http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Morocco , Grand Casablanca en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:00:21 BST Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:00:21 BST HiNun bin ich schon seit fast 4 Wochen hier in Casablanca und habe mich schneller als anfangs geglaubt an das marokkanische Alltagsleben in dieser teils extrem chaotischen aber interessanten Stadt gewhnt.Relativ schnell hrt man auf sich ber diverse marokkanische oder afrikanische Eigenheiten zu wundern und sieht es als normal an tagtglich am Weg zum Bro 8spurige Boulevards ohne Ampeln im http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-303968.html Essaouira le 13 et 14 juillet...Nous voil Essaouira pour une journe. Le trajet de 4h en bus fut assez difficile pas de clim chauffeur fou et odeur nausabonde ils distribuaient des sacs plastiques pour soulager l'estomac des passagers.... L'arrive fut tout aussi dsagrable vendeurs et rabbateurs nous ont presque littralement sauts dessus. Cela dit une fois poses dans notre petite http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-301039.html Hi I hope all is well. I made it to Morocco safely. I had a 5 hour lay over in Paris and decided to take the train into the city for lunch. My smile was huge walking the streets of Paris and I had a yummy panini in the Latin Quarter area which is surrounded by little shops and beautiful old architechture. What a lovely place Paris is. My smile evaporated when I went into my purse to find my http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/blog-300581.html I arrived in Morocco YayGot a ride in a shuttle van to my hotel arrived to get some real sleep at about 3am. Ahhh.Beth came up to meet me later that morning she flew into Marrakech we were off to explore Casablanca. It's essentially a town of grey buildings white taxis. The medina city center with shopping food living spacesenclosed by a wall was oklots of cheap clothes i saw s http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-299595.html Was mein erster Gedanke war als ich erfahren hatte dass ich einen Job in Casablanca Marokko bekommen hatte Gedacht hatte ich mir eigentlich ziemlich viel nur hatte ich nicht einen Bruchteil einer Ahnung was mich erwarten wrde...Mit dem Namen dieser Stadt verbindet man ja relativ viel nur nicht was die Stadt eigentlich wirklich ist...Der gleichnamige Film an den die meisten vermutlich geda http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-294837.html Casablancasounds so romantic. You must remember this a kiss is just a kiss a sigh is just a sigh... We will remember this Not because of a kiss or a sigh but because of the filth and deceit. We all agreed that this was our least favorite port for a number of reasons.Several of us took the shuttle from the ship into the center of town. We were hoping that we could negotiate a tour similar http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-287694.html Casablanca ist ziemlich wie ich es mir vorgestellt habe. Breite Strassenschluchten durch den sich eine sthlerne Lawine zwngt umsumt von kleineren Lden in denen es verschiedenste Dinge zu kaufen gibt. An besseren Orten ist das eine oder andere Caf platziert mit Sicht auf die bewegende Szenerie oder in einen kleinen grnen Park. Alles scheint ein bisschen heruntergekommen nicht sehr gepflegt http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-271510.html This morning we got a taxi to the Cathedral. It is not being used any more but it has lovely stained glass windows. We climbed up the tower which was full of pigeon poo. At the top we could see the sea and the whole of the city.Then we walked through the gardens and round the art deco part of the city. We saw the market which was full of fish oysters fruit veges and dates.Then we had chicke http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-260701.html We got up at 4am and drove to Luton airport. We flew to Madrid and waited 3 hours for our flight to Casablanca. We arrived at 3.45 and got on a train to the city.On the train we met a man who used to play football in the Moroccan top league and then the 2nd division in Finland. He was very friendly.When we got off the train we caught a taxi to our apartment which has a great view of the Hassan http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-260700.html Very early tomorrow Daddy and I will be flying from Luton to Madrid and then on to Casablanca.We will be staying in an apartment right opposite the Hassan II mosque http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-259940.html Beginning of Trip Italy Switzerland Rome Bellano Milan Venice Lugano Swiss And then...Western Mediterranean Cruise So after the BelizeJamaica trip I went back to MN for 2 days. Enough time to do laundry repack head out again. This time...purely for holidayvacation One of my roommates Becky I started our journey mid Feb headed to Italy. We landed in Rome on Feb 15th. I have http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-255552.html Front desk guy drunk kook sitting in the shawarma shop eating good for nothing no woman no cry playing waiter joking bill my AMEX a million dollars huge clubs in Ain Diab first the lighthouse then the searchlight drunk stopped traffic throwing rock at bouncer. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-255223.html Leaving the Spanish enclave of Melilla early this morning also meant leaving behind the ability to clearly communicate as I speak no French or Arabic. Nonetheless I was able to navigate my way from the frontier to Nador the closest town then on to Taourintm the closest train station through a series of buses and taxis. It was important that I get to Marrakech by tomorrow to meet Dylan and I http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-254873.html The walk to the train station took no time at all and we bought the tickets with no problems. The train was comfortable even in second class it puts Englandrsquos trains to shame. We arrived in Casablanca slightly early and were the absolute last people to get off the train.We deliberately chose a hotel near the station so that we wouldn't waste the day looking for a place to stay. Unfortunatel http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-253511.html My trip began on January 25th 2008 a month after finishing college in upstate New York. I had through several unfortunate and uncontrollable occurrences failed to apply in time for the job I had been coveting and so decided to take the opportunity to travel for as long as I possibly could. The goal is to travel for a year using up most of my savings then return in time to apply for the JET http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-252762.html We had a break between the time when our intensive Spanish classes ended and before our regular classes began. At the beginning of the break our program took us to Sevilla for two days. That was a lot of fun and we saw all the sights in Sevilla including the third largest cathedral in the worldmdashway cool. Irsquom beginning to different types of architecture more and more.After our Sevil http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-248030.html Rabat and Casablanca got placed on our agenda not so much because we wanted to see them as much as they were in our way their positions on the Atlantic making them unavoidable if we wanted to follow the coast road south. Both turned out to have their own interest or are we simply interestable making them worth the few days we spent in each.Rabat was the logical place to meet the coast on way http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-242839.html Bonjour from Mohammedia We have travelled only 25 km north from Casablanca but we in a totally different environment. The bus trip here was also very different and fun The hostel in Casablanca was centrally located and clean it was very damp and cold. Lucky me I got the flu fever chills the whole nine yards. So we decided to leave. Mohammedia was recommeded to us by the hostel guy so http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Mohamm-dia/blog-242168.html We arrived on Jan 28 to Casablanca. It is warmer than NY and TO but certainly not scorching it is a little damp being winter here. I apologize for the short entry but I am using a keyboard that has arabic on it so it is a little different to type on. Casablanca is huge and very busy. We are staying in the Old Medina which is the old part of the city. We have attached a few photos today. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-240761.html So we have all heard of Casablanca. Humphry Bogart running a bar in French Morocco and hanging out with the expats. Its a sultry image a stylish and cosmopolitan enclave in Africa. In reality Casablanca is nothing like its Hollywood image. But then again what isReallife Casablanca is the largest city in Morocco although not its capital Rabat and as such it is a busy and sprawling city wit http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-239499.html From Ceuta where the ferry dropped us off we made our way down towards the Moroccan border Ceuta is a Spanish enclave in Africa on the ferry lots of guardia civil from the mainland to give security to the Spanish king who happen to be there when we arrived crossed into Morocco without a hitch took about couple hours then off to Tatouin where we stopped to shop for dinner. Set up tent at a bush http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-219244.html October 17. Keith steps out of his box all the way to Africa. For this trip he has not bought the tourist guide book for Morocco nor has he done his usual planning. There is a meeting at the plant in Casablanca he goes with his colleagues puts all his trust in them I'm not invited to this location it is a business trip after all. He tells me that Casablanca was more populated than he ha http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-218770.html It is strange to be in this country just to be. I know that I have left the US. And I know that I am here with my sister. But where is here and how long will I be thereI arrived in Casablanca under cover of night last night. It is strange to fly into a new place at night because the lights give you very little sense of the dimensions and textures and setting of a place. In this case howev http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-210630.html From the air Casablanca looks a lot like Sacramento the surrounding region of lines angles and intersections making up a patchwork farm area resembles the same quiltlike agricultural area that encompasses. I came at the best time of day dusk when you can stare right at the sun as it sets in the dusty Saharan sky. The first part of our drive through farmland and occassional suburban sprawl http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-200371.html I spent the next week traveling north to Casablanca Rabat Fez and Meknes. True to its name Casablanca is full of white buildings and houses. The only thing really worth seeing according to the guide books is the Hassan II mosque. Itrsquos the third largest mosque in the world. It was funded by the Muslims of Morocco designed by a French architect and built by 35000 pairs of hands over http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-195867.html Our second day in Casablanca began much the same way the first day ended lackluster. Having envisioned an exotic port of call in advance of our arrival Gina and I found the dated sprawling metropolis to be a better poster child for needed gentrification than a tourist destination. A thorough scouring of the Lonely Planet yielded only a handful of possibly interesting sites that we figured co http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-193044.html KeesOur arrival the African continent was surprisingly problem free. Riding bikes off the ferry was smooth. We had our pp's stamped in the boat at the back who knows why maybe part of King Mohammad VI's liberal reform package and by passed all the security a whole lot of cars then rode through the gates and into the chaos and mess of Tangier so no worries. Our expectations of conserva http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-192429.html Newtonrsquos First Law For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Unfortunately Gene and I would learn this the hard way we were bound to make a return trip on the same crammed six seater train car to Casablanca. While Gene and I thought ourselves lucky to be assigned the two window seats next to the air conditioning vent we quickly determined otherwise as Gene sat elbow http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-191373.html Hi allUnfortunately travelblog had some server problems and some of my blog entries were lost They are working to fix the problem so hopefully I will not have to reload everything. I am in Morocco now after 3 days in the airport My flight out of Uruguay was delayed so I missed all my connecting flights and had to wait for 1 day in Buenos Aires and 2 days in Madrid But I am finally here. I w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-191096.html