Christmas in Casablanca Part 4 and Final

Apologies for the length of this post, but I decided that it was time to close on Casablanca after 4 parts and return to real life once more!!  There were many photos that I did not want to leave out, so this post grew longer than planned! As we were exploring mostly on foot, the daily life of the city centre unfolded in front of us!

Perched on the corner selling Moroccan bread. Vendor's dilemma: either to be visible to potential customers or chance of being run over!

I want one of these :-)

Casablanca's own Twin Towers. Home to an hotel, offices, shops and supermarket.

 A smaller and older mosque than the new Hassan II building shown in Part 1, but you can see the intricate decoration on this one as well.

Loved this photo of the two cats enjoying the warmth of the bonnet below, heated by the engine,  and the sun from on top!

View across the large Park of the Arab League  (sadly rather neglected,with a number of broken and dry fountains) of  the Cathedrale Sacre Coeur in the background. See part 1 for more information on the Cathedral.

Lunch time snooze; guess this is as good as it gets in the park!

In Place Mohammed V near the Post Office, I think this was the only fountain we saw  in working order.  Presumably this is where all the pigeons hang out for water and crumbs, as the birds were everywhere!

The stylish main post office.

 The map of the new tramway, which opened only days before we arrived.  The route (at present) is 30km long, with 49 stops.  

In the centre of Casablanca, there are men at every road crossing, with whistles and flags stopping the traffic and pedestrians, so the tram can run through intersections, stopping  only at designated stops.

 One of the  "space-age" trams running down the centre of an existing roadway. The fares seemed reasonable, and any success in clearing the masses of clogged motor traffic would be a big benefit!

and this is the Place of the United Nations, near the port and market;  the centre of this area appears to be a main gathering and waiting point.

 Restaurant Imilchil, where we had our Christmas luncheon. Lavish decoration in an otherwise very plain and run-down street!

A very Moroccan interior.

The Harissa soup was highly recommended, so we had to try it out, and yes it was certainly a 5 star!

Nigel had lamb cooked with prunes and almonds, which he said was delicious while I had fish (no photo!).  We were surprisingly full afterwards, so ordered fresh fruit for dessert.  We accompanied our meal with an excellent Moroccan Cabernet red wine, which we had not expected to be available.  Many restaurants are Muslim owned or influenced, therefore there is often no alcohol on the menu.

 Our last meal in Casablanca was at the Casablanca Cafe.  We had eaten there earlier in our stay and discovered they had a good set menu, economically priced.   Of course, Casablanca could not be visited without finding some signs of Bogart and Bergman around, and the cafe did not disappoint us!  The famous 1942 film was based on Rick's Cafe, but apparently all filmed in California!!; the name carries on, in a building very near the fishing port. It had very good write ups but the menu wasn't cheap, we thought.

Inside the  period interior of the Casablanca cafe.

Nigel and myself proving that we were there!

Loved these large green eyes. The pavements everywhere have seen better days!

Our return to France and winter weather came as a big shock after sunny Morocco!  Here we are driving home over the Pont d'Aquitaine suspension bridge spanning the Garonne River in Bordeaux.

Morocco was altogether a different and most interesting winter holiday break and the  dry and sunny weather a pleasant relief from the never-ending rain at home!

 

See also - My Life Before Charente Updated 01/02/2013

and my daily photo diary at http://photodiarydps.blogspot.fr/