Lesson 1, never learn to drive in Casablanca

---

On my third day in Morocco, we decided to visit Casablanca, known here only as Casa. Drivign into the city and its surrounding areas, I really began to feel and see the disparity between the wealthy and the poor. Although it exists in Rabat, it is much more noticeable in Casa because of its high population density and its title as Morocco's largest and busiest city.

And busy is it ever. I have never ever seen anything like Casa. From an outside looking in, there is chaos absolutely everywhere. Cars, motorcycles (never,ever any helmets), bikes, horses, donkeys, people, everywhere. It is probably one of the most difficult places to drive in the world because you always need to be on the lookout for everything. Pedestrians feel as though they have a right to cross the street, or even play soccer for that matter, in the middle of a busy avenue with cars speeding across. No one seems dazed about any of this except for me.

The main part of our day extended to visiting the Hassan II Mosque, which was built from 1987 to 1991 from a donation given from every single Moroccan. It is built on water, and is considered one of the most beautiful places in the world. I could not agree more. All I can say is wow. The attention to detail inside the mosque is absolutely incredible, and it even boasts a retractable roof. It definetely puts to shame the "retractable" roof of the Olympic Stadium in Montreal...

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving around Casa, along the Corniche, which is what they call their boardwalk. Originally, we had intended to spend the afternoon at the beach, but our tour of the Mosque got extended, and so we settled simply for cocktails overlooking the water.

Casa is a beautiful city, but I much preferred Rabat. Casa is extremely big, very loud, and with so much going on, itis very easy to get lost in all the confusion. As we drove back to Rabat, I even got to see the site where the actual movie "Casablanca" was filmed, but it has changed so much since the movie was filmed...

---

Comments

[Martine]

Where are you??
Cristina, t'es où??? xoxoxo