Casablanca

March 11-15

We rolled into Morocco on Monday after an overnight flight, pumped to be in Casablanca. I have wanted to visit Morocco ever since I was a little girl, having visited “Morocco” at Disney’s Epcot. That is not a joke. It has been on the top of my list to visit ever since.

We picked up some seafood for dinner on the first night and went to bed really early, both exhausted from the travel.

On our first full day in Casablanca, I had a 9am appointment at the US Consulate to get my passport replaced. I felt really prepared and optimistic for the appointment. Two rounds of security to get into the consulate ended with a woman behind security glass telling me that I had to have my application typed. What?!? Come on. The form only says that it needed to be written in blank ink (which I did). She told me not to worry – there are a lot of Internet cafes all around the consulate. Not having cellular data in Morocco, I asked for a specific place to visit and she refused to recommend a location. “Oh – I couldn’t recommend a place”. Why not!?! Thank you for all of your great service, US Consulate.

A random man told me there was a cafe directly across the street. Perfect. I left the consulate, crossed the street and found zero internet cafes. I walked around the block. Zero internet cafes around the block. I finally found an office that provides visa services – they help Moroccans fill out US visa applications and help expedite the process. The guy quickly agreed to complete my passport form for me and I was able to get him to do it for half the price originally stated. Boom, bargaining.

I returned to the consulate, went through two rounds of security (old pro at this point) and submitted my paperwork. It went smoothly. They let me keep my emergency passport, which means we can travel to other areas of the country while waiting for the permanent passport. The woman told me my passport would be back in 14 days. Ummm. I pointed to the sign on the glass that promised 10 days. She said that is more likely but they say 14 days just to be on the safe side. Today was March 12. 10 days is March 22. 14 days is March 26. Michael and I have to be in Barcelona on March 25, so I really need this to be 11 days or less (since 12 days is a Saturday). I stressed the importance of having this back on my timeline and she told me basically it’s out of her hands. Nothing to do now but be anxious and pray. Worst case, Michael and I fly to Barcelona on the 24th and I have to fly back a week later to pick up my passport. Wouldn’t be ideal, but when your godson meets you in Barcelona, you arrive on time.

Post embassy, I went back to the hotel to meet up with Michael and we headed out to the old Medina. Keep in mind that we haven’t bought “stuff” in a long time. Even in the year or so leading up to this trip we held back on buying new clothes and shoes and other items. So when we entered this great market, we were vulnerable. I was definitely feeling the itch to buy, especially when I found out how cheap leather was!!!

We walked away with two leather jackets, a new pair of leather boots for Michael, some leather flats and a necklace for me. Yikes.

The next day we knocked out a few touristy things. We went to the Hassan II mosque which is the largest mosque in the country and the 7th largest mosque in the world. Its minaret is the world’s tallest at 210 meters and a total of 105,000 worshippers can gather for prayer at one time. 25k inside and 80k on the grounds outside. We wanted to take a tour, but couldn’t figure it out, so we took some pictures outside and we now know how to take a tour when we’re back in the city at the end of our time in Morocco. For now, just the beautiful architecture and tile work:

After the mosque we went to Rick’s Cafe. Now, this is obviously not the cafe from the movie Casablanca. That cafe did not exist in real life. But this was a restaurant designed for tourists with an obsession with the movie to come in and have a meal or a drink. We typically try to avoid places like this, but… I just felt like we had to go.

It was definitely touristy, but not too much. The food was great and the decor was tasteful. It was fun. There were a lot of tourists taking a ton of pictures and having a great time. We were having a great time too.

Afterwards we popped into the central market for those oysters and then back to the hotel so I could do our taxes and we could get some planning in. Off to Marrakech tomorrow by train. We’re planning on spending 4 or 5 days there before heading off to Fez (probably) and then landing back in Casablanca to pick up the passport right in time for Spain!