Casablanca

 You will all be shocked (SHOCKED!) to learn that no one asked me for my form that I had to have to get into Morocco. 

I feel asleep in the waiting area in the airport.  I sat down to a few people and woke up to a massive line ready for boarding.  

My flight from Paris to Casablanca was uneventful.  I was so tired but they never dimmed the lights so no nap.  My arrival is a bit of a blur. I know I waited at the wrong luggage carousel and by the time I figured that out, my bag was sitting in a pile on the floor.  Through the border check (unnecessary form at the ready).  I really do not remember any French from my BC secondary education.  Merci but only after Gracias and Thank you.  

I found a taxi outside of the airport and showed him my Bookings.com form.  Yes, yes, not problem.  Which translates to English as 'Oh, no, I have no idea where that is so there will definitely be a problem'.  Me and my guy drove around for quite some time.  I know we turned onto the abattoir district.  That was concerning.  But I was not accepted as halal because I was deemed unblessable.  

Casablanca is a big modern city.  But there was a donkey cart on the highway so all stereotypes are not blown. 

My first two photos (there are a lot of cats here)

I have to admit, i threw away my first day.  I woke up at 1pm on Saturday.  And my knee was killing me.  So, I never left my room.  I  have never done that before but I could barely walk.  I texted my nurse friend Val and said "here is the painkillers I have, what I can take that will allow me to walk and not kill me'.  Answer, double up the Tylenol and Aleve. Excellent. 

Here's my room by the way.

I woke up today and my knee was much better for the day of rest.  But I wanted to sightsee today so I got out my Tylenol and my Aleve and opened them up.  Turns out the Aleve bottle is full of Tylenol.  There were only three tablets of Aleve.  Enough for this morning.  If I remember one thing, do not OD on Tylenol.  

So, I had two tasks to deal with before I could start my day.  Find a money exchange and a pharmacy.  I asked at the front desk.  You can't miss it.  The most said lie in the world.  I eventually found the exchange, closed, and the pharmacy, only takes Dairham.  Back the the money exchange, open, and then back to the pharmacy who only had one box, back to the hotel, wait, back to the pharmacy, neproxene purchased, enough for the whole trip assuming I stay crippled.  

My no research plan is not a good plan, people, take note.  What to do in Casablanca for one day.  Well, to start, do some research.  There is a giant mosque here, Hassan II mosque.  it may be the biggest in the world.  I decided to go there.  the front desk ordered me a taxi.  The taxi driver immediately convinced me to hire him for the day.  Sure, why not, I have no idea what else to do so I will let him take me around.

Mustafa

The mosque.  Huge.  Beautiful.  

Next Mustafa and I stopped at the beach so I could take more pictures of the mosque.  They are very proud of their mosque.  

A quick stop at a park, Park of Arabic?  It had a nice tiled stream/fountain thing.  Another cat. I should say, another cat photo.  There are cats everywhere here. EVERYWHERE!

Next up, a million pigeons.  I know that this square is famous for something but I think all anyone remembers is the birds.  Mohammed V square I think.

And then lunch.  

lemon chicken

And because I am clearly not Muslim, we stopped at a Catholic church. Which had a lot of lovely stained glass. 

Then this white building which got zero explanation.  I don't think Mustafa likes this building.  But I saw it in the distance and asked if we could go there.  I think it used to be a church but isn't anymore.  

And then one last mosque next to a medina (city market).  I got completely lost in the medina, breaking all rules about going into one of these rabbit warrens with a hanging purse and a camera in hand.  I wandered up and down little alleys, trying to find my taxi.  I knew it couldn't be far, it was parked right outside of the mosque and I could see the minaret (the tower).  I walked and walked until I finally noticed an identical minaret a few blocks away.  Those medinas can really turn you around.  My taxi was still sitting there, in front of mosque #2.  

I am meeting my group in 30 minutes.  The jet lagged introvert in me is already wondering if it is social suicide to skip our first dinner together.

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Later that evening.  Well, I sucked it up and went to dinner and, of course, I'm glad I did.  A very nice group.  One American couple (young, wife is very chatty), one man from New York, originally from Russia, one Canadian couple (Barrie, Ontario, middle aged), one UK woman (young, thankfully paid for the single supplement so she has her own room and therefore, I have my own room!), one UK couple (middle aged) with their 26 year old son (sharing a room with the NY guy), and the UK couple (middle aged) that I met at the mosque.  They will get names probably at some point.  

We met our CEO (tour guide) named Mohammed.  He is from Morocco.  He seems very nice, as I suspected he would be.  We had an hour confab about the trip and what to expect.  The family of three have signed up for almost all of the extras.  We can add on as we want.  Rob warned me about the Hammam but you know I am probably going to do it.  It sounds awful, some sort of painful scrubbing/public bathing situation.  I might have talked myself out of it again just writing that sentence.  

The best part of the 'what to expect' talk was what each city is known for, weaving, leather, carpets, oils, etc.  All I could think was thank god for my extra bag!  

Then we all walked to the restaurant.  Le Fleur I think.  I had a delicious chicken and almond pie with sugar on top and lots of cinnamon.  My mom and I had something like this at the Turkish? restaurant in Victoria that closed years ago.  But I never forgot that meal and now I got to have it again!

While we were waiting for our food, Mohammed took some of us to get a new SIM card so we can all be on WhatsApp together.  The young guy with his parents, I guess he needs a name already, Tom, had his new iPhone plucked out of his hand by a motorcyclist this very morning as they were walking about.  This is what everyone has been warning me about.  That was also his camera.  Poor guy.  He is taking it well, and we were merciless in talking about phones all though dinner.  NY guy (Denis) set up the WhatsApp page and we all just scanned the code.  Denis asked Tom if he wanted to do a retinal scan so he didn't feel left out.  It killed at dinner!  

And on the way back, we stopped at a grocery store to buy a big bottle of water each.  I bought a pack of cookies for the car.  I am supposed to take my pain killers with food so I need some handy.  

And that's the day.  A long day.  My knee is holding out.  I kept up with the group which would not have been the case for the previous two days.  Is it getting better or is my Tylenol/Aleve cocktail to thank?  I'm not stopping taking them in the near future so I won't find out anytime soon.