City Post: Casablanca

"Of all the gin joins in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." Well, we didn't make it to Rick's, but if you go to Morocco, you almost HAVE to go to Casablanca. Are you a stereotypical tourist if you don't?

Getting to Casablanca from Agadir was interesting. We had to take the bus BACK to Marrakech, grab a transfer to the train station, the take the train to Casablanca. It was a long day of travel, but it wasn't actually an uncomfortable one. Outside of being a bit dated, the train ride was much more comfortable than we thought it would be. We tried to grab some KFC before departure, but the people in front of us were taking FOREVER to decide what they wanted, so we settled on some local fastfood tacos (which were pretty good).

We got a private room with two beds in Casablana. It was cheaper than any hostel, and closer to things to see and do anyways. Unfortunately, Jack had a massive migraine our fiirst day there, so we didn't do much. Jo did find a gym to go to, though, and ended up accidentally getting a membership there. Turns out, it was for the best so she could go everyday!

Once we managed to get out and about on the second day there, Jack went and found some places for breakfast (he is an early riser whereas Jo is a nightowl). Turned out you could get a REALLY GOOD Moroccan breakfast, complete with msemen (what they call the Moroccan crepe), cheese, bread, water, a pastry, and tea for less than 5 USD! Cafe-going is a sort of cultural thing in Morocco, so there were always people there (usually old men) drinking their tea, talking, and reading the papers.

We decided to start by hitting up a local art museum. We weren't really sure what to expect, but we knew we sort of wanted to start farther away and work our way back. Along the way, though, we crossed Mohammed Square and Pidgeon Fountain. As the name would suggest, there were A TON of pidgeons there. Like, A TON A TON. They were everywhere! It certainly earned its name. Oh, and Jack got in trouble with the local military for filming in the wrong direction. Turned out there was a local military headquarters occupying one of the corners of the square. Oops.

From there, we made our way to the Ville d'Arte, a local art musem. Neither of us are artists, so we weren't really blown away by it, but they did have some cool exhibits if you are into art history and culture! One of them was a comic exhibit where local artists took on modern issues in the form of comics. Worth the visit, if you're into that sort of thing. The grounds of the building made for great pictures and videos, though, and Jo naturally found the only cat around!

From there, we ventured over to Arab League Park. This is a massive park that was initially constructed in 1913 and underwent renovations from 2016 through 2020. On the Northwest corner stood the Sacred Heart Cathedral, a deconsecrated Catholic church that was converted to a cultural center (that was closed for renovations). If you're looking for a place to relax, meet cats, or take pictures, this was an awesome place to do so!

We ended the day at the Abderrahman Slaoui Foundation Museum, which celebrated contemporary Moroccan and Asian art, including tourism posters, jewelry, paintings, and more. It was a quick, but cool, visit before we headed back to the hotel.

The next day, we hit up the Hasan II Mosque, aka the Grand Mosque. This mosque hosts the tallest minaret in Africa, which stands at 220 meters! We were also told that the mosque can hold 107,000 attendees: 22,000 inside and 85,000 outside. Neither of us are Muslim, so we rarely get to go to mosques, and we both agreed this place was worth it! They held tours in English every hour, and the guides were polite and answered anyone's questions about the mosque or Islam in general. And the pictures do not disappoint, either!

Attached to the mosque was an Islamic art museum. It was a pretty "meh" museum. The art and woodwork was really cool, but it was quite small, and it was really just an add-on to the Mosque as far as tourists go.

After the Mosque, we had lunch and decided to stroll along the promenade next to the sea and mosque. This was just a walk along a sea wall; we certainly were not getting in those waters! Apart from being the waterway for the port, there were plenty of square waves (which, the two of us being divers, knew could mean dangerous rip tides). Even though there wasn't much going on along the seawall, it was still a peaceful afternoon along the sea.

The next day, we decided we were going to go to the beach and the Mall of Morocco. We figured that we might be limited on how long we would be at the beach, as Jo didn't want to stay if the norm was to stay covered (which, in Agadir it wasn't, but it turned out it was in Casablanca). Luckily (if that's what you call it?), our experience was quite different. The beach was LONG. Very long. And the tide rushed in and out along its shallow incline. This certainly wasn't a swimming or surfing beach, so we just walked along / in the water. We ended up having plenty of fun trying to get cool pictures and videos of the tide coming in while getting soaked in the process.

The Mall of Morocco was a bit of a culture shock for us. We'd only been out of Europe for three weeks, but we'd both become accustomed to the North African scenery and businesses. The mall was as Western as it gets. Name-brand clothing stores, high-end jewelers, even ice cream stands! We were like two kids going to mall for the first time, because we wanted to explore every inch of that place. The coolest part? There was a 1 million litre aquarium in the atrium! It had fish, rays, even some small sharks!

Our last day in Casablanca, we decided to explore the souks. They weren't too far from the hotel, and we'd walked through part of one on the way back from mosque a few days before. Souks were just plain fun to wander through. The one in Casablanca was smaller than Marrakech, but had a livestock section where the locals bought their chickens, fish, and more. We got to watch the circle of life take place before our very eyes with the chickens (if you know what we mean...). Outside of that, it was a standard souk: locals buying cheap clothing, shopkeepers hassling patrons to come in their shop ("just one question," "where from?," and "please, just look, just one minute" were all common refrains). Jack may have made us stand out with his Indiana Jones-esque hat...

One night in Casablanca, we decided to hit up a nightclub / bar. We knew they were "around," but alcohol is an official cultural taboo for non-tourists / non-Christians (although many locals partake behind closed window curtains). We hit up a place near our hotel, and had quite the experience. We had a waiter at the bar, which we definitely weren't accustomed to, and it was quite dark inside.

Now, something we knew was that Moroccans smoke indoors at cafes and restaurants. We'd sort of become accustomed to that by this point, but something we failed to take into account was how much people smoke when they drink. Well, we were reminded, because that bar was FULL of smoke. It was two stories tall, and we confirmed the science that smoke rises, because Jack couldn't even go all the way up the stairs without coughing from the amount of smoke there was in the bar. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on which one of us you ask), the bar closed early for some reason. It was clearly unusual, because even the locals were surprised. In any case, we had to pay out and leave. Talk about an anticlimatic night.

One thing we didn't do in Casablanca was go to Rick's cafe. This was for two reasons. First, the modern Rick's was founded by an American not even 20 years ago, so it wouldn't be the authentic experience many people would expect. Second, it was a high-end restaurant with a menu that was FAR outside our [admittedly generous] travel budget, even by Moroccan Dirham standards. Oh well.

When it came time to leave Casablanca, we had to be up at 2h00 Our flight left just a little after six in the morning, and we had to get there three hours in advance, so it was an early morning and long day of travel to get to Sousse, Tunisia (with that being a story for the Sousse post).

Where we stayed: Hotel Astrid

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