Bonjour Morocco!

Morocco was on my bucket list for a long time. I was always amazed by its Arabic architecture but didn’t get further from exploring it on the internet. Until now.

Upon my return from Brazil, I started making plans for the next trip and this African country was in the back of my mind. I “booked” the dates for end-of-April holidays with colleagues at work and then started to explore my options.

The more I searched, the more appealing Morocco seemed…

Immediately after buying an airplane ticket from Venice to Casablanca I ordered my travel companion a.k.a. Lonely Planet travel guide. Since both of my backpacks were damaged on my last trip, I needed to buy a new as well. New rucksack seemed surprisingly small but I was determined to take only as much stuff with me, as it would fit into it. Excluding cameras, cameras have their own bag – I did go on a 10-day trip you know ?

Time flew by and the day of my departure finally arrived. I packed all stuff an hour before leaving to the airport. No wonder I forgot my travel plan at home… Fortunately, I have saved most of the sights in google maps, meaning no harm was actually done.

Speaking of Google Maps…

What I also realized just before departure was, that offline maps are not available for Morocco. “Whaaat?!  How will I find anything?!” was the first thought that went through my mind. This option really was a life savior (or better said, leg savior, since it did save me a lot of unnecessary walking) on last trips. I really could not imagine traveling without it anymore. It seemed that I will have to practice my French (which I don’t speak at all – “merci” from the same-named chocolate obviously doesn’t count). I might write my next post in French or even Arabic! Note to self: don’t be too optimistic about it ?

The train that was supposed to take me from the airport to the city center left right in front of my nose (at 11.45 p.m.). Fortunately, I was not the only one left at the station. After sharing a cab with two local girls I arrived at the hotel approximately one hour after landing in “The Western Kingdom”.

Exploring Casablanca’s top sight

I got up early today to visit the Hassan II mosque. The holy building, that can accept up to 25.000 worshippers, rises above the ocean. I was surprised how clean the mosque was, even though it gets numerous visitors per day. The tour guide told us, that all income from admission goes to the employees, who clean and maintain the mosque, so in my opinion, the entrance fee is acceptable.

After the visit of God’s throne (the Quran says that God’s throne is just above the water, so it basically describes Casablanca’s top sight) I headed to the train station. My visit to Casablanca was short but sweet and now I am on my way to the city, that is only a train ride away. See you soon, Marrakech!

Thank you so much for reading!

Love,

Read also: The Pink City of Marrakech