More Casablanca and joining our tour

Another relaxed breakfast time and then off to the Hassan II Mosque, the third largest in the world. We had a guided tour which was rich with stats. It took six years and 2,500 workers to complete and is built on landfill. It can accommodate 25,000 inside, 80,000 outside. At 200 metres long, a hundred metres wide, 65 metres high the dimensions total 365, the number of days of the year.

Its marble and granite are from Morocco while its 57 chandeliers are from Murano, Italy. It has a heated floor, a retractable roof and 360 speakers. The lower level hall for washing before prayer has 350 taps, 58 small fountains but no towels. Mind blowing.

The mosque is situated on the Atlantic Ocean and at the start of the city’s corniche/waterfront. It was sunny and about 16 degrees Celsius, perfect for walking its four kilometres.

From there we meandered back to our hotel through the old Medina to rest before meeting our G Adventures National Geographic Journeys tour leader and fellow travellers for a meeting about the two weeks ahead.

At the meeting, we learned our leader is from Morocco’s Atlas Mountains and has been a leader for about a decade. Our travel companions are two other Canadian couples, two couples and a single man from the U.S. and a woman from Switzerland. (Good to have Switzerland in the mix😉)

We went to dinner with the leader and the singletons at a traditional Moroccan restaurant. The other travellers took a pass since we’re on the road tomorrow from 7:15 a.m.Read more