Dale and I took an excursion together today! We toured the beautiful, modern, capital city of Rabat as well as part of Casablanca. As we cruised in this morning, and again just now as we left, we enjoyed lovely views of this “white city” of almost 5 million people. Because there are almost no tall buildings for residences it is sprawled out over an enormous area along the coast.
We’re told that agriculture and tourism are major parts of the economy and as we tourists drove from one city to the other in the rain we saw evidence of both. As tourists we were shown the Royal residence complex of the present king and the mausoleum of a former king.
The Royal complex was extensive and looked like a wonderful place to take a peaceful walk. Ours was in the rain so it was hurried. The ceiling inside and the outside of the mausoleum was ornately decorated as is much of the Islamic architecture.
At the same location were pillars once installed as the beginning of a giant mosque started by a king whose son didn’t want to proceed with the project. So there they stand, along with part of the walls, making an interesting display and a great contrast with the one very modern tower in the city. The pigeons, especially, enjoy all of those holes in the old walls.
Before a delicious traditional lunch in an old and picturesque building in the medina we walked around and enjoyed the narrow alleys where people were going about their weekend tasks and ancient buildings were begging to be photographed.
The seats at this meal were slightly higher than the ones at the co-op yesterday, for which I was thankful! After lunch we drove back to Casablanca which the guide says is famous for two things, its port ,which is the third largest in Africa, and the movie. He says that when tourists ask to see where it was filmed he hates to have to tell them it was all in studios in Hollywood.
Casablanca is a city of contrasts for sure; the new and the old blending together in every way.
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