'Casa' famous for a movie that was not shot there


And the Moroccan icon is getting more westernized daily


Sven Hansen, 27, of Kelowna, continues his backpacking trip through Europe and Africa. Here he reports from Casablanca and Rabat:

Since you last heard from us, we were in Marrakesh eating at a food stand in the Djemma el-Fna square.

We were frequent visitors at one stand in particular, nicknamed "Angry lady stand," due to the proprietor of the stand being an angry-looking woman wearing a hat.

Her unsmiling face adorned the menu and she would tower over her food stand just glaring (like the soup Nazi in Seinfeld).

I am sure she is a nice woman as many tourists were getting their pictures taken with her after their meal.

From Marrakesh, we went north to Casablanca, a city that has become world famous due to the film that was not shot there.

Here is lookin' at you, Casablanca.

A metropolitan city, "Casa" is not what I expect most people would imagine it to be. If you are looking for that image, head to Marrakesh.

Casa is still a very interesting city, busy and full of life. The symphony of car horns give the city a life of its own, and the five million people that live there add the rest. You see less and less traditional sights, more people dressing in western-style clothing and less traditional food.

We walked down to the sea to see the impressive Hassan II mosque, the third largest religious monument in the world. The interior holds around 25,000 people, with a possible 80,000 when you include the outside esplanades.

The mosaic work is beautiful, each more breathtaking than the next, but the most impressive is the mosaic adorning the minarette.

We then strolled through the small medina. It was quite standard for a medina, but we noticed there were fewer stalls selling produce, meats or fish. It was more of an open-air mall and goes to show the stark differences between the rural towns and the more metropolitan ones.

Medinas are an integral part of the Moroccan experience -- they are a real step back in time.

Next on our list was the capital of Rabat. The city has two parts to it, separated by the river, Rabat on the west bank and Sale on the east.

Coming to the gates of the casbah, we were rushed by another faux guide, who told us we had to enter soon due to the midday prayers that were about to start.

We told him we wanted to see the casbah ourselves, but he told us we had to leave, which we did not feel was a bad idea at that time.

We visited the Tour Hassan, a half-finished minarette that was supposed to be one of the highest in the world, but crumbled during an earthquake in 1755.

The site also houses a mausoleum of Moroccan kings of old, including the grandfather of our good friend Mohammed.

The next city on our route was Meknes. We walked down to see the massive city walls and the large gate of Bab el-Mansour. Meknes used to be the capital of the Moroccan sultanate in ancient times, and it reflected in the buildings and walls encircling the city.

Tomorrow we head back to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta to await our ferry back to Spain.

In a few days' time, we will be in Cairo, where the next episode of this adventure begins.


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