Here is the group photo, taken at our Farewell Dinner
From l- r: Dave and Karen, Robert and Joy, ( going on post trip);Andrea and her husband, ( going home) Linda from Florida ( post trip) , Karen ( moi, going home) Linda from CA, ( going home) husband and Norma, Ann from England (going home) , Ann and Dave,( post trip) Mark ( flying to Egypt on a new adventure via Casablanca) and Mostafa, who will be taking the homebound group to Casablanca and the airport.
I had to take one final shot from my room before leaving – such a gorgeous place!
We had our final breakfast on the rooftop terrace, then walked through the Old Town to two buses. The new van, driver and tour leader took the seven travelers to the Atlantic and we got on our sturdy bus number 30 with our driver Mohammed and Mostafa to Casablanca.
We drove the national highway and arrived in Casablanca in time for lunch.
The lunch location is a place that takes care of single mothers. It is a horrible social stigma if a woman becomes pregnant out of wedlock and this association helps the women with job training and child care needs. The woman pictured is the founder of the Association Sodidarité Féminine, Alcha Ech Channa, who has been the defendent and spokesperson for this organization for over thirty years.
We were served a sumptuous meal. The main course is served at weddings, which I thought added a touch of irony. The food was delicious. A social worker spoke to us about the ramifications of single motherhood after our meal.
I also had some close encounters with a couple of felines under the table during the meal.
The outside of the home is very beautiful, with the famous Moroccan blue accents.
Next stop: the beach! we also got views of the lighthouse and the Hassan II mosque, which we would be touring.
Mosafa drove us to the mosque and picked up our tickets for us. We had time to walk around the area and explore before going inside for the tour. My first overall impression: MASSIVE.
it has been said that during Ramadan this entire outdoor area is packed with worshippers. The inside consists of two stories: the prayer room and the ablutions room, for washing.
More facts, according to Wikipedia: Hassan II mosque, or la Grande Mosquée Hassan II is the second largest functioning mosque in Africa and the seventh in the world. Its minaret is the second largest, at 689 feet. Construction began in 1986. Completed in 1993, it was designed by Michel Pinseau under the guidance of King Hassan II and built by Moroccan artisans from all over the kingdom. The minaret is sixty stories high, topped by a laser directed toward Mecca. The walls are of hand crafted marble and the cedar roof is retractable. A maximum of 105,000 worshippers can gather together for prayer: 2,500 inside the mosque hall and another 80,000 outside.
We took our shoes off to explore the prayer room but put them back on to go downstairs.
I forgot to mention that women pray in a separate area in the prayer room. There are two ablution rooms downstairs. We were in the men’s section, which is green; the women’s section is pink. The tile work is magnificent.
After our tour, we checked into the hotel and discussed dinner plans. We decided to eat at a local Morrocan restaurant which was a ten minute walk from from the hotel. Ann and I got together before the dinner to drink our last bottle of wine which we’d gotten at the super market at the beginning of the trip! We would have a pre- dinner drink and a post – dinner drink!
I met the last cat from the trip as we were walking back to the hotel. Was he saying goodbye?
We said our good byes at the hotel lobby. Norma and Andrea and their husbands were leaving at 4:00 am; Linda and I were leaving at 5:00 am and Ann and Mark didn’t have to leave until 9:30 am. Poor Mostafa had to be awake most of the night. He will return to his family up north and will have a bit of time off before he leads his next group in October.
Ann and I met Mark on the rooftop for our final libation of the trip.
Hope you enjoyed the adventure.
I may post once more – lessons learned. You can learn from my mistakes!