• Morocco, Spain, Rwanda + S.A.
    It was windy and overcast
    Sacre Coeur CathedralInside the cathedralIt did rain for a bitIt clear why locals call it "Pigeon Square"A woman selling bird feedStreet vendor making us a snackThe secret sauce? Moroccan Nutella, a mixture of almonds and honey1Yum!In the art deco French areaImpressive display from a street vendorClock towerGates to MarakeshWhere in orange territory1SynagogueSome entertainmentMosqueSynagogueChurch42Rick's Cafe recreation2Saw lots of stray cats

    Hello, Casablanca!

    February 13 in Morocco ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

    Following a good overnight flight, we arrived in Casablanca mid morning and transferred to our hotel by noon. Not surprisingly, our room wasn’t ready so we decided to hang out in the lobby in the hopes that one would be ready soon. We were fortunate and by 1 o’clock we were in a room and able to take a short nap before joining a Guru Walk at 3:45.

    Morocco was ruled by France from 1912 to 1956. As a result, there is evidence of that period in the architecture as well as the sidewalk cafés. French is also the second official language after Moroccan Arabic..

    Our guide Yahya led six of us (a couple from Australia, another from Spain and us) . We started out from Sacre Coeur Cathedral and visited The Arab League Park, Mohammed V Square, known as pigeon square to the locals as well as to numerous other sites.

    Our tour ended at Rick's Café, inspired by the fictional café featured in the 1942 film "Casablanca" It opened in 2004 and was designed to recreate in reality the set of the bar made famous by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. It’s a tourist trap and we had no desire to go in.

    Following the tour we had a light dinner at our hotel and relaxed after a full day.    Read more