Casablanca - Meknes Day two

Day Two

Date:     29 April 2013

Place:    Casablanca - Meknes

Weather:   Cool but fine.

Accommodation:   Hotel Transatlantique, Meknes

Our tour started in earnest.  We are a group of thirteen:  6 couples and 5 single women. 

We were off to a punctual start of 8.30am to the largest mosque in Morocco which has the tallest minaret in the world – Mosquee Hassan II.  This is a very recent mosque which was completed in 1993 covers an area of 20 000 square metres on reclaimed land near the ocean.

Rick's Café....completely fictional but someone's come up with a good idea in Casablanca!

The main hall of the mosque.....huge!

Forty-one fountains....ablution area underneath the great hall.

So big....hard to fit it all in!

 

Twenty five thousand faithful can pray inside and eighty thousand outside.  Our tour lasted an hour taking us to the main prayer hall where the cedar carved roof can be opened to the sky, the ablution fountains and hammam.

After a rest break we were on our way to the capital Rabat.  As Casablanca has population of 5 million it took some time to reach the end of the city.

The Royal Palace is off limits to visitors as it is the administrative base for the royal family and government however a guide from the area told the history and information relevant to this beautiful area.  The site covers 43 hectares and is the second largest palace after Fes.

Outside the Royal Palace.

 

A short distance away is the ancient Chellah and royal necropolis.  Our guide lead us through the old Roman area, the Muslim area with a minaret and a pool area.  The Muslim area contains the 14^th century tombs of a sultan, his wife and son.  Walking down some steps brings you to the pool for barren women.  Someone asked if it worked – to which the guide replied that he wasn’t sure for women but it did for the cats!  Yes, lots of mangy cats everywhere!

Chellah.....a walk among the ruins and large stork nests.

The pool for barren women.

 

Next stop – lunch!  We are starting to get to know our companions and meal times provide this opportunity.  David and I chose lamb and chicken tagines and they were very hot and delicious.  I tried my first peppermint tea without sugar and that was great as well.

After lunch we headed to Mausoleum of Mohommed V which stands next to the very old Hassan Tower Mosque.  The mosque was started in 1196 but was never finished as the sultan died iin 1199.  The disastrous Lisbon earthquake of 1755 damaged what was remaining but the minaret survived.  We visited the mausoleum which allows visitors to walk around the interior balcony overlooking the tombs of the kings. 

 Scrummy lunch.....chicken, green olives and lemon.

 



The Mausoleum of Mohommed V.

 

The Kasbah in Rabat was built in the 12^th century and is a city within a city.  The old mud wall encloses buildings and the beautiful Andalucian Gardens.  In the 17^th century it became a refuge for Muslims forced out of Spain.  The area gave lovely views over the river and blue coloured boats on the opposite shore line.

The lovely Andalucian Gardens in the Kasbah....love the orange trees!

 

We were on the road at 4pm for the rest of our journey for the day to Meknes.   A stop at 6pm provided a quick drink and toilet break.  One of the blokes had been vomiting since our lunch break so it has been a long afternoon for him.

The scenery after this was very beautiful with lots of green pastures, olive groves and small herds of animals. 

Meknes looks a prosperous and a clean town.  The hotel was lovely and we dined in the restaurant with a lovely French speaking waiter who helped us choose a great red wine from the area.

 

 

Day One - Morocco

Day One

Date:     28 April  2013

Place:    Casablanca

Weather:   Cool but fine.

Accommodation:   Transatlantique Hotel

We had an early start and left for Madrid Airport at 4.45am.  The Madrid marathon was happening today so we were lucky we avoided street closures.

Ryan Air was flying us to Marrakesh and we joined a queue which seemed to not move for ages.  Eventually, we were processed quickly and had our visa stamped on the air ticket.  Another queue through customs was a bit of adventure as I was pretty well strip searched with my clothes on.  Undaunted we sat and had something to eat at Starbucks before getting on the plane for two hours.  Ryan Air arrived early and a trumpet blast not unlike the start of races was played over the intercom - this heralds that once again Ryan Air was on-time or ahead of time.  We were twenty minutes ahead of time and apparently 90% of their planes do this!

Getting through Marrakesh Airport is a relatively easy affair with a simple disembarkation card and we were through the exit doors into the terminal.  First stop – cash!  Next stop – how are we getting to Casablanca?  After reading the guide book we decided to catch a taxi to the train station as the book said the trains were pretty constant and that taking a taxi for the 280kms could be a bit tricky with the standard of driving.

Well, once outside we succumbed to the taxi driver of a ‘grand taxi’ (licensed for long distances) to take us all the way!  We arranged for him to stop at a café for some refreshments before the three hour drive.  With a little French we had croissants, bread, cheese (in foil triangles!) and coffees.  David chose an omelette which received a good review.

We settled back in the Mercedes (a worn-out dusty version) with our backpacks on our laps and took in the scenery.  Immediately you know you are in a very poor country.  The scenery varied along the way from grain fields to sparse plains to small herds of sheep and goats being tended by boys and men.

The other three travellers dozed for some time but I was too busy playing back-seat driver!  If there is one thing I have learnt about driving in Morocco – there are no road rules!  Suspend all belief that seat belts are necessary, lanes have a purpose, indicators do just that and keeping a safe distance is optional.  We swerved in and out of a two way auto-route (tolls) with our driver mainly driving the middle white line!  Fortunately, he did not speed – nothing over 120kmps anyway!

Once in Casablanca (which looks nothing like the movie, incidentally made in Hollywood) we had to find the hotel.  The nice cabbie had no idea but undaunted he pulled over in streets half a dozen times (even in moving car lanes) to ask for directions.  Just when I thought that this could go on for hours I spotted a vertical sign down a narrow street.  A hasty turn and we had found our street.  Now, the street said ‘interdit’ which means no entry so for once our cabbie obeyed a road rule and we hopped out at the end of the street and walked towards our hotel  Suffice to say – we are not in Kansas anymore!  The street was littered with rubbish and it is very dusty.

Desley on her way to our hotel....just a few more steps!

Edith Piaf stayed at the hotel!

 

The hotel is quite pleasant and clean although dated.  It was built in 1922 and even lamps in our room have the date on the base.  It is very strongly Moorish with a French influence.  The porter put us all in a very small lift and we giggled we were in the Tardis on the way up – the doors sprang open and voila!  - there was our porter!  He had run up three flights of stairs to show us to our rooms.  What a hoot!

A view from the restaurant to a busy square.

Not quite Kansas!

 

At the hotel!

 

After a sleep we met up in the foyer with a group of other travellers (all women) and headed out into the streets of Casablanca for dinner.  Rubbish bags littered the streets and traffic kept us on our toes.  Desley and Cameron had been out for an earlier walk and found a place in a square near the mosque.  All eight of us dined there except for one poor older woman whose luggage has been missing for five days.  Ethiad has not found it and she has been alone and unsure what to do. 

We met up at 8pm after finding out earlier that there would be a group meeting only to find the people (all except one) were on the other bus tour.  Our new group included one more man so that is good for the boys.  We are all Australians.

Armed with instructions (and purchased bottled water) we are ready for our real adventure to begin tomorrow.