Casablanca, Morocco (February 2024)

Casablanca is a port city and commercial hub in western Morocco, fronting the Atlantic Ocean. Its 3.5 million population speaks loudly of the significance of this mega city. This city's French colonial legacy is seen in its downtown Mauresque architecture, a blend of Moorish style and European art deco. 

We all arrived at Casablanca before we moved to Rabat where the Gate 1 Tour began. We arrived here because the tour ended here. Unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Yoon's plane landed else where due to a bad weather. They ended up arriving late to join us in Rabat.

So, we were only part of the group before they joined us in Casablanca.

After we arrived at Casablanca with Gate 1, we did a city tour. One of the first places we visited was a cathedral. Again, Morocco promotes its image of tolerating other religions. The stain glass windows were beautiful and impressive.

I happened to spot a Korean market nearby the cathedral. But it was almost empty.

We also visited a few other places in the downtown area, including La Plaz Mohammed V Square, and Justice Court. 

Many people who are not familiar with Morocco think of the movie Casablanca when they hear of Casablanca. In French and Spanish, Casablanca means "white house." The movie Casablanca, featuring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, was not filmed in Casablanca, but the story was of Casablanca. Humphrey Bogart, who acted as an American Rick, owned a cafe, called Rick's Cafe. There is indeed Rick's Cafe in Casablanca, which attracts many tourists because of its name. Without a reservation, you cannot even enter the cafe. 

We chose to visit a different cafe nearby, the Mood's, and we enjoyed the company, as well as good coffee and delicious food. 

The most famous landmark in Casablanca is the enormous Hassan II Mosque. It was completed in 1993 and is one of the largest and tallest mosques in the world with its 210-meter minaret. It took them six years (1987-1993) and cost them $800 million. The mosque can house a total of 105 thousand worshippers, 25 thousand inside and 80 thousand outside. We spent a good amount of time around and in the mosque.

The farewell dinner was wonderful. The singer was entertaining and all were dancing around the tables. We all shared the same sentiment that this tour was one of the highest-value programs we have experienced. 

Morocco had been on our bucket list for a while and we were glad that we can now cross it. 

Before we parted, we took the last group photo at the hotel. Farewell friends!

 Many were returning home, but we were heading to Europe. Malaga, Spain, next. - Jeffrey