ONCF, Morocco's national rail network, provides convenient connection from Casablanca airport to town, and onward to other major cities.
My hotel just outside the medina in Rabat
The pretty blue-white walls of Kasbah des Oudaias in Rabat.
Love the quiet of the place. These are all residential!
The Atlantic coast
Lots of the locals watch sunset at the coast
Very windy and chilly, look at the waves crashing onto the coast!
Lighted lighthouse at dusk.
One of many food stalls on the streets of the medina. Merguez (lamb sausages) mixed with liver, stuffed into khubz/khoobz ... OMG!
The pretty medina alleys
One of the locals, proud of his house in the medina
Hassan Tower, Rabat's most famous landmark
On the grounds of Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca
Hassan II Mosque is the third largest mosque in the world!
The minaret stands at 210m
Outside, It can hold 80,000 worshippers, while inside can accommodate 25,000 worshippers!
In the mosque, 20,000 devotees (men) can sit on the floor, while the mezzanine can take 5000 (women)
The roof, which weighs 11,000 tonnes, can slide open when needed! Imagine when full with 25,000 devotees, it can get quite stuffy.....
Most of the materials used for the construction of the mosque is from Morocco itself, eg. cedar wood from Ifrane and Asrou, 9 hectares of marble from the Anti-Atlas. An exception is the chandeliers, which are glass from Italy
It tooks 6 years of round-the-clock (24x7) work to complete it! Not to mention 200 cleaners are employed to maintain it!
The location is also specially selected near the Atlantic coast because of a verse from the Quran "The throne of God was built on water" or something like dat.
The seleceted materials like the marble and the titanium gates help to withstand the elements from the sea
Underground, there are areas for devotees to wash/clean themselves before they present themselves to God.
There is also something of a Turkish bath below the mosque premises. However, it has not been open for use yet...
Opposite my hotel in Casablanca
Seafood from the Atlantic ocean. Alot of locals come to this restaurant ordering this combo set...
Fare from the Atlantic ocean!
Sculptures in Casablanca airport
