How the other half -- the half with the King -- lives

Third-biggest mosque in the world.

What a wonderful day!

It was a rainy morning in Casablanca when we started out but, according to our tour guide Siad, the rain is desperately needed. I get that. Besides, what’s rain but just some water that will dry?

Our only stop in Casablanca this morning was at the third biggest mosque in the world. It was built by (and for) the current king and took fewer than 10 years to complete. I’ve never been in a mosque before and the lovely lady who was our guide gave us such good information on the mosque and on a few Islamic rituals. 

The mosque photo I've used on this post doesn’t capture the beauty and elegance of it. Needless to say, upon returning back to our van, we peppered Siad with a million more questions about the King and about Islam. He’s amazing at answering questions and I have to admit it makes me laugh when our driver Sameer pretends not to understand English and leaves Siad hanging. We said goodbye to Casablanca and started off on our journey to Rabat. Rabat is the capital city of Morocco and the parts we saw were simply beautiful. Wide boulevards. Manicured fig trees. No litter on the street. Everything fresh and green. It probably doesn’t hurt that the King lives in Rabat. Morocco is a monarchy with an elected government. Our guide has informed us that while it is a democracy, the influence of the King on the governing party is very heavy.

Our stop was at the mausoleum of two kings. In addition to seeing the mausoleum, we had a history lesson about the mosque beside and the original pillars from the first mosque that was destroyed by an earthquake.

Our next stop was delicious: my first mint tea with a traditional pastry, similar to baklava. So very, very good!

After we finished our tea, we went for a walk in the garden. Not much in bloom yet but I imagine it will be amazing once it is. And then it was time to say goodbye to Rabat and start the 2.5-hour drive to Meknes. Siad said our stop there would be like going back in time, so different than our stops in the modern cities.

Along the way to Meknes, we passed through farmland. Grapes, apples, oranges, wheat. The crops were vast and varied. I find it interesting Morocco produces wine but the citizens don’t openly drink it.

The longer bus ride also lulled many of us to sleep.

We arrived at Meknes and made our way to our riad located right in the Medina. I’m in awe; literally left speechless. Above are pictures of the foyer and my room. I’ve never stayed anywhere so unique before. The hotel manager said this riad is 600 years old but Siad said that wasn’t true — maybe 300 years. I’ve still never stayed in a 300-year-old place before! It’s been renovated so I have a flush toilet and hot water (thank you because my feet smell). I’m pretty sure I never want to leave here.

But, we did. Three of us went out for a quick walk in the Medina and ended up buying dates (hey, if that’s what I need to do to get a date.) Many things here are inexpensive because of an advantageous currency rate: CDN 100 = MAD 765. I bought a half kilo of dates to split and it cost me MAD20, or $2.65 Cdn! I can’t even glance at a fresh date for that price in Canada! While a few shops in the Medina were open, many were closed both due to the rain and the fact it’s Friday, the holy day in the Islamic religion. So we came back to the hotel and went to our rooms. But our evening wasn’t done yet. The whole day was amazing but the best part was having supper in the home of a local family. This beautiful woman cooked up a storm for us. Our starter was Moroccan soup (similar in characteristics to a minestrone). That was served with fresh dates and bread. Next were three tanjines: one beef with prunes, one chicken with quince, and one vegetable. A tanjine is a cone-shaped cooker that heats from a stovetop. The meal produced by them is tender and flavourful. That was followed by fresh fruit and then homemade cake and mint tea.

The company was delightful and the food was amazing. That lady can cook.

We had a great conversation with one of the sons who’s waiting to hear if he will be accepted as a police officer.

There’s nothing better than being welcomed into a local home and getting away from restaurants. And now I’m going to sleep — a deep, restful sleep in my beautiful riad room. Tomorrow will be a full day, so I need to be prepared! Goodnight from the Girl under the Meknes moon.