Mohammedia Morocco

While we were in Morocco, we stayed in Mohammedia, which is a small port city about half an hour outside Casablanca. While Mohammedia is a popular seaside resort for many Moroccans, it isn't as popular with foreigners. This was both part of its charm and what made it slightly difficult!

We stayed at the Hotel Avanti which is right on "La Corniche," or the the beach.

The facilities at the hotel were really nice. It was beautiful and comfortable inside. There was a well equipped, modern gym and a beautiful swimming pool. The was even free wifi (most of the time!).

Our one complaint was that the staff (the front desk staff that is) was not particularly welcoming or helpful. When we first arrived, tired and starving, they would not let us check in and didn't offer directions to any of the onsite restaurants. In fact, we never found the restaurants, and so we never ate at the hotel! Granted we were in a foreign country and shouldn't just expect that everyone should speak English, but even when we tried speaking French they weren't that helpful!

We ate most of our meals at the cafes along the corniche. Again, I thought it was pretty funny that we couldn't find "Moroccan" food in Morocco, but the French and Italian food we had was good. Breakfast was my favorite meal of the day. For $2 you could get a petit dejeuner of freshly squeezed fruit juice (strawberry was my favorite), a cappuccino, and either eggs or a croissant, and their grilled bread. 

Even though we tried to wait as late as possible to eat dinner, we were still usually the only people eating dinner at 7 or 8 pm. The Moroccans were all enjoying a leisurely coffee, juice or ice cream, as a snack before their 10 pm dinner. All of the menus were in French and Arabic, but we were usually able to more or less figure out what the dishes were. None of the waitstaff spoke any English, but they were friendly and we were able to communicate well enough to place our orders and pay. 

Both the boardwalk area and the beach were crowded all 4 days we were there (Friday-Monday). In the morning a lot of people come to get their exercise by walking or jogging along the boardwalk. Later in the day, the atmosphere reminded me a bit of the Jersey Shore. There was techno music playing, a perpetual beach volleyball tournament, boys offering pony rides, and vendors selling cotton candy and ice cream.

We did also venture off the beach and into the city. We found a small Medina, which was a good warm-up for the larger ones in Casablanca and Rabat. Because it is less touristy, the vendors were not as pushy and offered us samples of juicy strawberries and cherries. We also found a ceramics shop with beautiful things that were way less expensive than in the big cities. So it paid to get off the beaten tourist track!

If you are looking for a slightly more authentic experience, but still want to be able to see Rabat and Casablanca, I'd recommend Mohammedia as a home base while in Morocco.

Casablanca

Before leaving, and again once in Morocco, we tried to organize a guided tour but never got a response from any of the tour companies. So Sunday we decided just to take our chances and venture into Casablanca ourselves.

I really enjoyed the cab ride on the back road into the city because it was a chance to see more of the countryside. We saw a little of everything. There were expanses of dry grasslands stretching off into the distance, some with cows, goats, and sheep. There were little shanty towns. There were dirt areas with kids playing soccer. Everywhere, there were people walking. We also went through several small beach towns with restaurants and beach clubs. I was really surprised by the amount of bushiness and industry on the outskirts of Casablanca (referred to from now on as Casa, as the locals call it). There were all kinds of factories, big stores, and car dealerships. It was a lot more like the US than Ghana.

There was apparently a big soccer game that day, as the roads were filled with cars filled with fans in red and white jerseys. The fans were hanging out of the cars while waving flags and shouting. There was a cacophony of horns. (Drivers in general are very liberal with their horns).

Our first stop was the Hassan II mosque, the third largest in the world. It takes your breath away at first sight. There is this massive, white marble, tower stretching into the sky and the most beautiful teal mosciac. The whole plaza is this oasis of light as the white marble reflects the sun. 

We just couldn't get over the level of detail.

even the ceilings are beautiful

There are elaborate mosaics and carvings everywhere.

It is the same inside. We walked through just in awe. It was built in just 6 years in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

inside the main cathedral. speakers are hidden in each pillar

It was interesting to see how they integrated so much technology. The whole roof slides open for ventilation, there are loud speakers hidden within the pillars, and the chandeliers lower with the flip of a switch so they can be cleaned. 

the chandelier lowers to be cleaned

the men's bathing room in the basement because Muslim's must clean before a service

A very nice girl in our tour group gave us a map, without which we would have been totally lost as there are no tourist information booths or maps anywhere in the city. Using our very small, and not very detailed, map, we eventually found our way to the medina, the public market.

There was quite a contrast between the opulence of the mosque and the neighborhoods we walked through 

The medina was a wonderful, crowded, smelly labyrinth. The aisles were so narrow and crowded, and yet motorbikes came flying through them as if they were speeding down a highway.

not the medina, but it gives you an idea how narrow the streets are

Both overwhelmed, and excited, we wandered and wandered, seeing everything from underwear, to whole sides of cattle, to stoves, to strawberries. It makes American malls and grocery stores feel so sterile! We sniffed spices, tried on a million scarves, drooled over the fresh produce, and eventually found out a way out.

We emerged in the United Nations plaza, which was a great spot for a late lunch. We sat down at a cafe that was clearly aimed at tourists because they had Moroccan food! That was the funny thing about Morocco- it was so hard to find authentic food. We learned this is because Moroccans cook traditional dishes at home and when they go out they want to eat foreign food, especially pizza. But at this cafe we were able to get a chicken tagine with a citrus sauce and cous cous with grilled vegetables and beef. However, my tagine came covered in french fries!

almost authentic tagine

It was so good. When we realized later that they had way over charged us, we only minded a little because it had been so good!

We walked around for a bit longer, seeing the palace and a couple parks, but we were pretty tired of walking and we were ready to go back to the hotel! 

mosaics everywhere! Prettiest post office I've ever seen

Our final adventure is Casa was finding a cab willing to take us back to Mohammedia that didn't cost a fortune. We did some bargaining and found a willing driver, but once we got near town we realized he had no idea where our hotel was. So after stopping to ask many people, he finally delivered us back to our hotel. A great day of adventures.