Casablanca Morocco 26th March

Anne and I had a reasonably good flight from Melbourne with only two passengers in our three seat rows. Unfortunately for me the other person in my row hogged the middle seat to sleep, so I was confined to my aisle seat until the next leg when I could spread out.

Arriving in Casablanca was easy and we were met and transported to our hotel. As we were so early we had to wait till 2pm before we could get into our room, so Anne and I went exploring. We found our map somewhat hard to follow because we couldn’t find any of the street names that matched! We did manage to discover the very impressive Cathedral Sacré Cœur, a park and a great supermarket before wending our way back to the hotel. We had been directed to a twin tower mall that was very uninspiring.

We have been surprised that cars can park anywhere, even on pedestrian crossings! Casablanca is very shabby and dirty and though the architecture is very French it is not charming.

Later we connected with Bill and Irene who had arrived a day earlier with Mary and Ross. They had lunched at Rick’s Cafe which was in the film Casablanca. Anne and I decided to go for dinner there despite the fact we were tired from the trip. Ridouane our guide told us to bargain with the taxis and that the price would be double on our return. What cost us 20 to get there was 50 Dirham to return but better than 150, the tourist price!

Ricks was delightful and the food delicious. You could imagine how it was full of intrigue during the war.We were supposed to have a meet and greet but the others didn’t turn up and we couldn’t contact them. The others apparently had a lot of trouble getting taxis back to the hotel so they were late and missed the briefing.

Anne and I were so tired after our trip and walking that we could barely keep our eyes open after dinner and stumbled off to bed.

Author: fleetfootkath

I am a keen walker and traveller. I love to explore and learn about new people, places and cultures with a sense of joy and gratitude for this fortunate life. I believe walking is a wonderful way to really connect with the present and the beauty of the world that surrounds us. It makes me happy. View all posts by fleetfootkath