Azur Casablanca

The last couple days have been SO crazy I don't even know where to begin and honestly there aren’t a lot of words I have to describe Morocco. The whole time my friends and I kept saying...how in the world are we ever going to explain this to anyone !  ! ! It’s so different than anywhere I have ever been. All the countries in Europe are so westernized and now I am in Africa where everything is in Arabic, no one speaks English, people ride donkeys, 98% Muslim. I ...

<br><br>Departure from Morocco is a long process so leave plenty of time. Flights leave early and customs is slow and thorough. Be very early to allow plenty of time. The lines are long and the flights do not wait.<br><br>Take a trip of a lifetime. When I ...

... closet He keeps telling me to be quiet and looking nervously out the window like hes not supposed to be there He makes the tea out of sight. Not a big deal but enough to make me nervous He locks the door He takes my shoes and puts them under the bed He sprays me with some terrible cologne He keeps making awkward hand gestures that I have never seen before He stands up and takes off his pants (he had another ...

... ride home. it was dark, so nothing to see outside the train, 3 gentleman already asleep in my berth (didn't think it would be kosher to poke them and ask if they had Travel Yatzee), so i read half-heartedly, not b/c i don't like the book (i love it, dad. thanks.), i just forget how fast i read when i actually sit down and give myself time to read, and didn't want to blow all my reading material before i was even halfway through the trip. I needed to unwind from the ...

... Unfortunately I got about half way through the cleanup when I started feeling sick myself. I ended up throwing up four times before falling asleep that night because I think the rocking on top of all the henna dust that was entering my body through my nose and mouth during the cleanup was just too much for my stomach to handle. I put the other half of my seasick patch on and got in bed. (Don't worry I felt better in the morning but more to come later...)

... of people and experienced a wide variety of smells (not all good). Essentially, the houses are built to connect to each other, with no room for vehicles other than motorbikes and scooters. It was truly an experience, with a quick tea stop at one their houses. From Casablanca, we made a stop close to Rabat in a city called Kenitra where we visited my Aunt Khadija's relatives. They cooked us a most fantastic meal with couscous, chickpeas, raisins, chicken, etc etc., then ...

... the markets before exploring other parts of the new town, before aiming for the mosque at sunset.All in all, Casablanca was a worthwhile experience; but having been here I don't feel a desire to return, unlike for Essouria (for the calm and the beach) and Marrakech (for Djemaa el-Fna and the Souks). If we return to Morocco we would like to explore Agadir, Rabat and Fez, potentially slipping down to Essouria should the opportunity present itself!As a footnote, on the flight between ...

... slack after a week in England. When we land at Madrid airport we are given very specific instructions to exit from the back of the plane, according to our seat numbers. Got on a bus then went for miles underground to some other terminal. Grateful we listened to the instructions. I checked with the Information about Veuling Airlines - yes, they do fly from here. Mike and I have a flight booked from Madrid to Malta on October 1. More on that later ...

... unmade and finally the second room was ok! This all took about 45 mins... phew - was glad to get the backpack off! I settled in and met one of the other girls on the trip and then set off on a long walk. I managed to find the old police headquarters and the law courts - checking out the fountain opposite - lots of kids and pigeons! I walked the short distance to the nearly Cathedral du Sacre Coeur - an old ...

... a swiss skiing village. All the building and houses looked european and cute. There was no snow, as its summer here now, but it was still very odd looking and un-moroccain. Right after that we stopped off at this forrest where the only monkeys native to northern africa live. They were cute but nothing too special as we've seen loads of monkeys on this trip. One of our favorite places was Fes. We wandered around the old medina (old city) which we needed a ...