Casablanca to Marrakech
3April 25, 2013 by oceangirl821
We docked in Casablanca. Unlike what you’re probably thinking, it’s actually a big, dirty, commercial city. Nothing like the romantic notions the name might bring to mind. We headed straight to the train station to venture to more exotic parts of Morocco.
It was a small, easy to navigate train station. As we waited on the platform it filled up with half the people from our ship – LOL! That’s okay, Marrakech is a big place.
It was a 3-hour train ride and was standing room only with no air conditioning. It’s amazing how adaptable you become after experiencing so many different levels of cleanliness and comfort. People got on and off the train so we were able to get seats after the first hour and they even turned on a little AC for the last hour. Woo-hoo!
The scenery along the way was beautiful. We saw lots of orchards, cacti and wild flowers. The little villages we saw were very similar to those in Southwest U.S. in their architecture. Square terra cotta colored buildings made with clay from native red soil.
We took a taxi to our riad. (A riad is a small multi-story hotel with a courtyard in the middle that is open all the way to the roof.) The layout of the city was like spaghetti. We had to stop 3 times for the taxi driver to ask directions. We wound in and out of residential and business areas, down alleys then back to busy streets. The medina (the old part of the city) has a wall all the way around it. We went through several archways in the wall. We arrived at an open area with walls and alley entrances and he had me get out and follow him down an alley. We went down a narrow dirty alley, made several turns and finally came to a lovely facade that was completely unexpected.
The riad was beyond amazing. So beautiful. There were a total of 7 rooms on the first 2 floors. The top floor was the common area with seating nooks and a jacuzzi, then there was one more level that was just couches and lounge chairs – a little retreat. Oh, and Tofe, the resident tortoise – roaming around and stopping to eat his cucumbers.
Oliver, the owner, sat with us and we had fresh-squeezed orange juice and Moroccan mint tea. He circled places on the map for us to go and got us oriented to our location. We rested for a bit, used wifi (hallelujah!) and Skyped. The riad caretaker, MuMu walked us to Djemaa el Fna (the main square) making sure we paid attention to landmarks along the way.
It was crazy and busy and beautiful. During the day there are snake charmers, monkeys, acrobats and story-tellers everywhere. At night they set up street food stalls. Big ones. You can sit at little counters around the stalls and sample whatever they’re selling. There are open flames and lots of smoke. People dance and play instruments and haggle over the sale of items. The sounds and smells and atmosphere can’t be described, just experienced.
We ate at a restaurant by the square. Our waiter was Abdul. There were cats roaming in the restaurant. I let one sit in my lap before our food came. I know, I know, that’s probably not sanitary but whatever. The meals in Morocco are brought in waves. We didn’t realize this and basically filled up on the first 1 or 2 dishes. First they brought “salads”. It was a plate of small portions of different cooked items that you eat with round bread. Then came beef kebabs and chicken patilla. Patilla are puffy roundish patties that can have just about anything in them. These had cinnamon, powdered sugar and honey on them with chicken in the middle. YUM! We were definitely done at this point – then the main dishes came out! Two tajines and a plate of cous cous with veggies. Tajines are a specially shaped pottery that cooks the food to perfection. One had beef, onions and prunes and the other had chicken and olives. All I know is that it was more food than we could possibly handle and then they brought out a plate of fruit at the end!
During dinner we were entertained by a man playing a sitar (sp?), then a woman with a tray of lit candles on her head and, finally, a very robust belly dancer.
When we got back to the riad we met the other guests. Students from our ship! There were 10 of them so the whole place was nothing but us SAS people. One of them was one of my “daughters” from my extended family. Small world.
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Sea What I See 
You are doing an amazing job with your descriptions. I can see the places, taste the food etc. love the pictures. So exciting. I found a good home for Dutchess. His new name is Dutch. Sam, the new owner, is so excited. His Sister, Maggie has 3 birds. He has always wanted his own pet bird, now he does, and I know Dutch will be . Addy and Hudson are getting so big, and Holly is growing with her little boy, probably naming him Dawson due August 18th. They are very happy. Tony is having problems with his kidney, but everyone else seems to be doing well.
Continue in good health on your amazing voyage, I look forward to the next story. Love, Mama
I have been to some of those places in Casablanca. Really cool photos. I couldn’t reply to that post, so I posted on this one.
I have to stop reading your entries because I get jealous every time- especially this one. It is like my inner Indiana Jones Wannabe is screaming to get out.