Since I've been back from vacation for three weeks now, it's about time for me to update the blog with some of the trip details. I was able to spend 5 days in Casablanca, Morocco with my mother's parents. Nanny & Poppy and I had a wonderful time. The long plane rides (about 11 hours from Boston to Morocco via Paris) were broken up a bit with movies, sleeping, and reading. Needless to say we were a bit cranky when we arrived and were waiting in line to pass through customs.
The innumerable people returning home from their Ramadan pilgrimages to Mecca that morning added to our frustration. After what felt like ages but was probably only two hours, we were met at the airport by our friendly taxi driver and headed to the hotel for some Welcome Tea and a nap.
Thankfully we adjusted fairly quickly to the four hour time difference (5 hours for me) and were able to enjoy all of the sights and sounds Casablanca has to offer for those in their late 70s and their granddaughters.
The first day was full of browsing in the Old Medina and bazaar and getting our bearings. We also made plans to visit the
Hassan II Mosque (the 3rd largest in the world) the next day (Friday, the Muslim Holy day). What a beautiful place! I wish that we had worked out our timing a bit better so we
could've gone inside--it's an open mosque, both women and non-Muslims can tour it--for one of the scheduled tours.
Next we took a taxi across town to the El-
Hud lighthouse. It is not a tourist attraction, but it was one of the most peaceful places that I think we went to. Then again, there was so much calm and beauty in the country that the entire trip was peaceful. (The leisurely meals and daily naps didn't hurt either.) I had to take this pic for my lighthouse obsessed mother.
On Sabbath we walked down to the post office to mail some postcards and hung out at the local park. The afternoon was full of people watching and soaking in the sun. I also started to notice the stray cat population. As much as it pained me I held back and only took photos. I didn't want to run the risk of bringing back some Moroccan Cat Sickness to my girls.
Sunday we took the train to
Kenita and Rabat. My grandparents used to live just outside of
Kenita so it was a nice homecoming for them. A lot had changed, but the downtown streets were still recognizable 58 years later.
We spent most of the day in
Kenita and by the time we got to the King's Palace in Rabat it was closed! Thankfully we had one day left and once again boarded the train to Rabat on Monday morning. We were able to walk to the Palace and take some pictures, but since it is a functioning government building we couldn't go in.
The last time my grandparents had been to the Palace the Sultan was receiving his annual payments from the Berber tribes. The Palace at that time was in the middle of the desert. My how times have changed. I didn't even see any sand! We also took some time to see the Unfinished Mosque and the Mausoleum of Mohammad V. Unfortunately, our luck held and the mausoleum was closed in preparation for the King's visit.
All three of us stayed in the same hotel room for the duration of the trip and as was to be expected we had our frustrations with each other.
But all in all we had a wonderful trip. I would go again in an instant!
To check out all of the wonder pics, (if you haven't already done so on my
FB page) just click on the this pic to take you to them.
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