Casa Blanca, Morocco: Mosques and Malls

Hassan II Mosque in Casa Blanca

The imposing door of Hasan II Mosque: Person for scale

I've been in DC a few days, but the feeling of Morocco is still fresh (perhaps preserved by the cold weather here in March). It was a short vacation; just 6 full days in Morocco, but enough to shift gears by being immersed in something wholly different from the Washington, DC and the US. The trip in Morocco ended with a very Moroccan encounter. Throughout the trip it was clear that speaking French (one of the official languages of Morocco) could get a person a long way. Our taxi driver to the airport was the first person to state it explicitly. In Morocco there are three price tiers: One for English speakers, a second for French speakers and a third for Arabic speakers.  I've traveled enough to know this is a type of norm; it's easier to navigate a country and relate to the people if you speak the language. When we left the hotel, we were told the taxi ride to the airport from the hotel would be 250 Moroccan Dirhams ($25). As we arrived at the airport, I handed the taxi driver 300 Moroccan Dirhams to cover the ride and a tip. He looked at me for a moment and said, "Perhaps for my sister the ride would be 250 Dirhams, but for you, at least 300." Just because you understand the system, doesn't mean you can escape it.

Me amidst the tiles of Hassan II Mosque

I enjoyed my trip to Morocco. It's a privilege to wander a city like Tangier that was once home to Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Moors, French, and the melting pot it is today. I would recommend that a friend take the time to spend a few days in Tangier, a few days in Fez, Casa Blanca and Marrakesh. Air travel to Morocco was easy flying into Casa Blanca and the trains run smoothly (and air conditioned) throughout the country.  I had to remind myself that the rapid growth of Morocco's tourism industry. In 2010, the country welcomed 10 million tourists a year, that number jumped to 14 million by 2014 and the government hopes to attract 20 million tourists by 2020. Basically a traveler should be savvy about travel and open to a non-western culture. It also helps to realize there are not standard rules of how to treat tourists. For example, the day we arrived in Casa Blanca, we went to pick up a taxi from a line of taxis lined up outside a huge tourist destination, the Hassan II Mosque. The guide book said never to pay more than 5 euros for a ride within the city. The first taxi driver wanted the equivalent of 10 euros for a short taxi ride. When we refused to pay that sum and walked away, literally 10 taxi drivers followed us down the street saying they would drive us for less (even for free!).  We walked a few blocks away to find a cab driver in a quiet neighborhood. We asked how much the ride would be, he pointed at the meter and looked at us like we were crazy for asking how much a taxi would cost.  Yet the next day, desperate for a taxi in a down pour,  not a single taxi had a meter out in their taxi, even when asked.

A view of the mall from inside the aquarium

Casa Blanca gets a bad name on other travel websites and in the guidebook. Perhaps because it's not picturesque like Tangier or Fez or Marrakesh. It's a large metropolitan city with a metro area of 9 million people.  The example is typified by the fact that our first night in Casa Blanca we ate Turkish food and then got a 60 minute Thai style massage by Thai masseuses.  It rained heavily our first morning in Casa Blanca so we went to an anthropologist's favorite place to study culture: The Mall. The Morocco Mall is the largest indoor mall in Africa. It contains the usual stores, plus a "luxe" area with huge monuments to Gucci, Fendi, and Louis Vuitton. Probably the most alluring feature is a 1000 liter aquarium in the center of the mall; I paid the $2 to ride the elevator that runs through the center of the aquarium. The food court overlooks the ocean, so anyone who can make it to the mall can enjoy their pizza (or tangine) with a view of the crashing waves.

The mosque from a distance

From the wall we walked the 5 miles of coastline back to our hotel. Casa Blanca has a well developed beach scene.  Close to the mall there is lots of deserted beach with a few surf shops. A good 2 mile portion of the walk was along the Corniche, an ocean side boardwalk lined with hotels and resorts. Eventually the Corniche ends, and the side walk deteriorated into broken concrete along side a busy road. But we walked the whole expanse, all the way back to the Hassan II Mosque which has a huge plaza that abuts the seaside. The Hassan II Mosque was built in 1993 by the previous king and named for himself. It is the 2nd largest mosque in the world with a capacity for 80,000 worshipers.  In the evenings, locals lounge around the plaza, on the benches and many levels of stairs surround the mosque. The sheer size of the building, the number of fountains, and the millions of tiles used in the detailed tile work is awe-inspiring. I've seen a person sized incense burner swing in a cathedral, and just the outside of the mosque made me marvel at the things humans will do to honor God (and garner the respect of fellow humans).

The night before leaving Casa Blanca, I engaged the in the Russian nesting doll activity of watching the movie Casa Blanca about Rick and his cafe while drinking cocktails in Rick's Cafe in the old Medina of Casa Blanca.