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Casablanca--Not as romantic as the Movie!

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Casablanca is a very large coastal city. It has a very strong French background and seems to have a more modern feel than Marakesh and Fes for example. As with any large city(approx. 4 million) it has it's good area and bad and a mixture of all tribal morrocan's and foreign people. Extreme poverty and prostitution can be seen outside of the city centre. Casablanca more than any other place in the country can show you huge differences between the rich and poor.

All in all the city is not so interesting as the others, but it does provide a place to get your feet wet to the rest of Moroco. It boasts a modern airport Mohamad V and nice paved roads. The medina is not as large as one would expect in comparison to Marrakech and Fes.

Favourite spots:

The centre of Casablanca is fairly impressive. You will notice that the wide boulevards are lined with modern, white buildings. The streets fan out from around the centre point of downtown "Place de Nations Unies." This place can be called a local landmark where one can see the modern town melding into the medina. The walls of the city in this picture surround the Medina "The Marche Central". They are not as impressive as the ancient walls of Marrakesh and Fes probably due to the fact that highrise buildings overshadow them.

What's really great:

One thing that is good is the many cafes and pedestrian-only shopping promenades.

Sights:

There are not a whole lot of special landmarks in Casablanca however: La grande Mosquee Hassan II would certainly be on the top of the list. Although it is a modern building (1980) it is of great architecture and can hold up to 25,000 people. It's laser lights from the mineret point towards Mecca and can be seen for many miles out in sea.

Accommodations:

90 durams will get you a double bed, fan, and sink.. the toilet is shared as is the shower.
The service is great, the security is also great (I left most of my stuff there while I ran around the rest of the country) The Hotel is Called "Colbert" I think, The Sheraton is at the end of the street (100 avenue des f.a.r. ) in the city centre. There is a chicken rotesserie restaurant below the hotel.

Published on Thursday October 2th, 2003 by ta-shy

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