Casablanca

So...let me tell you a little bit about Casablanca....it is the largest city in Morocco and the 2nd largest city in Africa after Cairo. Casablanca has 7.5 million inhabitans while Morocco has 33 million. Morocco is one of three countries which has both the Atlantic as well as the Meditteranean sea (Spain and France are the other two). In all honesty...Casablanca is quite a dirty city...not a city i would visit again....but of course there are two musts when there (well, for me at least)....the Hassan II mosque and Rick's cafe....

Let me start with the Hassan II mosque....it took them 7 years to build this mosque (from 1986 to 1993) and it is the third largest mosque in the world after the mosque in Mecca and Medina. The Hassan II mosque is the biggest mosque a non-Muslim can visit and it has the tallest minarette...200m. The architecture of a mosque always has certain elements....a green roof (outside), a wooden roof stucture inside (beautifully carved), plaster (mixture of egg white and marbe powder), and the floor is mosaic....let me share some pics of the outiside of the mosque with you.....

Me infront of the Hassan II mosque

Hassan II mosque

The inside was huge....it can hold 20 000 people and 105 000 outside...amazing...the largest mosque in Mecca can hold 3 million and the second largest mosque in Medina can hold 1.7 million....the Hassan II mosque cost about $800 million to construct....

Interestingly, nearly all the material is from Morocco, with the sole exception of the imported white granite columns and the glass chandeliers (from Murano, Venice)....the marble is from Agadir, the cedar from the middle Atlasand the granite from Tarfraoute. Now let me share some pics from the inside....

The pillars inside the mosque

At th back of the mosque facing forward

All the paintings inside the mosque are either flowers, calligraphy or geometric...it is not allowed to be human or animal...further information...sorry if this blog is a little info overload...the problem is...i need to write it down somewhere, otherwise i will forget....On top of the minaret there are normally balls, either 1,2,3,4 or 5.....what is the meaning:

-1: one individual has built the mosque

-2: many individuals have built the mosque

-3: the government has built the mosque

-4: a Muslim from another country has built the mosque

-5: the king has built the mosque

Before i continue my visit through the mosque let me share some facts about the Muslim culture with you....well...if you are not interested...skip ahead...i just always find it interesting to learn about different cultures and things...in actual fact...im a little bit of a nerd, i always carry scrap paper and pen so that i can write down facts that i learn...hahaha....so...back to my point...some basic facts that i learnt while seeing the mosque...there are 5 pillars in Islam....

1. Allah is the only God and Muhammed is his chosen prophet

2. You must prey 5 x a day

3. You must fast during the month of Ramadan

4. A Muslim has to give 2.5% of his income to the needy

5. A Muslim must make a pilgrimage to Mecca

After seeing the Hassan II mosque, the guide showed us the Haman, this is visited once a week. It is where the Morrocan's cleanse their bodies. Normally there are three rooms...the first one is very hot, around 48C, there you smear yourself with black soap, the next room is around 38C and it is the shower....the last room is a cooling room, around 22C and there the Moroccan's catch up and gossip.

We were also shown the area where the Muslims wash themselves before they prey....both the washing area as well as the Hamans are situated below the mosque....

Baths under e mosque

Washing area under the mosque

I must say...i learnt quite a lot...and yes...i did find it interesting....of ourse the other must for me was visiting Rick's Cafe....famous of course from the movie Casablanca...yes, i know..the film was not actually filmed there...but it is a replica....

Rick's Cafe

So, kim and i entered...and we felt a little under-dressed...white table clothes etc...but then we realised most people were dressed in casual attire...so we felt ok....we sat at one of the tables and felt like we wer e transported back into the 40's....so cool...what a unique atmosphere...even the bar and Grand Piano was like in the movie....of course i had to sit at the Grand Piano....and so did kim....

Me at the Grand Piano

Kim at the Grand Piano

And i must say...the food was good...i did not want to order the traditional tajine because it was lamb based...so i opted for the fish skewers while kim went for lamb...sides we ordered parmesan criusted tomatoes and fries, steamed veggies and saffron rice with raisins....dessert...dont forget...the apple tarte with ice-cream, we loved that....thin and crispy and apples gooey....

Foodies

Apple tart dessert

Overall verdict on Casablanca...definitely not something that I would say you have to visit...i can say seen-it done-it, not again and i also would not recommend....but i dont regret having seen it...then again..i dont regret any places so far....but this...apparently Morocco has nicer areas..but even for me Marrakesh was not wow wow....so i honestly do not think that ill go back to Morocco....

 

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