Here’s lookin’ at you kid. That’s right. We took an early
morning flight to Casablanca, Morocco. It was like stepping back in time. At
least the flight was like that.
In fairness, Heba, who had to travel to Casablanca for a
conference and happened to be on the same flight, did warn us not to expect too
much from our carrier, Egypt Air. We stepped on board, all ready for drinks and
movies, as per our usual international fight routine. We sat down, looked for
our in-seat entertainment, and found nothing! You’d have thought that we were
travelling on United Airlines or internationally in 2000. The airline had those
central screens that come down from overhead with a standard movie selection, a
simple ‘chicken or beef’ food selection, and no liquor. Plus the speakers were
broken when they made overhead announcement. Additionally, after I rang my call
button multiple times over a 30 minute period, I had to get up and walk to the
back galley in order to get water for my poor parched throat.
We then arrived to one of the longest immigration queues I’ve
ever been in.
We had read that Casablanca had nothing to see. Well, after
our journey into the country, our expectations certainly were set at a
reasonable low level.
We couldn’t have been more wrong! Casablanca is so
interesting. It is absolutely a lovely city. It’s the kind of city you can see
yourself living in. Heba and her friend Aly, who was also attending the same
conference, have a friend who is living in Casablanca. After we found our
hotel, in the small labyrinth of a medina within a courtyard that reminded me
of ones on the Isle of Capri in Italy, he came and met us and showed us around.
We went to the 3rd largest mosque in the world
just in time to see the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean. I haven’t seen the
Atlantic Ocean in years. I still can’t help repeating the same thought I have
every time I see the Atlantic Ocean from this side of the world: just over that
ocean is home. The sunset and the mosque were just breathtaking. The mosque is
so large that Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral could fit inside. Apparently it has
heated floor tiles, a sun roof, and a view of the ocean through the flooring of
the basement. It was too late in the day to go inside for a tour and we needed
to leave too early in the morning the next day to go back, so this information
is all just here say.
The friend, Sharif, then took us the popular main area of
the city, where we took a long walk along the beach. Apparently the wind off of
the Atlantic makes the temperature by the beach so cold that locals ‘turn their
back to the beach,’ and refuse to live next to it. The beach is completely
unmarred by the usual cacophony of a beachside area.
The locals everywhere are so different as well to their
Egyptian ‘neighbours.’ There are a lot more women walking around, at night,
alone, and without Muslim head coverings. The people also have more
stereotypical African features than Arab ones. We finished our walk and our
people watching, and found a great spot to sit and chill over a couple of
beers.
Sharif then drove us by all of the rest of the Casablanca
neighbourhoods. We got a great feel for the place. It seems like a really livable
city. Lots to do with a great feel to it.
We ended the day at a place called ‘Rick’s bar,’ a replica of
the same one from Casablanca. It was such a cool place. It looked just like the
movie (and played the movie on a loop to just help prompt your memory of the decor).
We had fantastic cocktails, conversation, and called it a night.
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