and breakfast, we loaded up and departed Marrakesh for Casablanca.  While we'd landed there just under a week earlier, we never actually saw the city.  By now, we had already heard multiple times how it is the largest and most industrialized city in Morocco, with more than 3 1/2 million inhabitants.  Tiny on the scale of Egypt, but large for Morocco.  We'd also been told not to expect the old medina or tourist souks of Fez, Marrakesh, or even Rabat, and that it was the most European of cities in the country.  I'm sure if I had ever seen the movie Casablanca, that I might have some romanticized image in my head, but alas I had not, and still have not seen it.  In hindsight, this was likely better, as I had no image in my head, and could not be disappointed.

View From our Room in Marrakesh on our Final Morning

As before, the highway on which we traveled was in excellent condition, managed by tolls, and not crowded at all. Farmland was the order of the morning, though we saw more and more substantial towns as we neared the outskirts of the city.  Entirely new towns were being built, with attractive looking apartments.  We were told they sold for about $20,000, and the government would subsidize interest-free mortgages.  This was probably a garble, as I doubt they were interest free, but as Islam prohibits charging interest, I'm sure there was some creative terminology going on.  Payments were said to average about $80 per month.  We caught sight, too, or one of the three French-run automobile plants in the country; this one was building Renaults.

Fields of Flowers Lining the Highway

As we drew even closer to Casablanca, the suburban sprawl looked like places here in the States. We saw Ikea, shopping malls, Home Depot-like garden centers, and aside from the signs being in Arabic and French, we could have been in Europe.  We drove through several major construction projects, including at least two bridges which were being replaced.  There is definitely money being spent on infrastructure.  Morocco bid during the latest round of competitions to host the soccer World Cup in 2026, and actually almost beat the ultimate winning joint bid from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.  Votes from African countries almost swayed the vote.  That said, despite the obvious investment in infrastructure, I cannot image a scenario of their being able to stage a successful World Cup without going into horrendous debt.  I'm sure they were quietly relieved.  They are obviously soccer fans, as we witnessed at dinner the night before, but watching and hosting are two entirely different prospects.

We drove through the extremely attractive (and obviously monied) diplomatic quarter, and then to the oceanside corniche, where we had time to get lunch on our own.  Up until now, I had only withdrawn local money one time, and I was hoping it would last the entire trip.  When the bill for lunch came, I tried using my credit card -- which had not been a problem elsewhere -- but was told "cash only."  After scrounging through all our remaining Moroccan dirham, including the coins, we were less then $1 short.  We managed to borrow an equivalent amount from some of our fellow travelers, who happened to be at the same restaurant, so an embarrassing moment was avoided.

The Corniche in Casablanca, Where We Had Lunch

It Wouldn't Be the Middle East Without a Picture of the King

After lunch, we had a sight-seeing tour of the city.  As promised, it is really just a large, modern city, with not too many attractions of note.  It was clean, orderly, and the weather was very pleasant, but there was little of historical interest.  Aside from one cathedral built by the French in the '50's, with impressive stained-glass windows, which opened two months after the French withdrew, the only true sight for the day was the massive Hassan II mosque, which sits on the waterfront, close to the administrative central downtown area, not too far from the very large port.  The mosque is huge -- the largest I have ever visited -- and is the largest in Africa, and either the third or fifth largest in the world, based on whether you measure capacity or building size.  The blue mosque in Istanbul is less then a fifth the size of Hassan II.  It can hold 25,000 worshipers inside (beneath a retractable roof), with room for another 80,000 people outside.  It was stunning.  As I wrote earlier, however, we were not allowed inside.  This one mosque is the only one in the entire country which allows non-Muslims inside at all, but only on strictly controlled set-time tours, which we missed.  I can only image that the inside was as beautiful, if not more so, than the outside.

Cosmopolitan Casablanca

Notre Dame de Lourdes Church -- Built by the French

Our Bus

City Hall -- Note the Berber and Arabic

King Hassan II Mosque

Hassan II Mosque

Three Dorks in Casablanca

Close to the mosque, there was a huge development project underway at the port/marina, which we were told was "a pet project" by some sheiks from Abu Dhabi with "crazy petro-dollars."  The scale looked immense.  We drove by a recreation of the famous Rick's Cafe from the movie Casablanca, which of course never existed.  It was built by an American former diplomat in the 1980's, who built it to cater to tourist groups.  We didn't go in.  It was, however, pretty much surrounded by the chaos of the construction project.  They were building a new series of tunnels to divert all the above-ground traffic along the port underground, but for us, it just meant sitting in traffic while we could see our hotel for the night perched on a hilltop ahead of us.

A Re-Creation of Rick's Cafe

Our Hotel in Casablanca

Anna elected to shower after we checked-in, while K and I explored.  We had been warned off of visiting the old medina, but there was a small handicrafts and leather souk close to the hotel which we explored.  We were left pretty much all alone, which was nice.  We saw some purses we thought Anna might like, so we made plans to return with her in the morning.

For our final dinner, I looked on TripAdvisor to find a restaurant recommendation.  As luck would have it, the number-one rated restaurant in the entire city was located in the hotel connected to ours.  We were able to snag a table, which was too hard as we ate at 7:00 pm, which was when they opened.  Moroccans must eat very late; perhaps another similarity to nearby Spain?  The meal was outstanding, and was a nice top-off to the trip.

My Dinner -- Bastila (Moroccan Chicken Pie in Handmade Dough with Almonds and Cinnamon)