This was an unplanned visit. Shortly before leaving for my trip, I got an email that my flight to Casablanca was pushed back 20min but then the flight out of Casablanca was canceled. Heading to Dakar, Senegal, the next flight available was late at night, so I now had an 11hr layover. No way was I sitting in the airport for 11 hours. I flew through passport control and went down to the train station to ride into the city.
I was instantly impressed with how clean and modern the central train station was on my arrival.
Even more impressive were these solar-powered recycling bins that crush the stuff inside when full, using solar power, plus they also create a wifi hotspot and have a charging port for your phone.
I walked a lot. Through the small streets and the main shopping district, I meandered only semi-planning the direction.
The classic Rialto theater was awesome.
This café would be forced to change its name if located in Europe or the U.S. It’s too bad that what was once a reference to an interesting Egyptian god can’t be used any longer.
From here, I headed to Veggie, the only vegetarian restaurant in Casablanca. The staff were super friendly, and they had tons of great options. I ordered this marinated tofu & rice dish. The sauce recipe called for a whole bottle of soy sauce, I think. I like salty foods, but it was hard to swallow. The brownie for dessert was so good that it was gone before I thought to take a picture.
From here, more walking, heading toward the coast.
I think I passed the double parking world championships on the way there.
Look at these cars!
I arrived at the Hussein II mosque, which has the tallest minaret of any current mosque in Africa (Algiers, Algeria will open in 2020 and be the largest mosque anywhere outside Saudi Arabia).
It was definitely a tourist site, but the doors were closed. I didn’t see the inside at all, which was a letdown.
From here, I walked along the coast in a less direct but more interesting path back toward the train station.
I saw this old fort
And then this organized chaos at the port.
I ended back at the central station and caught the train to the airport at sundown. I had a good visit to a city I didn’t think I’d see on this trip.
