Casablanca, Part Two

Storyline: Highlights of Morocco

Jan 27

The tour is over and we are back in Casablanca. It is Monday again, exactly 2 weeks since we first arrived. So, in reality, although announced as 15 days, the tour itself is 14, or 13 if you don’t count the first evening meetup, and the departure day (we said goodbye the evening of Jan 26).

We took a train from Marrakesh to Casa Voyageurs station. This time Alex had his orientation right (I have a habit of turning the wrong way out of train stations – A) and we walked to the hotel.

As before, as soon as we walked out of the train station, rolling our suitcases, we were greeted by the locals with “Bon voyage” and a smile. Casablanca may not be the prettiest city, but its residents are very welcoming. We checked into the same hotel as at the start of our trip, then Rick’s Café (modeled on the café in the classic 1942 movie named for this city) was on our list for the evening.

We wound our way through the busy Medina, although we did not cover even a small part of it. We reached Rick’s Café before it opened for dinner, and just as we each took a photo of the entrance, the first bus of Asian tourists pulled up to the curb.

In no time a few other buses spilled out further big crowds, each competing for a space to take artistically posed pictures. And boy did they take pictures! Millions of them. Not sure what they do with them later, but had the feeling that each one took at least hundred with the same composition and carefully posed subject. We were first at the doors and although two women who didn’t seem to be part of a groups, tried to push us and jump in front of us, we stood our ground and were the first to enter and be seated when the doors were ceremoniously opened at 6:30 (Hmmm, didn’t notice the ceremony from the rushing crowds).

Behind us, the tour groups stormed the doors and filled all the remaining space. There were about 3 tables left for people with no reservation, so we were lucky to be given one of them. And we were the only non-Asian on the second floor.

In hindsight, it would have been smarter to ask the hotel to book us in and not worry that there wouldn’t be space for us. “Welcome to Chinatown” we were greeted by our apparently disgruntled server, appalled by their numbers and rude behaviour as they were jumping all over to take millions of photos. There was a dress code posted at the door, which also was trashed by the fact that some looked like they were with their PJs. I was with my running shoes and reading the dress code was worried that I may not be let it. But seeing this Asian man in his sweatpants and sweatshirt, my worries disappeared. “Some come directly from the airport” the waiter said. Forget about ambiance and experiencing the movie atmosphere. There was a flurry of activity around the groups.

Many were running by our table, invading our personal space, leaning over my shoulder to take yet another picture.

So much so that the waiter secured our wine bottle at the far side of the table, protecting it as she said “from the Chinese”. We stretched out our dinner in the hope that they would leave, which they eventually did, just to be replaced by the next set of tour groups….

And it was Monday, when we were eventually told there was no live music <sigh>. Food, although good, was not up to expectations. (We had a much better similarly-priced experience the previous evening in Marrakech during our farewell dinner with Said.) But the high price was no surprise.

Jan 28

We had a really good, slow day. After checking in for our flight tomorrow we strolled to the Hasan II Mosque. Somewhere around a busy roundabout a guy stopped us with “remember me? From the hotel? I am your night guard…” and as we say hi, knowing that this is a prank, he continues talking to us. “Where are you from?” “Canada”, “Canada, eh?” he perfectly mimics the “eh”. “It’s Monday…there is an exhibition of the Berber carpets.”

“No, thank you…” we decline and eventually he buggers off. Sure, we’ve heard this before: “Remember me, I am from your hotel” a few times in Marrakesh. There they just wanted to chat. And we’ve heard a few times about the Berber carpets too… Not sure what exactly they were trying to achieve, but there, to make our day and our trip complete, we had attempted scam encounter.

It was a nice sunny day and we decided to walk by the water on the promenade south from the mosque to the lighthouse. By the time we reached the turn towards the lighthouse peninsula I needed a café and a WC.

Abandoning the idea to go to the lighthouse, we continued towards the Lalla Meryem Beach and not long after, in the middle of what seemed to us nowhere, we ran into a fantastic place.

From the street one could only see the sign for a restaurant. We stepped down a few steps and a lady with an inviting smile greeted us. Down a long steep stair there was a restaurant with windows overlooking the water. “This is the oriental restaurant”, she said “and below is the international”.

We followed her to check the international restaurant. We thought we’d decide based on the menu and price, however there was a lovely open patio on the rocks below.

Guess which restaurant we chose and why? Spent a few hours enjoying the sun and the waves crashing onto the rocks just below us over drinks (two beers for Alex and a glass of Volubilia Gris and espresso martini for me) and most importantly delicious food. The oysters were so fresh that the barnacles on the shells were still alive.

As we say we don’t buy souvenirs at our age, but we for sure bought a few experiences in Morocco.

This afternoon made it for a great ending of our really nice and exciting tour of Morocco, that we’ll describe in the next few posts.

If you go… (Travel tips and suggestions)

Visiting the architecturally stunning Hasan II Mosque by the water is a must – make sure you have time to walk on the promenade, and check for tour times beforehand. The tour is reputed to be well worth it.
A view from above
If you visit Rick’s Café make sure it is not Monday. Best is to ask your hotel to make you reservation close to the time the live music starts (9pm on most nights). Bar will be probably full unless you go at 6:30PM when it opens and stay there all evening drinking. It will be wise to ask for a reservation on the first floor. Groups are seated mainly on the second floor.
La Squala
We also recommend “La Squala” for Moroccan cuisine. There are two, but we visited the one near Rick’s Café. It has a good vibe and ambiance, friendly wait staff and delicious food. And of course, the restaurant we described above: La Cascade, right at the water’s edge on Blvd de la Corniche.
We have this covered in the first post, but: take the train from the airport and if your hotel is far from a train station (Casa Port or Casa Voyageurs) take a red petit taxi from the train station. Negotiate the price before you get in. We were told by our guide that many small taxi drivers won’t turn the meter for you as a foreigner.
There is a bullet train (TGV) that reaches Tangier in about 2 hours.
Marrakesh train station
There is a train between Casablanca and Marrakesh, the last train station to the south of Morocco. It takes about 2½ hours. We took this train and bought first class tickets. The train has the old-style corridor-and-cabin layout: 6 per cabin in first class and 8 in second. For 1st class you are assigned seats. Book a day early and, like us, you may end up with window seats.