We finished in time for a tour of the Hassan II Mosque. It is said to be the third biggest in the world, and we believe it after seeing the gigantic space. People at one end of the prayer hall look like ants from the other end. It was built in the Twentieth Century on the Atlantic shore by the then king of Morocco and carries his name. It also has the world’s tallest minaret.
After the mosque we had a tour of the part of town that the French built for their bureaucrats, the Habous district, but is now the upscale section of town. We saw the Royal Palace and a nearby market where we sampled olives and pastries. The French were booted out in the fifties, but left their language behind, making it slightly easier for us to communicate. Back at the hotel we crashed until dinner.
Casablanca has a population of four million or so and is huge, with lots of cars and traffic. Giant flocks of satellite dishes have landed on the roofs of the city. It’s a European looking city and the people dress like Europeans except for some women in traditional Islamic gear. There are more headscarves than in Istanbul. The surrounding land is mostly flat and near sea level. The fields are all green with young crops, pastures have cattle, sheep and goats, and we saw one horse farm.
We leave in the morning for Marrakech.
The Atlantic shore and limestone bedrock for Casablanca, that's a French lighthouse on the right.
The Hassan II Mosque is built on the shore line in the 20th Century. It is the third largest in the world.
The central prayer hall has a moveable roof.
Marketplace-shoppers and arches.
There are surfers in the Atlantic by the mosque.
The aliens have landed and look just like satellite dishes. The dishes are for TV not internet.
Judy gets a henna tat.
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