9/15 -- Made it to Morocco

Like many places around the world, satellite
TV is surprisingly popular.

After our very late departure from JFK,  we landed in Casablanca, Morocco only 3 hours late. Passport control was spectacularly slow and 3 of our fellow travelers didn't check luggage and came out a different door, so it took an hour longer to get us all together. We got our first look at how people live driving toward the city center.

Part of our group at lunch, plus the helpful local (near the end
on the left with glasses and suit) and Driss in tradtional costume.

By then we were starving, so Driss, our guide, took us to a cafe where we had wonderful rolled

sandwich and had our first interactions with local people. They were very welcoming, including the guy who was moved to another table to accommodate our group. He joined in our conversation at the end of lunch - in all, it was a wonderful introduction to the country.

Inside the main sanctuary of the mosque

From our late lunch, we headed to the Hassan II Mosque, built in the late 1980s. It is the 3rd largest mosque in the world (after Mecca and Medina), holding 20,000 men and 12,000 women inside and another 80,000 outside. It was an interesting combination of new materials and technology and a timeless look. We also got a look at a wonderful ablution area, used only during very busy times, and a sample of what Moroccan and Turkish hammams (bathhouses) look like. The Turkish variety was only somewhat similar to what we experienced in Turkey, and looked a lot more comfortable than the Moroccan version. It will be interesting later on to try out an actual working hammam here.

A special occasion ablution fountain for men to prepare
for worship

The exterior of the mosque - the minaret is the
highest one in Africa.

The driving is done from the top of the car and the actor is
inside with the windshield removed making it look like he is
doing the real work.

We stopped by "Rick's Cafe", built only AFTER the famous movie, and looked around at some of the equipment for a new Tom Cruise Mission Impossible film being filmed in the same area. Then we headed to an ocean-side tea and coffee shop for tea, coffee, and wonderful shortbread cookies made by Driss' wife.  We finally checked into the hotel, showered, found an ATM, had dinner and proceeded to get ready to collapse.

The view from our hotel - the Hassan II minaret, the Atlantic
Ocean, and normal neighborhoods.