Casablanca

After Fez, we drove to Casablanca, and it was SOOOOO stressful!!! This city of over 4 million, at night when we arrived, with NO CLUE how to find our hotel and mega mega traffic. We could not find any road maps of Morocco, and - we couldn't get a GPS when we rented our car, so - we'd already done plenty of stopping and asking for directions - just roll down the window and ask someone on the side of the road! Well, once in Casablanca, at a stoplight - we noticed that a taxi was in front of us, so - I jumped out of the car and asked the taxi driver if he knew where our hotel was (I had all the hotel information, which our travel agent in Spain had arranged for us), and he knew, so - we paid him to follow him to our hotel. Matt did a GREAT job of driving us around Morocco, even with other drivers butting in - Matt kept up with the taxi driver. So, we find our hotel, and - were really disappointed. Up until then - all of our hotels (not many, as we stayed with friends in Spain) were good, but this one was NOT. It was in the middle of the city - and - if you go to Casablanca, you HAVE to stay by the ocean. So, not only was it in the middle of the city, but next to a loud train station. Stuart thought that was pretty grand, but - I didn't, so that night, at least we had good internet, and I researched other hotels, and, the next morning, we drove to our NEW hotel, which is FABULOUS. I'm writing this blog entry from the lobby. So, we spent yesterday on the beach - the kids loved looking for seashells and making sand castles. It's too cold (mid fifties, low sixties) to swim (although I did see a crazy person swimming), but the beach is still nice and lots of people out playing and lounging. There are people giving pony rides, playing soccer, even surfing (in wet suits). Most of the women in Morocco cover their heads, but do not wear the burka/chador. They use just a scarf and cover their hair and also have the scarf (I believe it's called a hajib or hijab?) tied around their necks, too, so you cannot see any hair or neck area. So, we LOVE this hotel, it's totally decked out Moroccan style, and last night we went to this restaurant that wasn't AS cool as the Moroccan restauarant in the Medina in Fez, but - it was close. The walls, ceiling, floor are all in mosaic, SO beautiful. A specialty dish I've had here is called "pastilla" and it's spiced chicken and vegetables in a pastry with powdered sugar. I love it!! So, our room has a balcony, overlooking the ocean, which is just great. Today, we spent the day at the Morocco Mall. I'm told it's the biggest mall in Africa. Back in the USA - I avoid malls, but here, well, being able to find anything you need in one place is just great and something that I didn't know I'd miss until I went without. AND - malls are great for kids - plenty of space, the food courts with so many choices, and I can't believe I'm going on and on about malls, but - your perspective changes when you are in a totally different environment. Well, this mall's "kiddie section" makes the kiddie section at the Topeka mall seem "third world". This Morocco Mall has the most amazing kiddie section, seriously, we spent like 3 hours there. It was an amusement park indoors, all kinds of great carnival-like rides, cheap and wonderful. AND - also an aquarium. Back at the hotel, I met this woman from Libya, who doesn't speak English or French, but - she was really nice and determined to kiss Stuart. That is definitely a cultural difference, strangers kissing your children. They're getting used to it now, I suppose. A woman in the bathroom at McDonalds in Rabat (capital of Morocco, we passed through on our way to Casablanca) was really trying to plant one on Paloma in the women's bathroom. Paloma wasn't too keen on smootching with the stranger in the W.C. Tonight, we got to briefly Skype with my dad and Matt's parents, and - the woman who was kissing Stuart walked by and I got to "introduce" her to Matt's parents, via Skype, so funny! She didn't understand me, but - came to the camera and tried to say hello - from Libya to Kansas, via hotel in Casablanca - the world is getting smaller. Tomorrow we head back to Brazzaville. It's been a great trip. I highly recommend Morocco for anyone looking for an interesting place to visit. It has beautiful beaches, ancient cities, amazing handicraft, great food, mountains, desert, very kind people, great architecture, and - is Muslim, which is interesting. We passed many a mosque and heard the call to prayer, so pretty. And, there are direct flights to Casablanca from NYC - so - it is quite do-able. And, so close to Europe, you can parlay it into a trip to Spain, as we did. So we didn't get to do safari in E. or S. Africa, oh well, very happy we came to Morocco. Shukrun. ("thank you" in Arabic).