PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM!

We are in Casablanca at long last. We went down to the buses that were waiting for us to start our new adventure. This is one place we have not been before so we are very excited about what may lie ahead of us.

With an official population of over 3.1 million (not including the expansive slums), Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It's also the biggest city in the Maghre. Casablanca is considered the economic capital of Morocco because it is the heart of Moroccan business; the political capital is Rabat.
I would say that almost everyone on board was going ashore today. We all gathered in the Vista Lounge to wait for our turn to disembark.

This North African metropolis, largest city and industrial heart of Morocco, has direct access to the Atlantic Ocean through one of the world's largest artificial ports.

France occupied Morocco for the first half of the 1900s, leaving a legacy of language and architecture after its 1956 withdrawal. Revived by industrial growth and tourism, the city shows a thoroughly modern face, with little of the romance attached to it by the famous movie bearing its name.

The Hassan II mosque evokes exotic Casablanca. King Mohammed VI, who claims direct descent from the Prophet Muhammad, rules the 99 percent-Muslim nation of Morocco. There are approximately 1,300,000,000 Muslims world wide and 7% of these are Shiites.

If the Hollywood image of 'Casablanca' is important to you, prepare yourself for a shock when you first see Casablanca. The city is further away from Oriental romanticism than any other in Morocco, and Casablanca is a modern city — and beautiful in its own respect.

The centre of Casablanca is fairly impressive. It's brand new and modern, with big, lively boulevards, high, white, well-kept buildings. It's both clean and efficient. You could be anywhere in the world as most large cities look the same.

We were told that people visiting Casablanca as their first stop in Morocco could easily end up hating this place but we loved it with all of it's old world charm. I, for one, have always been fascinated with third-world countries and their different customs and cultures.

The city is modern in a Moroccan way, and an excellent example of Moroccans capacity of taking charge of the future of their country.

But as soon as you step out of the impressive centre of town, dark clouds cover the realities people here. Extreme poverty and prostitution only to be matched by Tangier is what you'll find without even looking for it. This street reminded me a lot of the souks I visited when I was in Egypt.

No other place in the country displays bigger differences between the haves and the have-nots. If anything in Casablanca should fit the Casablanca of Bergman and Bogart, it should be the old city. It's small, consisting mainly of smaller houses, which all seem to be from this century, and the alleyways dominating in other old cities, are rarely found here.

There are good markets everywhere and also many street vendors hawking their wares.

These gentlemen are selling bolts of cloth outside of their store on the street in front.

We drove along the streets and saw all sorts on interesting sights. To begin with, there were pigeons galore on the plazas. It made you feel as though you were back in Venice again!

I love to look at the people taking their morning coffee break. It doesn't matter where you are in this big world of ours, there's always time for rest and conversation with friends or co-workers.

These small "petit" taxis were everywhere just waiting to transport people through the traffic and to their destinations.

Our first stop was at a Roman Catholic Church. To be honest, since there is such a high Muslim population here, I didn't expect to find this.

When we left the church we went to the city hall. The building was magnificent. The Moorish influence in the architecture was breathtaking.

Once we got past this camera shy guard, we were free to look around. He wasn't at all happy about having his photograph taken.

These ladies were waiting for something but I'm not sure just what. I loved the way they were dressed in their traditional clothing.

We left here and started on our way to the Royal Palace. As you can see, it was a very long walk to get to the Palace, not unlike our walk in Tienanmen Square in China.

The place was spotlessly clean and there were women everywhere with their handmade brooms making sure that it stayed that way.

I have no idea what these two gentlemen were doing in the courtyard, but they looked as though they were about to do a Whirling Dervish dance!

The Palace's courtyards were really beautiful. Once again I was very impressed with the architecture.

When we left the Palace we went to the Mosque. We passed this old gentleman who was possibly carrying all his earthly possessions, so I snapped a quick shot of him from the bus.

The king of Morocco at the time, Hassan II, first mentioned the project of this mosque in 1980, declaring that he would build it on the water, because of the Islamic belief that the throne of God rests on water.

This mosque was designed by the French architect, Michel Pinseau, and has the tallest minaret in the world, which stands at 200 meters which is approximately 700 feet.

There is room for 25,000 worshippers inside the mosque at the same time, and the courtyard gives space for another 80,000. It was inaugurated on August 30, 1993. No one wears shoes inside for cleanliness purposes. When they pray, they put their heads on the floor, so you must leave your shoes outside.

It is the 3rd largest Mosque in the world. The mosque was funded by donations, and the total cost was an estimated US$800,000,000. The largest Mosque is in Saudi, Arabia. It can hold one and one half million people!
Women are only allowed on the second level to worship. That area holds 5,000.

They do not cover their faces, only their heads as an symbol of modesty. What a great way to avoid a bad hair day! The woman in black is a widow.

Frank had his head covered as well, but it was for an entirely different reason ;-)

I wanted him to dress like this man, but there was no time for him to shop.

The interior of the Mosque was exquisite with all the filligre work with it's unbelieveable detail. I was especially interested in the mosque as well as their religious beliefs since we studied Islam last year under the tutilege of Father Matkin at our church.

Contrary to most of the mosques in Morocco, this one does not say "Non-Muslims no entry", so we were able to tour the inside as well as the outside.

2,500 men worked on two shifts around the clock in order to complete the mosque of Hassan II. The marble used came from Agadir , the granite from Tafraoute, while the glass was imported from Venice. Once again I was fascinated by the inlaid floors.

Our tour took us past the prayer hall, ablution rooms and a bath house built according to traditional patterns. These fountains in the Purification room had running water which is believed to cleanse the soul.

The obligatory activities of the lesser form of purification include, beginning with the intention to purify oneself, washing of the face, arms, head, and feet. While some optional acts also exist such as recitation of the Basmala, the washing of the mouth, nose at the beginning, and washing of the ears at the end.

From there we climbed this long stairway and went back outside. The steps were as steep as the ones in the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Thank goodness for hand rails!

We boarded our buses again and went back into the city after taking one last look at the sea. The tide was out so the beach wasn't as pretty as it usually is.

The best parts of the old city are made up of shopping areas, where all types of items are sold.

We noticed this group of Water Sellers who were visiting on the street and so we took a photograph of them. They usually wear red clothes with bells to attract attention and they sell fresh and cold water from a leather sack. They were very interesting looking and since this one posed for us, we assumed that photography was all right.

Then as we started walking away, he started chasing us . We didn't realize that we were supposed to pay him in order to take his photograph. Since we had no change, we ducked into a store to avoid a scene. Unfortunately he waited for us outside for what felt like forever.

He finally gave up and left so we felt like it would be safe to return to our bus. We kept our fingers crossed that we didn't run into him again!
Once we were back on the bus, we passed Rick's Cafe, the one that Humphrey Bogart supposedly owned in the movie.

There was no Rick's Cafe at the time the movie was made. This place was built long after the movie was made and all it is now is a tourist trap. Rick’s Café in Casablanca is a restaurant, bar and café. It opened March 1, 2004. The place was designed to recreate the bar made famous by Bogart and Bergman in the movie classic "Casablanca".

One of the lines most closely associated with the film—"Play it again, Sam"—is a misquotation. When Ilsa first enters the Café Americain, she spots Sam and asks him to "Play it once, Sam, for old times' sake." When he feigns ignorance, she responds, "Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By," not Play it again, Sam.

It has been a long and tiring day but we wouldn't have missed it for the world. We're back on home ground now and that's good!

Our entertainment this evening was a vocalist. Her name is Jeri Sager and she sounded as good as she looked.

She has appeared on Broadway as the lead female singer in such musicals and Les Miserables, Evita and Cats. She sang great songs that we both love, told wonderful little stories about her stage experiences and thoroughly entertained us. It was one of those magical evening that you wanted to go on forever.
We're sailing back to Spain tonight, so it's time for bed. Until tomorrow,

XOXO, Pcasso