CASABLANCA IN ONE DAY

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Day 2: CASABLANCA: Plaza de Mohamed V, Medina, Hassan II Mosque - MEKNÈS

The alarm sounds at 7 in the morning and the truth is that after sleeping only 5 hours, yesterday we arrived in Casablanca from the airport after 1 in the morning, we are bursting although with a tremendous desire to start our special Casablanca in one day.
We go down to the breakfast room of JMSuites, our accommodation in Casablanca, at 8 in the morning and after a breakfast of champions we leave our bags at reception and go straight to the Mohammed V Square located just 500 meters from our hotel taking advantage of the walk to take a look at the Sacred Heart Cathedral.
An interesting option to learn more about the history of the city and not miss anything is to book a private tour with a guide in Spanish.

Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Casablanca

Mohamed V Square is where Henri Prost, its architect, gave free rein to his ingenuity.

The square is surrounded by buildings from which many of the country's buildings would copy its architecture years later.

Mohamed V Square

The idea of this itinerary by Casablanca in one day stop by to visit the Mohamed V Square, go up to the Hassan II Mosque, take the guided tour and then stop at the Rick's Cafe to have a drink before returning to the hotel to collect our bags and leave for Meknès, which will be the next stop on our trip to Casablanca, Meknès and Fez at Christmas.
The Visits to the Hassan II Mosque are at 9, 10, 11 and 2 in the afternoon and the idea is to do the first hour, but we did not expect that the road was going to meet us directly in front of the Medina of Casablanca, so we make a quick change of plans and we enter it, passing the visit to the Hassan Mosque II at 10 in the morning.

Casablanca Medina

The Casablanca Medina It is small enough to be oriented quite well between the narrow streets that make it up. Smells, sounds and colors are transporting us little by little to that Morocco that we had not yet found since we arrived and that we like so much. In the Casablanca Medina we have returned to Morocco What we remembered

Casablanca Medina

After getting lost in its streets, guided by our usual travel companion, the CityMaps2Go application, we arrived at Rick's Cafe where we want to make a brief stop to have a drink and see the "movie set"Our surprise is that they open at 12 in the morning, so we have to continue towards the Hassan II Mosque and leave Rick's Café for the next time we come to Casablanca.

Rick's Coffee Casablanca in one day

Nowadays, in Marina, the Marina, a complex of apartments, shopping centers and offices that only stands out before the shanty town that is right next door, is being built at this point in the city.

The new buildings of Casablanca in front of the Hassan II Mosque

More practical information to prepare your trip to Morocco
- 10 essential places to see in Morocco
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Morocco

We arrived at the Hassan II Mosque surrounded by that fog that has not left us since we arrived yesterday and when there are a few minutes to 10 in the morning, we go down to the ticket office where we pay the 120 dirhams per person that costs the entrance (60 dirhams for students) and we wait for our guide to visit us in Spanish.

Fog over the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca

We have to say that this is not a cheap visit, but certainly only for the organization and what you see, it is totally worth it.

Hassan II Casablanca Mosque

Interior of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca

Designed by the French architect Pinseau the Hassan II Mosque is perched on the ocean on land taken to the sea, taking the words of the Koran that say "that the throne of God was erected over the waters".

Interior of the Hassan II Mosque

Its minaret, the highest in the country, measures 210 meters and is crowned by a laser beam that points towards Mecca and is visible 35 kilometers away.

Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca

This is the third largest mosque in the world, with room for 25,000 faithful who can pray directly on a floor equipped with heating, admiring the stars on a folding roof.

Ablution room in the Hassan II Mosque

After the visit of about an hour, we leave the mosque at 11 in the morning and we will take pictures now that the fog has disappeared and has just given us a sunny morning.

Hassan II Mosque with the sun warming us

We have to say that since we arrived at White House We have found a most pleasant environment from all over the world. Many people speak to us in Spanish when we say we are from Barcelona, they are not insistent in the shops and they greet us on the street, turning around when they receive our "bonjour".
We like Morocco and especially those places where tourism seems not to have contaminated local people with their eagerness to shop.

Hassan II Mosque Casablanca in one day.

We continue the walk a few more meters, surrounding the Hassan II Mosque, to have another perspective and after 11.30 in the morning we return to the streets of Casablanca to return to the hotel, collect our bags and take a petit taxi that leaves in the Casa Voyageurs train station, where does our train from Casablanca to Meknès.

Views of the Hassan II Mosque

Petit taxi to Casa Voyageurs

The schedules of the trains from Casablanca to Meknès They are every hour at the hour and ten minutes.
With the time it is we decide that we will get the tickets for the train at 13.10 and so we will have time to eat something.
At the door of JMSuites take a petit taxi that takes us to Casa Voyageurs in no more than 15 minutes for 13 dirhams.
In the same station we take out the train tickets from Casablanca to Meknès in the vending machine for 270 dirhams both in first class.
In the second class it costs 180 dirhams, but for the difference Roger prefers to go first and thus rest better 3 hours and a half.
As it is noon and we have to eat we walk around the station and see that there is only one kind of cafeteria where they have nothing to eat, so we go to a kiosk and carry a bag with snacks that will make us forget about the food for some hours.
The train from Casablanca to Meknès It comes out on time, under a sun that has exceeded 20 degrees at noon and between times of reading, observing the landscape and commenting on the planning of today and tomorrow at 4:00 pm we planted in Meknès, the city that will welcome us the next hours and tonight.
Upon leaving the Meknès train station We take a petit taxi, which are normal taxis, so that we can get close to the Riad Amazigh which is our accommodation in Meknès, in the middle of Medina. As we go through the streets of this city we see how successful the guide of Morocco is saying that this is the quietest of the four imperial cities of Morocco.
If you want to visit Meknès and Volubilis in one day from Casablanca you can book this excursion with a guide in Spanish.

Meknès train station

We arrive at our riad around 16.30 in the afternoon after paying 12 dirhams for the petit taxi that has taken us from the Meknès train station to the Medina.
Although we take the CityMaps2Go and it seems very easy to reach our Riad, from the road where the taxi leaves us (it is impossible for the petit taxi to access the small streets of the Medina, so it leaves us in one of the main streets , with access to cars) we started to go down the streets and we did not find the site until we decided to ask in a shop and a guy kindly takes us without giving us time to even give him a tip.
We arrived at the Riad and after offering us tea with mint and some pastries, the owner tells us that she has a problem with the lights, so she has us several minutes in the lounge waiting to solve the problem.

Pasta and mint tea at Riad Amazigh

After checking in and resting for a few minutes we return to the Medina of Meknès with the intention of enjoying its intricate little streets during the last minutes left in the sun and some stalls of everything you can imagine.

Views of the Medina of Meknès

Book the best rated tours and excursions in Spanish from Fez by travelers:
- 2 day excursion to the desert of Merzouga
- Guided tour of Fez and panoramic tour
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- Excursion to Volubilis, Mulay Idrís and Meknes
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Meat stalls in the Medina of Meknès

Tomorrow is Friday and we have been told that it does not open any post of the Medina, so today we want to have at least that contact that allows us to get an idea of the environment of the Medina of this city that we are really enjoying despite It's only been a couple of hours since we arrived.

Medina of Meknès

We walked for a couple of hours without a fixed destination, losing ourselves in the streets and giving, by chance, with the Lahdime Place Square and its Bab Mansour Al Ali, which inevitably reminds us of Jamaa el Fna in Marrakech having even the same stalls and restaurants in the surroundings.

Lahdime Place Square and its Bab Mansour Al Ali

We also arrived by chance at Meknès Species Market, overflowing with the smells and colors that make us lose track of time and lose ourselves in its streets ending in a stretch of the outskirts of the Medina, following a market.
When we look at the clock and see that dinner time has arrived, we return to the Lahdime Square where we stop at a restaurant for dinner.
We ordered a tagine of chicken and one of meat, plus a cola and water cola for 150 dirhams, something expensive we imagine as being a rather touristy place in the square.

Tajine dinner at Meknès

We have really enjoyed the Medina of Meknès, so different from the one we remember from Marrakech. This is much quieter and above all, much less dedicated to tourists, to say nothing focused on travelers that we see here from time to time, at least at this time of year, that we are not many.
In two hours nobody has called us to sell us something. And we have to say that we have only met a couple of tourists.
This travel to less touristy places and on Christmas dates has its reward.
Only a few minutes to 10 at night and the time has come to return to our Riad to recharge for tomorrow.