I arrived at Casablanca’s Mohammed V International Airport feeling a little bit like a lost puppy. I wasn’t actually lost, but I certainly felt like a puppy because the minute I picked up my bags suddenly everyone wanted to help me. Now whether this was because Moroccans are inherently friendly people (which they most definitely are) or because I was a lone single woman and they were expecting something from me (for instance, someone who gave me directions asked if he could add me on Facebook) I don’t know. At any rate, I made it to Morocco, and in one piece!
Since it is forbidden to take Moroccan money out of the country, my first plan of action was to exchange some of my Canadian moolah for Dihrams at the airport. Next, pay for train fare to get to my hotel. Conveniently the train station is located right inside CMN so if you’re staying near the mosque like I was, it’s much cheaper (40dh) and faster (only 30 minutes) to take the train than taking a petit taxi. That, and you get to admire the scenery — and by “admire” I mean nap, because that’s what happens when your eyes close after looking at dry fields, shrubs, a few trees, and more fields on repeat.
I arrived pretty late so the remaining energy I could muster after all that napping was used to head down to the hotel bar for a few drinks and a bite to eat and then back up early to bed.
The next day I went to check out the Hassan Il Mosque, which incidentally is one of the only interesting things you can do in Casablanca. Besides going to Rick’s Cafe… unless you like tourist traps and have seen the movie that shares the same name as the city. Otherwise there’s not much point in going. I still have yet to see the movie so off to the mosque I went.
Hassan II is the largest mosque in Africa and the 7th largest in the world. It was named after King Hassan II, who declared that Casablanca should build a landmark monument for his 60th birthday. As the Moroccan government lacked the funds for the construction of the mosque (which ended up at around $800 million), money was raised almost entirely from “public subscription”, meaning that Moroccans were required to make a donation to the project.
As sketchy as that sounds, the mosque is stunning. The amount of care and detail (and of course $$$) that went into every column, fountain or stairway is apparent everywhere you look.
Hassan II is also the only mosque in the Morocco where they allow foreigners inside. If you’re headed to Morocco and are planning a stop in Casablanca I definitely recommend it. If time is tight and you’re not a big building/architecture junkie like me, you could probably live without going to Casa altogether.
I spent all of two days in the city but probably could have fit it all into one if I’d really tried. I wouldn’t recommend much more time than that. Besides the mosque, you can wander around in the Medina and by the water, but as the city is mostly industrial there’s really not much else to see here.
Some highlights of the two-ish days I spent journeying to and exploring in Casa outside the mosque:
It was pretty cool watching the landscape change as we flew from Paris, over Gibraltar and on to Morocco.
Fancy snacks on board Air France. 🙂
Sorry to keep you all waiting for this post! Unfortunately the cellular service and wifi in Morocco is not the most reliable. I’ll be in a place where the connection should be much better for the next couple days so you can look forward to more of my adventures soon. 🙂
-C
