Casablanca of course! Actually I'm not sure if Humph ever actually made it to the famed city since the movie was filmed in Florida.
We arrived here on Royal Air Marroc but encountered a few minor but annoying challenges along the way. After saying goodbye and thank you to my parents we made our way up to Lisbon on the bus and stayed overnight at the Gran Pension Alcobia (50 euro). We heard that Lisbon airport can have some long security lineups, so we arrived extra early, at 6:00 a.m. for our 8:30 flight. Unfortunately, the check-in counter did not open until 6:30, and when it did open we all found out that the computer system for all TAP flights (with which Royal Air Moroc is affiliated) was down. So everyone waited for almost an hour until and then it was announced that check-in would proceed by hand. By this time the line-ups in the whole terminal were huge! Just when they started doing manual check-in, it was announced the computer system was up and running again.
When we got up to the counter, the staff person asked if we had our visas for Morocco. I had checked on the Canadian Foreign Affairs website only days before and knew that we did not need a visa to visit. However, some horribly worded English on the staff person's screen made it sound like we needed a visa. We convinced her that this was not true and she let us go ahead. So off we headed through some frantic security to our gate. We were supposed to board at 7:50 and by 8:00 we knew something was wrong as we hadn't boarded. I checked the departures board to discover that they had changed the gate and were now on the final boarding call for our flight. So we, along with two others, ran to the other gate, jumped on an airport bus and were whisked off to our plane.
Luckily the plane did not crumble apart during our flight because it appeared old enough to do so. The only good thing about the trip was the breakfast. The yogurt and croissant were yummy, but no coffee. Boo. As we landed in Casablanca we thought to ourselves, now nothing else could possibly go wrong. Sadly we were mistaken. Our luggage did not come directly to Casablanca with us. For reasons unknown it was sent to Barcelona, Spain. Seriously.
So we headed into Casablanca on a train as the airport is 30+ km out of town, without our luggage. From the train station we caught a Petit Taxi to the Central Hotel, which just inside the walls of the old Medina. The hotel was in an old building that at one time might have been very nice. Now it is a little worn around the edges and a bit musty smelling. However, the staff were very nice and the location was good.
After a quick freshening up, we headed out for a walk down toward the central market. Along the way we stopped at a cafe for some sandwiches and excellent coffee. The architecture in downtown Casablanca is best described as Moorish design meets Art Deco. Its really quite spectacular, however most buildings have been left to decline and are in need of extensive renovation. This is unfortunate given the obvious potential. Making our way back to the hotel we walked through the old Medina, with its maze of souks and narrow streets, full of interesting sights and smells. We spent the evening catching up on reading and schoolwork and enjoying the mint tea.
The next morning we went down and had a nice breakfast, which included local breads, apricot jam and some excellent coffee. Our plan was to walk over to visit the Hassan II Mosque in the morning, have a quick lunch, and then head out on a city tour for the afternoon (we made the tour arrangements at the tourist office the previous day). After the tour, we would then go to the airport to collect our wayward luggage, which had finally arrived.
The Hassan II Mosque overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and is the third largest in the world. It was started in 1986 and completed 6 years later to commemorate the 60th birthday of Hassan II, the former king of Morocco. The mosque is really impressive and a wonderful showcase of what can be achieved when modern building techniques are applied to a grand religious structure. The building can hold 25,000 worshippers inside and another 80,000 people outside. The exterior is clad in marble and tile. It even features a retractable roof and a laser that points towards Mecca which was visible from our hotel at night. The inside is breathtaking. Its hard to even describe how beautiful the tile work, marble columns, woodwork and chandeliers are. Suffice to say there were 10,000 artisans involved in the project and 3,000 construction workers, working 24 hours a day in shifts. The mosque was definitely the highlight of our stay in Casablanca.
Lunch consisted of really yummy sandwiches and fries bought from a small vendor in the old Medina. Total cost for three people - $3. The tour guide (Susan called him "grumpy Bill') joined us as we were eating and we spent the next few hours in an old Mercedes taxi visiting the other sights in Casablanca. The more memorable places included the waterfront, which is being completely redeveloped, the old lighthouse, several gardens and parks, the area where the rich and famous live, and walking around old streets and palaces in the Kasbah (royal quarter). We also visited a spice vendor where we got a lesson in the many spice products produced in Morocco and purhased some saffron and perfume. Along the way we got to see both the new and the old side of Casablanca and breathe a lot of car exhaust. Morocco will be very nice when they put catalytic converters on vehicles.
With our tour complete, we dropped off our guide and made our way back to the airport. The driver agreed to take us for the same rate that the airline would be reimbursing us for. All good so far, except that the traffic was horrible. Had we known it would be so bad, we would have taken the train instead and saved some money in the process. To make a long story short, it took over 3 hours to retrieve our luggage and get back to the old Medina.
Tired but hungry, we had dinner at a place recommended in Lonely Planet guide that was near our hotel. We ate some good traditional food including a nice tangene (meat and vegetable stew cooked slowly in an earthenware dish) and a mezze (five different small salads), but it was very over priced. One juice drink cost more than our entire lunch in the old Media.
After a quick breakfast the next morning we made our way to the Gare des Casa Voyageurs and jumped on the train to Marrakesh. We were glad we stopped in Casablanca for a day, however that's about all the time I think its worth.
We arrived here on Royal Air Marroc but encountered a few minor but annoying challenges along the way. After saying goodbye and thank you to my parents we made our way up to Lisbon on the bus and stayed overnight at the Gran Pension Alcobia (50 euro). We heard that Lisbon airport can have some long security lineups, so we arrived extra early, at 6:00 a.m. for our 8:30 flight. Unfortunately, the check-in counter did not open until 6:30, and when it did open we all found out that the computer system for all TAP flights (with which Royal Air Moroc is affiliated) was down. So everyone waited for almost an hour until and then it was announced that check-in would proceed by hand. By this time the line-ups in the whole terminal were huge! Just when they started doing manual check-in, it was announced the computer system was up and running again.
When we got up to the counter, the staff person asked if we had our visas for Morocco. I had checked on the Canadian Foreign Affairs website only days before and knew that we did not need a visa to visit. However, some horribly worded English on the staff person's screen made it sound like we needed a visa. We convinced her that this was not true and she let us go ahead. So off we headed through some frantic security to our gate. We were supposed to board at 7:50 and by 8:00 we knew something was wrong as we hadn't boarded. I checked the departures board to discover that they had changed the gate and were now on the final boarding call for our flight. So we, along with two others, ran to the other gate, jumped on an airport bus and were whisked off to our plane.
Luckily the plane did not crumble apart during our flight because it appeared old enough to do so. The only good thing about the trip was the breakfast. The yogurt and croissant were yummy, but no coffee. Boo. As we landed in Casablanca we thought to ourselves, now nothing else could possibly go wrong. Sadly we were mistaken. Our luggage did not come directly to Casablanca with us. For reasons unknown it was sent to Barcelona, Spain. Seriously.
So we headed into Casablanca on a train as the airport is 30+ km out of town, without our luggage. From the train station we caught a Petit Taxi to the Central Hotel, which just inside the walls of the old Medina. The hotel was in an old building that at one time might have been very nice. Now it is a little worn around the edges and a bit musty smelling. However, the staff were very nice and the location was good.
After a quick freshening up, we headed out for a walk down toward the central market. Along the way we stopped at a cafe for some sandwiches and excellent coffee. The architecture in downtown Casablanca is best described as Moorish design meets Art Deco. Its really quite spectacular, however most buildings have been left to decline and are in need of extensive renovation. This is unfortunate given the obvious potential. Making our way back to the hotel we walked through the old Medina, with its maze of souks and narrow streets, full of interesting sights and smells. We spent the evening catching up on reading and schoolwork and enjoying the mint tea.
The next morning we went down and had a nice breakfast, which included local breads, apricot jam and some excellent coffee. Our plan was to walk over to visit the Hassan II Mosque in the morning, have a quick lunch, and then head out on a city tour for the afternoon (we made the tour arrangements at the tourist office the previous day). After the tour, we would then go to the airport to collect our wayward luggage, which had finally arrived.
The Hassan II Mosque overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and is the third largest in the world. It was started in 1986 and completed 6 years later to commemorate the 60th birthday of Hassan II, the former king of Morocco. The mosque is really impressive and a wonderful showcase of what can be achieved when modern building techniques are applied to a grand religious structure. The building can hold 25,000 worshippers inside and another 80,000 people outside. The exterior is clad in marble and tile. It even features a retractable roof and a laser that points towards Mecca which was visible from our hotel at night. The inside is breathtaking. Its hard to even describe how beautiful the tile work, marble columns, woodwork and chandeliers are. Suffice to say there were 10,000 artisans involved in the project and 3,000 construction workers, working 24 hours a day in shifts. The mosque was definitely the highlight of our stay in Casablanca.
Lunch consisted of really yummy sandwiches and fries bought from a small vendor in the old Medina. Total cost for three people - $3. The tour guide (Susan called him "grumpy Bill') joined us as we were eating and we spent the next few hours in an old Mercedes taxi visiting the other sights in Casablanca. The more memorable places included the waterfront, which is being completely redeveloped, the old lighthouse, several gardens and parks, the area where the rich and famous live, and walking around old streets and palaces in the Kasbah (royal quarter). We also visited a spice vendor where we got a lesson in the many spice products produced in Morocco and purhased some saffron and perfume. Along the way we got to see both the new and the old side of Casablanca and breathe a lot of car exhaust. Morocco will be very nice when they put catalytic converters on vehicles.
With our tour complete, we dropped off our guide and made our way back to the airport. The driver agreed to take us for the same rate that the airline would be reimbursing us for. All good so far, except that the traffic was horrible. Had we known it would be so bad, we would have taken the train instead and saved some money in the process. To make a long story short, it took over 3 hours to retrieve our luggage and get back to the old Medina.
Tired but hungry, we had dinner at a place recommended in Lonely Planet guide that was near our hotel. We ate some good traditional food including a nice tangene (meat and vegetable stew cooked slowly in an earthenware dish) and a mezze (five different small salads), but it was very over priced. One juice drink cost more than our entire lunch in the old Media.
After a quick breakfast the next morning we made our way to the Gare des Casa Voyageurs and jumped on the train to Marrakesh. We were glad we stopped in Casablanca for a day, however that's about all the time I think its worth.
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