Morocco Le Grande Tour Day 5 – Casablanca and Rabat

We’re on the road today and waving goodbye to Marrakech which has been great fun if a little frenetic. I’d thoroughly recommend a visit, its craziness is all part of its charm, Today we start with a drive to the Atlantic coast and the city of Casablanca

En route we stop for a drinks break at a motorway service station that has the most ridiculous collection of pottery items for sale spread across one of its 3 car parks.

We reboard the bus and head for Casablanca. Morocco’s economic and commercial hub, Casablanca is a place where business and creative industries prosper. Old cinemas from the Protectorate days are once again attracting cinephiles to screenings of independent and international films. A new generation of restaurateurs are breaking from tradition and opening restaurants catering to vegans and international taste buds. Atlantic side, the Corniche attracts coupled, strolling families and a well-heeled crowd sipping cocktails overlooking the sea. Downtown,a combination of modern and sometimes eclectic 20th-century buildings melding French-colonial design with traditional Moroccan styles (zellige, carved stucco and cedarwood) mix with modernist buildings developed post-independence. In addition to all of this is the immense Hassan II Mosque on the shores of the Atlantic. The city is bustling, traffic is heavy and sleek modern trams glide serenely past the gridlock.

We visit to Brownie’s delight Pigeon Square, where the rats with wings swoop and soar around her as she ducks her head to avoid them!!  She’s not helped by the numerous seed sellers encouraging people to feed them.

We stop for a forgettable lunch and I’m keen to take a walk into the nearby souk. We literally only have 20 minutes so we speed walk around. I meet a man who tells me that he was in London in 1976 – the summer of the drought for those old enough to remember – and that he stayed in Herne Hill with his Uncle taking the No.2 bus from Victoria.  I tell him that I remember that summer very well but that unfortunately we can’t stop and chat as we have to get back to the bus otherwise Omar will be really cross with us particularly as everyone else stayed in the restaurant.

We reboard the bus following our speed walk around the souk and drive to Casablanca’s Hassan II Mosque, the seventh largest mosque in the world and the largest on the continent of Africa. Built in honour of the King’s 60th birthday, this spectacular mosque is a feat of engineering and can hold an astounding 105,000 worshippers. Situated right next to the Atlantic – to honour the Quran, which states “the throne of Allah was over the water”.  One of only two mosques in Morocco that non-Muslims can visit. Once we’ve marvelled at the enormous exterior, we head inside for a tour.

The mosque is an incredible feat of architecture and is rumoured to have cost over $800m.

We bid farewell to Casablanca and head up the coast to Morocco’s capital, Rabat. Established at the country’s capital in 1912, by the French, Rabat has a distinct history, which dates as far back as 8BC, when settlers arrived in what is now the Chellah district. We arrive at our hotel around  6pm and after locating our room go for a quick walk around the exterior of the Mohammed VI Museum & Contemporary Art. We go out for dinner at a nearby restaurant. It has a set menu that it particularly imaginative but it’s saving grace is that it serves beer albeit rather expensive beer.  We’re on the move again in the morning so don’t stay out too late!!