Casablanca and Rabat: Rainbows and the Roma Knife

This past weekend, I headed to Rabat and Casablanca. First, we took the train from Meknes to Rabat. We arrived in Rabat in the evening and headed to the shore. It was beautiful! Mustafa,  a high school student from Azrou, came with us. It was a trip of firsts for him!

When we came back from dinner on Friday night, we were locked out of our hotel. We soon realized, after hearing shouting from inside, that someone else was locked in. The man inside was hilarious and stuck his head out of the window to shout down to us, "I just want a sandwich man!" We tried to pry the door open with a Swiss Army-like knife that I bought in Rome. However, the owner came back in the middle of our unlocking efforts. 

The next day, we visited the Hassan II Tower, which includes a mosque and minaret which were originally intended to be the largest in the world. However,  in 1199, the Sultan Yacoub al-Mansour died during construction and the monuments remain incomplete. The courtyard is full of partial columns.

We visited the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, which is opposite the Hassan Tower and contains the tombs of King Hassan  II, who died in 1999 and his son,  Prince Abdallah. A Quran reader sits in the back right corner of the room (from this view).

We visited the old medina in Rabat and then went kayaking. The water was nice and it was a lot of fun! We only paid 30 dirhams an hour per person. However, the water was choppy and I felt a little seasick by the time we came back to shore. Ty and Rebecca managed to flip their boats on their way back. 

It rained constantly for most of the trip and the wind was bad news for Rebecca's umbrella...

After that, we had lunch with the roommate of one of the other exchange students. We visited ruins, where we saw a rainbow!

After lunch, we caught a train to Casablanca. When we arrived, we wandered around for a while. We found the Hassan II Mosque and snapped a few photos. This is one of a few that we managed to get without the company of drunken passerby. They were a little annoying, but generally friendly, constantly exclaiming, "Welcome to Morocco!"

We had trouble finding a hotel in Casa. At one point, we stopped to talk to locals and ask for directions. While Rebecca and I waited, a man kicked a cockroach in our direction. Our disgusted faces apparently got to him, and he quickly (and repeatedly) apologized. After that, a few of his friends guided us through the sketchier parts of town in search of a place to stay. Honestly, I am glad they were with us. One of the guys, who seemed like he was about 6'5"and wore the ever-present Adidas track suit, was pretty intimidating. As we walked, we passed a gym with his picture on the wall. Basically, I don't think people mess with this dude. Finally, we found a hotel and headed to find dinner. We grabbed chicken sandwiches at a nearby restaurant. There, we met yet another character. A man wandered in and began to chat with us. I am convinced the majority of his vocabulary can be found in the dialogue of "Scarface." He told Joel, "Watch yourself," and voiced his hatred for various ethnic groups. At that point, I was exhausted and unable to offer much of a reaction. 

On Sunday, we visited the Grand Mosque again, the fifth largest in the world. It also has the world's largest minaret. The construction on the Atlantic was inspired by a passage from the Quran which states, "The throne of Allah was built on water." In the daylight, we could see the incredible detail on the outside of the building. The mosque has many modern features, including heated floors, electric doors and a sliding roof. It is one of only a few that allow non-Muslims to visit in Morocco. 

I love how this picture came out! :) These doors looked out over the ocean.

The mosaics inside of the mosque were incredible!

While I really enjoyed the mosque, I expected a little more from Casablanca. I think it might've been different had we traveled with someone from the town, who knew their way around. However, it was a great weekend overall!