Blogs from Casablanca, Grand Casablanca, Morocco, Africa - page 8
April 7th 2007
As much as I wish we could say we found Humphrey and Ingrid in Casablanca, I think we're some decades and a reality away. We did, however, find the third largest mosque in the world. This was actually our only reason for stopping in Casablanca since we had heard the city itself was a dirtier and less charming Rabat. From our walks between the train stations and the mosque, with the exception of a few nicer streets, we found this statement to be pretty accurate. The Hassan II Mosque is quite stunning; King Hassan II, who was inspired by the verse from the Quran that states God's throne was built upon the water, developed the idea for this mosque right on the ocean and made the project his crowning achievement. The guided tour (the only ... read more
March 12th 2007
Mohammed veste djellabah e tarboosh ma dentro è tanto occidentale quanto la comitiva di Inglesi pallidi cui mi sono accodato per errore ad Algeciras. Siamo a Ceuta, enclave Spagnola in territorio Marocchino, e Mohammed è la nostra guida. È alto e di costituzione snella solo corretta da una vistosa pancia, chiaro segno di benessere economico. Porta i baffi e un paio di occhiali da sole fumè da pappone anni ’70. Io odio le gite organizzate in genere e le guide in particolare. Per norma generale, alla seconda o terza domanda imbarazzante, anche le guide odiano me. In realtà il Marocco non entrava nei miei piani di viaggio, ma a Cadice avevo scoperto che la nave per le isole Canarie salpa solo di mercoledì e che non v’erano posti disponibili fino alla settimana seguente. Mi ritrovavo così ... read more
March 12th 2007
Mohammed wears djellabah and tarboosh but inside is as westerner as the group of pale English tourists I have joined by mistake in Algeciras. We are in Ceuta, Spanish enclave in Moroccan territory, and Mohammed is our guide. He’s tall and of slim constitution only corrected by the presence of a round shaped belly, clear sign of economic well-being. He’s got thick moustaches and wears a pair of old “smoke black” sunglasses that makes him look like a pimp from the seventies. I hate organized tours in general and I hate tour leaders in particular. As general norm, After the second or third embarrassing question, guides hate me too. Truly enough, Morocco didn’t enter in my plans of travel, but in Cadiz I had discovered that the ship heading to the Canary Islands only sails on ... read more
Dakar via Yonkers and Casablanca
Published: March 10th 2007Africa » Morocco » Grand Casablanca » Casablanca
February 17th 2007
So I land at LaGuardia, with temperatures more frigid than they have been in years, with only a wrap sweater for warmth. (Who needs a coat in Dakar and Ouagadougou, after all?) After the flight landed, I conferred with S to discover that yes, in fact, the flight to Dakar was cancelled for some unknown reason and South African Airways didn't have another available flight till Monday. Some of the coldest weather on record, and I, am coatless and possibly, homeless in New York. After many sighs, some finagling and a pleasant chat through crosstown traffic with a fine Pakistani cab driver (Yasseen), S and I lament our fate over a buffalo burger and vodka tonics. She's coatless too. Rather than hang around watching DVDs and otherwise killing time till Monday, we decide to reroute through ... read more
February 16th 2007
Historically, the start of my adventures have been fraught with surprises; some of my own undoing, and for others, the airline was at fault. This time, it was Delta (again!) I get to the airport with time to spare. At check-in, the kiosk displays that my flight is "unavailable" (kiosk-speak for cancelled, I later learn) and offers me another some 12 hours later, when I'm supposed to be well on my way to Dakar. At the direction of a ticket agent, I head to a "black phone" to let someone know the flight is unacceptable. Thankfully, my connecting flight from JFK to Dakar was an evening flight. Since I was at National before 10:00 in the morning for my cancelled flight, I had ample time to spend-- * waiting in line to use the "black phone", ... read more
January 27th 2007
In plaats van de trein neem ik maar de bus, een stuk comfortabeler en sneller met een uurtje ben ik in Casablanca. Het hostel dat ik op het oog heb ziet er erg verpouperd uit, verder op zit nog een hotel, het is erg duur 350 RAM (35 EUR), maar goed ik voel me smeerig en heb geen zin verder om verder te zoeken, ik heb vier dqgen niet meer gedouched het wordt wel tijd voor een warme douche. De kamers zien er prima uit met een warme douche en een normale WC, TV en voldoende stopcontacten om alles eens bij te laden, das ook wel makkelijk en nu het toch al duur is laat ik maar gelijk mijn was doen, ik loop de stad wat in en drink een bakkie thee en eet wat voor ... read more
January 12th 2007
Nous sommes arrivés sains et saufs au Maroc après un voyage long mais sans encombre; départs et horaires respectés. M.Mohamed nous attendait à l'arrivée avec une pancarte, un sourire tout marocain et une bagnole neuve (disait-il) toute cabossée. Au fond tout est pour le mieux, nous n'aurons pas à nous préoccuper outre mesure de lui conserver son état neuf, puisque c'est déjà une histoire du passé. Tout compte fait c'est un "bazou". "You get what you pay for" La conduite automobile répond à peu près aux mêmes règles que chez nous, à cette nuance près que personne ne semble les respecter complètement: ce qui fait que les stops deviennent des ralentissements, les lignes délimitant les travées une médiane autorisant la conduite une patte de chaque côté et les clignottants une pure fantaisie des constructeurs atomobiles. Heureusement, ... read more
January 10th 2007
We arrived in Casablanca on a sunny afternoon, Boxing Day, after travelling 30hrs through France, Spain and on a very rocky boat across the Strait of Gibraltar. The city is expansive and modern, with white sky scrapers and cars. Cars, cars, cars, two million cars all madly beeping their horns. Their are donkeys and slums too, and all of them have satellite dishes or antennas. For us, its all a blur, weak legged from sitting so long and choking on the pollution we drive around forever before finding Sidi and Antoine and dropping our bags at the hostel. Then, we dove right into the Medina, to the shops and smells. We ate sunflower seeds, cracking the shells in our teeth and spitting them out. We took the car out of the Medina for ice cream near ... read more
December 27th 2006
Just a quick note to all, Merry Christamas!!! Im in Morocco, Casablanca after travelling through Spain and crossing the Strait of Gibraltar. Ate dinner in Valencia. WE plan to go to Agadir, Marrakesh, Rabat, Fes and Meknes by car and then back to Tanger. Will write more soon and taking lots of pictures.... read more
December 19th 2006
Guerres …pas saintes du tout La katyusha, ancien orgue de Staline, apparue en 1940 est délaissée au profit d’armes plus efficaces. Elle est devenue une star par la magie de managers farceurs. C’est l’arme du pauvre pour éliminer les pauvres. Dans un proche avenir, au moyen Orient, il n’y aurait plus de tuyaux de canalisation, ni sucre granulé a cause de leur intense utilisation dans ces engins de festival. Un peu plus a l’est, se sont les bicyclettes qui sont en voie de disparition a cause de leur recyclage. Durant l’affrontement Hezbolah-Israel, un jour, plus de trois cents katyushas ont été lancées, causant la mort d’une seule personne ,Arabe en plus, difficile a croire malgré la primitivité de l’arme et la présence de reporter étrangers. On aurait du, ce jour , arrêter le... read more
