Hey ya’ll!
We are in Casablanca, Morocco! Well, the day we arrived we went on a city tour. The first stop was this incredibly beautiful building, a city hall or something. It was all open courtyards and connecting hallways in this insane Arabic style architecture. It was filled with intricately craved walls and mosaic tiles. Gorgeous! Then we headed over to the royal palace. We didn’t get to go in but we saw the giant courtyard and the exterior of the building that was same style and architecture as the other building. Then we went over to the Hassan II Mosque, which is the 3rd largest mosque in the world. It was built by the last king of Morocco in the late 80’s early 90’s. It was enormous and over the top intricate. Hopefully we will be able to post pictures soon so you can see for yourself because it is beyond explanation. There were bathes in the basement of the building that were magnificent basins made out of marble. They were in a huge stone room with fountains and beautiful stone floors and marble pillars. Then we went to a ‘government’ store. It sold all the things that are sold in a market but have fixed prices so there is no bargaining necessary. Apparently the markets here can be very overwhelming and the people who sell stuff are every intense and will do anything to get you to buy their goods. So they took us there so we would have a chance to have an easy shopping experience. Lastly, we stopped at a little food market. It was crazy. They had huge bowls of olives and fruits and vegetables and weird looking flatbread things. They also had giant dead fish and headless chickens and whole dangling cows for sale. It was kind of foul because of the meat and fish combo and the smell was overwhelmingly rancid. But the vegetables were cool, especially the olives which looked delicious. That night we ventured out with a group of people and found a little, quaint hookah bar that was off the beaten path. It was loud, smoky, crowded and hot but authentic and fun nonetheless. There was a singer who sang to us in crazy Arabic!
Day 2:
We decided to venture out on our own despite many people telling us that we should have male companions. And boy where they right! We were constantly heckled, stared at, hissed at and bleated at. We found an Internet café that had ants crawling in and out of the keyboards. YUM! We also found a little pastry shop and bought some delicious pastries that we had heard much about. We thought we could enjoy them on a little stoop that was kind of hidden away. That was a mistake. It’s Ramadan and people don’t eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. A man confronted us while getting into his car about it being Ramadan and that we were hurting people’s feelings by eating in front of them. Never a dull moment, huh?
Day 3:
We went on a SAS trip to the city of Rabat, which is the current financial and political capital of Moroccan Kingdom. It was 1 ½ hour buss ride from Casablanca through the countryside. We when arrived we saw the grounds of the king’s palace but weren’t allowed to go inside. Next we stopped at an unfinished mosque that was partially built over 900 years ago. It was beautiful. We also saw a mausoleum dedicated to the current king’s grandfather and father. That was decorated in the same Arabic architecture. Our last stop was a Kasbah, which is like an old fortress. It was essentially a large courtyard surrounded by giant red walls with little inlets and such. The courtyard was filled with gardens and fountains. Very pretty! That was all we were allotted to see in Rabat and we then headed back to Casablanca. Because it is Ramadan, The Hassan II Mosque shines a brilliant emerald laser towards Mecca and you can see the huge beam, beaming into the sky. It looks like a giant light saber. Tomorrow we will hopefully get some shopping down in the markets or soaks as they are called here. Hopefully we will also be able to find a not-so-janky Internet café to upload some more pictures!
Miss and love all of you
Rachael and Kiah