What a day! After a yummy breakfast including freshly cooked omelettes, strong coffee and gold leafed biscuits we headed off on a three hour tour. Gilligan’s Island fans will recognise the danger in this and we were indeed gone for longer… about 5 hours for the tour, then lunch at a restaurant in the casbah/medina/old town. After a short digestive walk home and a good cup of coffee at a cafe up the road, it was home for a very short feet up before the four of us headed back to Le Rooftop bar so Lynn and Loie could share the experience.
After breakfast we were picked up for our tour with Mehdi (our driver) and Sila (our guide). First stop, the jawdropping Hassan II Mosque
The Hassan II Mosque is the second largest functioning mosque in Africa and is the 14th largest the world. Its minsret is the world’s second talkest at 210 metres (689 ft). Completed in 1993, it was built by Moroccan artisans from all over the kingdom. The minaret is 60 stories high. The walls are of hand-crafted marble, with cedar woodwork also featuring. Incredibly the roof is retractable. A maximum of 105,000 worshippers can gather together for prayer: 25,000 inside the mosque hall and another 80,000 on the mosque’s outside ground. (Wiki)
Next stop, Church of Notre Dame of Lourdes and the impressive stained windows
Then to Sacre Couer
Next, the Corniche for views of the Mosque
Finally, into the medina (where Sila lives) for an insiders perspective. This was an experience we never would have tried on our own… a maze of small lanes and intimidating in its “differentness” we were the only westerners there and we would have been very uncomfortable (and lost!) without Sila.
Street art seen throughout the day
Back to Le Rooftop at the Royal Masour Hotel … not much arm twisting required
FRENA Tahini with sumac and zhoug
Morocco Food Tour 