Casablanca

I’m taking a break from work for a family trip to visit Hannah in Morocco. I landed without any cash, because my ATM card has been having trouble in Libya. I thought it was the banking system here, which is rather unreliable, but it may actually be blocked due to fraud protection. A good time to remind myself of the traveler’s maxim: carry half as much stuff and twice as much cash as you think you need.

Neo-gothic Cathedral

Casablanca is often described as “missable” by guidebooks, but I rather liked it. The new tram is lovely, and Ruth and I had a morning free and walked from our hotel in the old colonial downtown past a defunct neogothic cathedral to the Hassan II mosque. It’s breathtaking in scale, with the tallest minaret in the world, and interior that could fit Notre Dame, and a cost over $500 million to build. Apparently every family in Morocco “donated” 5 dirham for it to be built.

Hassan II Mosque interior

Hassan II Mosque

Walking back through the medina, we got a sense of why the city isn’t on most traveler’s short list. We were hassled a little bit by a young man wearing the djellaba of a religious student. But after we shook him, we had a fun time enjoying the market and eating snail soup.

Ruth assures we won’t get sick

Street snails

We found an excellent seafood restaurant right in the fisherman’s port, where we feasted on fresh oysters, oysters (or coquilles Saint Jacques, that high school French is paying off) and decent local wine while serenaded by eighties ballads. Afterwards, we found a pinball arcade and a woman-run bar in the alleys near our hotel. In all, a lovely evening.