Casablanca
Casablanca was our home for the week! Our first exposure to Africa, this city was unique, lively, and had the craziest drivers I have ever seen in my life. Seriously, Moroccans don't follow street signs or use their common sense while on the road but it seems to work out okay for them?! They have round-a-bouts everywhere but what is supposed to be a round-a-bout for maybe 3 or 4 lanes of cars is instead for 7 or 8 or as many can fit?! Nobody follows the lane signs and nobody uses the round-a-bouts the way they are supposed to be used. Multiple times, I saw a car on the inner-most lane of the round-a-bout (far left lane) who wanted to turn right but instead of getting over to the outer-most lane (far right line) to make the turn, they would just turn from the left lane and cut off six... seven... eight other cars..........HUH???!!? And I should mention that roads in Morocco are not strictly for cars; mixed in with cars are motorbikes, bicycles, horses, and people walking ...? As a reader I'm sure you can't even imagine what I'm describing right now! Basically, the most illogical driving there is but it seems to be working because I did not see a single accident my entire time there.
"You're going to Morocco?!?!? Aren't you worried about your safety??" Getting past the crazy driving... short answer: No. Not at all! It turns out that Moroccans LOVE Americans. (This was a nice change from the general response you get when you tell Europeans that you're from the states!) We got to talk to some locals at Habous and at Old Medina (both places described below). It was a bunch of, "I just sent my mom there!" "I drive taxi in NYC when it's warm and come back here for the winters!" "I'm saving up to bring my family there!" One time, this guy tried to convince me, an American, that the U.S. was the *best* country on the planet. Hmmm... sure, if you say so! The U.S. and Morocco have always had a good relationship, dating back to the 1700s when Morocco was the first country to recognized the U.S. as an independent nation, and this has to be a huge part of why Moroccans loooove Americans.
We spent a lot of time on our first day in Casablanca at Habous, a neighborhood in the city with a cute and picturesque market. You barter for everything you buy, which was fun, overwhelming, and sometimes a hassle! I made sure to take lots of pictures at Habous to capture the authenticity of this place -- you can swipe through some of my favorites above!
The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is breathtaking. Our tour guide informed us that it is the largest mosque in Africa and the third largest in the world! To no surprise, the largest two are in Mecca. It was built from 1987 to 1993 and is 689 feet tall! The mosque sits right over the Atlantic Ocean, can hold up to 25,000 people at once, and has a retractable roof... amazing. This was my first time visiting a mosque and it will be tough to top this one! More photos are below of the Hassan II Mosque.
We also got to spend some time walking around Old Medina, another market like Habous. It was similar in a lot of ways but one big difference I noticed was all of the knock-off designer stores at Old Medina like this Gucci store! The store owners will do their best to convince you that their products are real but then offer to sell you one of their purses for about 350 dirhams (about $35) ... something isn't adding up here (literally). It's hilarious, and you've gotta give them props for trying although I'm not sure whom they would actually fool!
Here's another photo from Old Medina of some paintings I really liked!
We made a stop at Moroccan Mall just to check it out! I would've bought a new pair of Birkenstocks there since they had prices starting at 280 dirhams (around $28) which is crazy cheap but of course they were all sold out in my size! I'm determined to find a bargain elsewhere before I head back to the states.... Anyway, I liked this shoe arrangement at the mall located outside of a few stores!
Lastly -- the FOOD. So good, so different! I had high expectations coming in; when my family was at Epcot years ago I remember falling in love with the food from the Morocco stop. The food in Morocco definitely didn't disappoint, although it's not what I remember Epcot's Moroccan food tasting like at all (Good try, Epcot.).
We went to a Moroccan restaurant and of course I had to try their daily special which happened to be calf feet on the day we were there (How proud, mom!?). I wasn't really sure what to expect, but knew I should give it a try -- who knows the next chance I'll have to! There really wasn't much flavor to it, but the texture was super slimy and gooey, like jell-o. Honestly, if you could get past the texture, most of the flavor from the dish came from the surrounding corn and chickpeas.
I ate Moroccan food that wasn't as bizarre as calf feet, too! Below is brochettes kefta, which is barbecued chopped beef patties. They were pretty good; there wasn't a very strong flavor but the meat was cooked perfectly. The summer vegetables were a nice touch.
On our last day, we went out to a seafood restaurant for lunch and ordered an assortment of seafood tapas. I'm not a huge seafood person, but I LOVED all of this. The fish was so fresh and I really liked the seasonings, which included a lot of lemon. It was impossible to get a good photo of all of the fish we tried since they kept bringing out one plate after another after another after another... oysters, shrimp, octopus, sardines, you name it! We also were given lots of sides: potatoes, rice, vegetables and bread with 3 different pastes. Morocco is seriously so cheap (for anyone looking to go on a inexpensive vacation...) and this feast ended up costing my 5 friends and I total around $132 total -- alcohol included (All 4 guys had multiple beers, I got the 1/2 wine and Rachael got the 1/2 sangria). SO CHEAP! And so fresh! 10/10 would recommend.
Since we were staying with one student's aunt and uncle, we got to eat lots of homemade food, too. This was my favorite meal: traditional Moroccan lamb with a salad, cooked vegetables, bread, and potatoes. It was all so yummy and so good to eat some homemade food for once!
Oh yeah, while we're talking about food... McDonald's is called McDo's in Morocco and they advertise their BigCheese and BigChili sandwiches. I tried to get a photo of a billboard we saw out of the car window. We stopped at a McDonald's and the menu was very similar to those in the states! I got a McChicken sandwhich and it tasted identical to home.
