Casablanca

What an incredible day in Morocco.

We met up with our group around 10:30AM and were off to see Casablanca. 

Typical Moroccan market

First we stopped a local market, mostly full of fish.  Sarah's favorite part was the cat stealing fish from a crate, absolutely adorable! (probably not so cute for the man selling the fish)  The fish were amazing though too; huge tuna just laying on the ground, oysters, lobsters, sting rays, fish that I will probably never recognize and more.  Turns out though that most of the fish is exported and therefore costs are higher for the locals.

We also learned that Morocco has banned the use of plastic bags to help save the environment! Very cool.  (good thing they sell woven baskets and bags)

Prickly pears were being sold on carts on the street and the sellers could peel them with three strokes of a knife.  We saw these pears all around Morocco.

Our second stop was the Hassan II Mosque, the building we saw from our hotel room and had been hoping to visit.  

We were thrilled when we found out that we were allowed to go inside (not something that typically happens for non muslims). It was an extraordinary opportunity to see such beauty. 

We had to remove our shoes before entering.

It was even more impressive than we imagined.  The tower is enormous and stands out in the City.  Once we got there, we learned that the Mosque is on 9 hectares and can hold 100,000 people at capacity.  It's built mostly of marble from southern Morocco and has the most intricately detailed designs.  Some designs are carved in cedar, some in plaster, some in titanium and some are mosaics, but they are all just phenomenal. 

The bathing area, with a prescribed process.

Next we stopped for coffee and saw the local beaches and pools.  

We then stopped at Notre Dame of Casablanca, built by the French.  It was such a different looking cathedral, but still paid homage to Notre Dame in Paris in the stained glass windows.

Notice the "mini" Notre Dame in the stained glass.

On to lunch, and what a delicious meal it was.  We're going to skip telling you how much we ate :)

In the afternoon we had a meeting with a local music teacher at a private school that has been in business for a couple years.  Music is not taught in the public school system in Morocco.

After the meeting we hopped back in the van and headed to Rabat, just about an hour and a half drive.  After checking in, we had a nice dinner and are getting ready for our tour of Rabat.