Hotel Riad Salam Casablanca

... and walked the short distance to the train station. Bought our tickets, found our train and climbed on, then had to wait nearly 30 mins for it to leave. We only had to go 1 stop and then change trains to get on the airport train. Only a few stops (about 40 mins) and we arrived at the airport. Finally found the corerect terminal (after going up and down escalators a few times), had a coffee, then sat and waited until we were able to check in ...

We took the evening train from Rabat, south down the coast, to Morocco's largest city, Casablanca. The cities name spurs images of beautiful beaches, romantic cafes, and a great culture...in person the images aren't so grand. This city of 4million is very concrete, busy, and dirty. In addition, it seems everyone and their dog will try to rip you off. Walking out of the train station we had lots of interest from taxi drivers, all offering a ...

... was flying around the room (though most of it is bolted down).  Barrett loved the experience and screamed in joy.   We're off for Marrakech tomorrow, so I'll write more then.   Here's some photos of Ricks Cafe in Casablanca, as well as the worlds 2nd largest Mosque.

Morze Srodziemne ma piekne miejsca. Ciesze sie, ze rejsuje wlasnie<br>tutaj, bo to nie Europa (tudziez Afryka) kontynentalna, tylko raczej<br>wyspiarska - inaczej niz morzem lub powietrzem, dotrzec sie<br>gdzieniegdzie nie da. Swieta byly, szczerze mowiac, do niczego. Co to<br>za swieta, poza domem i bez przyjaciol? W Nowy Rok pracowalam do 1:30 w<br>nocy, potem poszlam na ...

... of bananas and oranges. A few of us headed to a local pub, and when I mean local I mean very local! Definitely dodgy and so cool. Sipping beers and nibbling on olives we watched the locals interact (with the working girls), socialising with the backdrop of a bad sounding band and smoky atmosphere. Locals selling tissues, books and even socks (which my room mate Vivienne ended up buying because her baggage had not arrived from Paris!) I think I am going to love it here.

... airport into the centre of town was an experience - lets just say we got to the hotel no problems, even if he drove backwards up a one way street to get us there; and the ambulance that was behind us could not get through :) Jan got propositioned by the porter and we think she has promised him her first child and is possibly now MRS Jan Sebire-Something :) I forgot to negotiate how many camels she was worth :)

... mostly in western dress though - including a few in shorts and tank tops. Interestingly, many of the teenage girls I saw (even late teens) walking with others who were in traditional dress were in western dress including shorts and t-shirts. What was nice was all of the people smiling and waving to us in the bus - it was refreshing after the aggressiveness of the vendors we had encountered in Marrakesh (but then again practically the whole city makes ...

... sight, both in the High Atlas and Middle Atlas regions. The cattle, on the other hand, had called a taxi ...

... bizzare... Thursday we had a day-long tour of Fez with our guide Abdullah... from the tile and mosaics factory, to the jewish quarter, to the medina. 'Balak' was the word of the day... meaning get out of the way, im coming thru with a donkey loaded up with cargo. The medina was amazing... a maze with metalworks sections, textiles, food, knife sharpening sections, leather tanneries.. and by the end of the day we still didn't feel like we'd seen it all. But i did ...

... these self-styled guides should be taking some tourists out to the countryside instead of leeching off of them in the centers. When we get into Rabat, the bus station is out on the city&#8217;s outskirts, in the modern fashion, so naturally there are no hotels around, in the European fashion. After walking the environs a while and debating whether to go on into the center, I finally ...