Because we may have homebody tendencies and spent a lot of year one staying around our town, we made a new years resolution to get out more with one weekend of the month set aside for wandering. The way time keeps flying, we would not want to leave without experiencing all we can. Half of January was spent on a trip home, so February was the inauguratory month. Thanks to awesome friends who hosted us, we had a great time in Casablanca.
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If you're thinking you are already an expert because of the film, it wasn't actually shot there, but you can go to a recreation of "Rick's Cafe."
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Casablanca is the largest city in Morocco and is the business and economic hub of Morocco, contrasting with the political capital of Rabat. It is right on the Atlantic ocean with a port used historically even by Phoenicians and Romans. Today it is modern city home of the rich and famous and the unemployed and desperate echoing urban successes and problems everywhere. If I were only spending a limited time in the country, I don't know if I would make it a priority. However, this is a demographic and a part of Morocco we don't get to see often and I'm really glad we did.
There are all kinds of things to do, but we just chose a few:
We went to the Morocco Mall aka Mall of America, home of everything. It's the second largest mall in Africa, and it was definitely a drastic change from our usual scenery. We got frozen yogurt and felt like ballers.
We also went to the King Hassan II Mosque, a mammoth of an edifice that really surprised us. We see nice mosques often, but the size of this is pretty astounding. It is the largest mosque in Morocco and the 3rd largest in the world, with the tallest minaret in the world. Every square inch of it is covered in something beautiful, be it carvings, mosaics, fountains, etc.. Pictures don't do it justice.
We went to a convent of nuns from Mexico that sells Mexican food and stocked up on chips, tortillas, mole, the works. Gracias Hermanas! We also went shopping at a used souq in Hay Hassani that makes Goodwill look like nothing.
The best part though was hanging out with friends and their kids, playing soccer and skating in the street, taking time to chat, decompress, reflect, and be with people that inspire us. Also, their shower. We had amazing showers. Thanks for a perfect weekend.
Final photo: Zach connived and surprised me with an early valentines gift of roses and a box with noises coming out of it. What a sweetie.
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