“Of all the gin joints in all the world, you had to walk into mine…”

We woke in the predawn, gathered our gear, and trekked back down the daunting hill that separates the Medina of Chefchaouen from the newer part of town, and the bus stop. A seven hour bus ride got us into Casablanca in the early afternoon and a short cab ride got us to the hotel with a bit of time to settle in before Mary arrived. 

Mary is a wise cracking, energetic, retiree from Perth, Australia, with the same sort urge to visit everywhere and see everything as Em and I have. We first meet on a tour through the Balkans in 2018, and enjoyed each other’s company so much on that tour, that we exchanged contact info, keep in touch through the intervening years, and then we invited her to join us on this new adventure.

Mary is a big fan of older films and Em’s friend back home made her watch Casablanca right before she left LA, so there really was only one destination for the evening; Rick’s Cafe. The success of the film made the cafe synonymous with the city and the three of us headed there for dinner. The restaurant is beautiful and from the descriptions of my companions, pretty authentic in keeping with the movie (I will have to watch the film when I get home). We had a wonderful evening and called it a night.

Casablanca, the city, is the largest city in Morocco, but not the capital city, that’s actually Rabat. The city was originally founded in 10BC as a Berber settlement called Anfa, and didn’t become Casablanca until the early 1500s when the Portuguese made it a military outpost to protect the port and waterways. At the time is was called Casa Brancha (Portuguese for White City). Later when Spain and Portuguese played nice, the Spanish translation of White House became the dominant name of the city.

While Casablanca may be well known to the film buffs, there isn’t a ton to do here on the tourist circuit and therefore one day is really all that’s needed to explore. We rose early, grab a light breakfast (bread, cheese, eggs, olives, juice, and tea is traditional) and hailed a cab to take us to the Hassan II Mosque. 

The Mosque was the baby of King Hassan II, who wanted to create a single magnificent monument in Casablanca as a commemorative structure to honor King Mohammad V (who died in 1961) and to leave behind a legacy. The Mosque is the most ambitious building project ever created (to date) in Morocco and the final mosque is the 2nd largest in Northern Africa and the 7th largest in the world, having the 2nd highest minaret in the world, at 210m. 

It was built with nonstop construction between 1986 and 1993 at the decree of the King, utilizing artisans from all over the kingdom. The architecture is exquisite but brings mixed feelings for the locals. Part of the funds for the project came from garnishing the wages of the local inhabitants. Now the mosque is both a place of worship for up to 105,000 people, and a tourist attraction; with guided tours of the main floor (for men only during times of prayer) and the men’s absolution chambers (that are rarely ever used, but could probably fit a thousand men at one time).

Since we arrived a few minutes after the start of the first tour of the day, we were quickly ushered into a golf cart and driven across the fairly large plaza that separates the entrance and madras (religious school) from the actual mosque and the hammanas (bathhouses). There the friendly ushers at the entrance implored us to quickly take our shoes off and find the English tour group, who had started 15 minutes prior. After first collecting Em, who was too busy gleefully taking photographs of the exterior without people present to realize the ushers were calling her to come inside, we wandered from group to group listening for English. After a few mistakes, we found out the smallest group (3 others and a guide) was the English speaking tour. While the leader wasn’t the happiest person when she found out we were joining late, she did give us the 2 minute overview of the mosque and then allowed us to wander within the main floor for a few minutes to take photos. The tour only allows you to see the main floor and the absolution room and then deposits you outside in the plaza where you can leisurely make your way back to the entrance.

The Mosque was located at the furthest point of where we’d planned to explore for the day and everything else was seen on the long trek back to the hotel. Our first stop was the Old Medina. This Medina started in the early 1700s as a Portuguese bastion, with a extra walls for protection of the military from local tribes. When the Portuguese fled the area in 1755, Moroccans once again claimed it, and the Sultan at the time, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah, expanded it to encompass the tribal people. The Old Medina contains the similar windy alleyways and whitewash walls of other Medinas in the country. 

When we arrived, it was still early (about 1040) by Moroccan standards, and many of the shops were still shuttered. We wandered through the less crowded alleys, bare of souvenir shops and tourists alike. Our meandering lead us to the local fruit, veggie, and meat market; where it was fun just to peruse the aisles and see what was for sale. Most people didn’t have formal booths and just set up shop in the middle of small squares or on the sides of the alleys.

After popping out of the Medina back on the main road, we continued wandering back toward of our hotel, by way of the Church of Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart) (the church is also known as Casablanca Cathedral). The Art Deco style church was only used as a religious institution from 1930 until 1956, when it was converted into a cultural center, at the independence of Morocco. Normally the center is open to visitors, but it’s currently undergoing renovations and thus we were only able to admire it from the exterior. While we couldn’t see the interior, the attached gardens were open to the public and appeared to a be a favorite sport for locals, whether to exercise, have a picnic, or chat with friends.

After the Cathedral, we continued our trek back to the hotel via Mohammad V square (in the middle of many judicial and government buildings), and by way of small neighborhoods with the trusty method of “we can’t be lost if we’re headed in the general direction we want to go.” 16000 steps later: hot, tired, and (for me) sun kissed, we arrived back at the hotel and Em and I promptly decreed it was time for a nap. Mary, for having twenty years on us, probably has double our energy and probably would have keep going. The only other sites we potentially missed out on we’re the Royal Palace (which can only be seen from the exterior) and the Habous  Medina; which is newer than the Old Medina. 

Six pm arrived and we attended the Welcome discussion for the Intrepid tour. It turns out our group is pretty small, consisting of only five: us, Mary, and a father and son duo from Ontario - Brian and Nathan. Our leader for the next two weeks is a local by the name of Khalid. He hails from the mountainous region in the center of Morocco (our tour skirts around his home so, we unfortunately won’t get to see it), but lives in Marrakesh during tour season. 

Tomorrow the craziness of the tour fully begins.