Hi, everyone!
Most of my wild cousins live in Africa, but this is the first time I’ve been here! On Thursday, we docked in Casablanca, Morocco. Morocco is on the northwest tip of Africa, with coasts on both the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Casablanca is on the Atlantic Ocean.
The original residents were Berbers, then Arabs arrived from the east. Morocco has had a king from the current royal family since the 1600s. The same conflicts that were playing out in Europe resulted in the French and Spanish governments taking protective control of parts of Morocco just before World War I. Morocco gained independence and reunited in 1956. Casablanca is the largest city, and we took a bus tour to see some of the sights. Most signs are in Arabic, a Berber language, and French, but I knew what this sign meant in just Arabic!
The first place we visited was the Habbous Quarter, which is near the royal palace. During the French occupation, this neighborhood was built especially for Moslem workers. There are narrow streets, and most doorways are decorated with tile. A door knocker in the shape of a hand, called Fatima’s hand, was supposed to bring good luck. Fatima was the prophet Mohammed’s daughter.
Our guide told us that every Moslem neighborhood had to have four assets: a mosque, a bakery, public baths, and a souk (market). The bakery had an oven that everybody could use to bake their bread.
The souk in Habbous Quarter specializes in olives! That’s where the olives are cured and flavored, as well as being sold. There are all kinds for sale there!
The king has palaces in most of the cities of Morocco, as well as in the capital, Rabat. When we were visiting, the king was at the Casablanca palace! There was lots of activity getting ready for some royal event!
Our next stop was by the coast, at Hassan II mosque. This is a very big mosque! 25,000 people can attend prayers inside, and another 80,000 can pray in the courtyard. During Ramadan, the holy Moslem month, they even put prayer rugs in the parking lot across the street! When the mosque was built, the tower used to call people to prayer was the tallest in the world. Now it’s second tallest. Our guide told us that — seen from above — the mosque looks like a ship on the water. The roof of the mosque has movable sections, so it can be open or closed.
After we saw the mosque, we took a break at a seaside hotel. I made friends in the garden!
Our last stop was United Nations Plaza. That’s a busy place with lots of traffic and many tour buses. There are modern shops, but it’s also close to the traditional market. I liked the pedestrian tunnel under the traffic circle!
When we got back from our tour, there was a long line to get back on board MS Marina. Grandma stayed behind, so she could take a picture of Grandpa and me on our balcony. Can you find us? I was happy we got back to MS Marina in time for afternoon tea. We started for our next port before dinner.
On Friday, we arrived in Agadir, Morocco. That’s farther south down the Atlantic coast from Casablanca. The port has a lot of container shipping. Agadir was once a Berber town surrounded by walls high above the coast. That was the safest place to protect from pirate attacks. Once the pirates were gone, the town grew up around the harbor. In 1960, there was an earthquake that destroyed just about everything! Even the walls on the hill had to be rebuilt! We took another bus tour. I made friends with Nadia, the guide, right away!
Our first stop was all the way up the hill to the walls of the old casbah (town). Any tourist attraction has at least one or two camels available to ride! We took a walk around the walls to see the views below. There isn’t anything inside the walls right now but ruins.
From the walls, we could see the empty land where the earthquake destroyed the town. Rebuilding left that spot empty! On our way back down, we saw the lights that illuminate the writing honoring the king. There’s a large burial ground for the 16,000 people who died in the earthquake.
After that, we visited the Mohamed V mosque in the new part of town. Nadia pointed out the windows on the tower. Moslems are supposed to pray several times during the day. They can keep track of which time they are being called to pray by seeing which windows are open on the mosque tower.
One of the local products is argan oil, made from the fruit of a tree that grows locally. Nadia is a firm believer in its health benefits! We made a rest stop at a natural foods store near the mosque where various argan oil products are sold.
Our next stop was a great big outdoor museum! Medina d’Agadir is a re-creation of what a Berber town would have looked like before the earthquake. It was the dream and project of one man, Coco Polizzi! There were buildings with traditional architecture and narrow alleys where artisans of all kinds were working and selling their crafts.
Traditionally, Berbers would gather in one place to make decisions about their community. They could use that space for entertainment, too! Medina d’Agadir has a nice theater! I liked some of the wider alleys, with trees and sunlight, too!
Before we went back to MS Marina, we had one more stop: a huge traditional market with more than a thousand stalls inside! Nadia took extra precautions to make sure nobody from our tour got lost! A vendor outside the entrance was selling sweet corn! Inside, I saw vegetables, dates, cookies, clothing, household goods and furniture for sale!
By the time we got back to MS Marina, the clouds had turned to blue sky. I had a lemon meringue torte. Horizons at tea time is my happy place!
Love,
Lion-san
I found you and grandpa out on your balcony. Your cabin is on the next to the top deck, underneath the cabin with it’s light on. Am I right?
You found us!
That was a LOT of olives and a LOT of dates you saw. Did that market place have lots of interesting smells? In which of the ports where you went on this cruise would you like to have been able to spend more time? What about Grandma and Grandpa same question. Why? What was the temperature (approx.) in F. in the various places you have stopped? I too found you, Lion-san, and Grandpa outside on your balcony!
Great Aunt Betsy, it’s mostly been between 70 and 80 degrees F. on our cruise during the day. I want to wait to answer your other question until we’ve finished the cruise.