Casablanca

Catholic cathedral in Casablanca.

A quick preview of what we're doing tomorrow with Sad Mob . Currently the 3rd largest mosque in the world.

Finally ran into Sad Mob and her new family in Morocco!

The museum was more about the architecture than anything else but so beautiful. Very interesting how everything was created.

Today we visited the Hassan 2 Mosque with Sadie and her family. VERY large and ornate. Love the architecture. 3rd largest mosque in the world. Well worth the visit.

Here's some zen for the day...

Walking around Casablanca, the ocean, the market after the mosque. Best market visit yet. The whole day was culturally enriching and exciting for all the senses. The sounds, the colors, the smells (both good and...different). Fantastic day.

I really liked these murals on the buildings along the ocean drive. Sanae stopped for me to catch a few pics.

It's nice to be on a mass transit train where nobody is laying across multiple seats or shooting heroin in front of me or showing me their craziness. And bonus...no piss smell!

Casablanca - 1
New York - 0
Chicago - 0

Absolutely wonderful day with Sadie's family here in Casablanca. Privileged to experience all of them, their culinary delights and all of the culture here in their home. The cookies, the tagine, the bread and the fish stew we're all top notch. Thanks so much for sharing your hospitality and your family with us Sad Mob ! On the train back to the hotel a collective decision was made to take a trip to Tangier, Morocco tomorrow. Can't wait!

Another day full of Moroccan culture, colors, smells and quite a bit of laughter today. Starting it was a visit to the next town over from Sadie and Soufiane's place to check out the local market also known as a souk. SUPER chaotic! People yelling and pointing and throwing clothes. The smell of the grills going. Sadie and Soufiane choose several different kinds of meats to have grilled for us. Delicious! After that we became knowledgeable about why we always see people walking through fields because WE were those people! Walked a lot today. Stopped by a local mosque for our hosts to pray. Got a few pics of the inside for your viewing pleasure. Next stop they wanted to take us through a market closer to their house. Then a visit to a local tagine cookware dealer they recommended so Julie could pick her very own tagine pot. Luckily this was right next to the cousins house so a big dose of hospitality once again. Mint tea, cookies, breads, local honey, brownies. We never leave a Moroccan house with an empty stomach. Loved their house, so beautiful. Aicha and the rest of her family are such gracious and generous hosts. The cousins and Soufiane's sister surprised me with a Moroccan national soccer team jersey personalized with my name. Totally unexpected and meant so much. We said our goodbyes after Sadie loaded us down with a metric ton of goodies. Going home tomorrow. A great finale to our trip here. Much love to the new family for making us feel at home. Thanks and goodbye until we see you again!

Sadie's new family was gracious enough to take me to the local Harley Davidson shop in Casablanca. They sold a lot of other bikes there as well including Indian and Moto Guzzi. Struck out in t-shirts but they had a few Marrakech poker chips so I snagged them. Thanks for driving Sanaa!

After the Harley Davidson store it was time to get everyone chocolate. Delicious and friendly. Everyone that knows me knows that Michael shows his love with chocolate and I couldn't think of a better way to show this to new family. Thanks Divinshka!

Seen the movie Casablanca? Remember Rick's Cafe Americain? Beautiful place. Great meal. Didn't get to experience the music which didn't start until 9pm but still a good experience.

P..S. Hey Don Coleman II ... here's your Fez hat pic.