Morocco - Overseas Adventure Travel tour
April 5-25, 2022
Part Two - Main trip on Morocco tour
Page Eight - Marrakesh and Casablanca
In Marrakesh. It is the fourth largest city. It is one of the 4 Imperial Cities.
The city is situated west of the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.
Shown is the Kutubiyya Mosque, the largest mosque in Marrakesh.
It is in the medina (old city).
Walking to the riad where we stayed. Passing donkeys is common.
At LeJardin Secret in Marrakesh, 400 year old palatial estate.
The riad-museum Le Jardin Secret is one of the largest and most ancient
palaces of the medina of Marrakech. It is a place that has kept
structures intact that are of an extraordinary cultural value, linked to
the art of gardens, a good example of Islamic art and architecture.
In the past, it housed elite and influential political figures.
Djema el-Fna is a square and market place in Marrakesh's medina.
It is the main square of Marrakesh.
Bahia Palace, a 19th century palace that has 150 rooms with
large fireplaces and intricately painted cedar work on floors,
walls and ceilings. This is the open air Court of Honor.
Garden area at Bahia Palace
A mother and several baby kittens were wandering
the garden area.
At a rug maker in Marrakesh
La Mamounia Hotel entrance. The hotel is a former royal estate dating
from the 12th century that is rated the best hotel in the world
by travel magazine Conde Nast Traveler.
We took a horse drawn carriage ride
in Marrakesh.
Getting ready for a hot air balloon ride on the outskirts of Marrakesh
We got up very early to start the ride around sunrise.
Up in the air in the hot air balloon, we saw the
Atlas Mountains in the distance.
Village seen as we were starting to land in an open field
Some of the kids that gathered after we landed
We were picked up by a van at our landing spot.
Driving away we saw numerous farmers starting the day with
their farm animals
in the early morning sunlight.
At Jardin de Majorelle, a beautiful botanical garden in Marrakesh
It was created by the French artist Jacques Majorelle over almost forty years,
starting in 1923, and features a villa designed by the French architect,
Paul Sinoir in the 1930s. In the 1980s, the property was purchased by the fashion
designers,
Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Berge who worked to restore it.
Today, the garden and villa complex is open to the public. The villa houses
the Berber Museum, and in 2017 the Yves Saint-Laurent Museum opened nearby.
I had never seen so many varieties of cactus.
Night view of the Kutubiyya Mosque
Most of the group at our riad in Marrakesh, taken before we departed
to head to Casablanca for our final night. Two women
of the very friendly and nice staff of the riad are in the photo.
A pastilla, another staple. Can be made with fish, meat, poultry.
Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca,
largest mosque in Morocco. Has the 2nd largest minaret (689 ft. high)
in the world.
Overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.
An egret nearby. We saw a lot of egrets.
The mosque's size is demonstrated by how small Mike
from our tour group looks in this photo.
Completed in 1993, it was designed under the guidance of King Hassan II
and built by Moroccan artisans from all over the kingdom. The
minaret is 60 stories high topped by a laser, the light from which is directed
towards Mecca. The walls are of hand-crafted marble and 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.
The prayer hall inside
A ceiling in the mosque
In the Hassan II mosque basement where there is an ablution hall
with 45 marble fountains representing lotus flowers.
The people wearing masks are from our tour group.
Another view of the ablution hall where Muslims
wash their hands, forearms, face and feet before prayer.
There is one hall for men, and one hall for women.
For fans of the movie "Casablanca," here is
Rick's Cafe in Casablanca, designed to be a replica
of the one in the movie. The following morning, April 25,
I had to get up at 2am to catch a 6:30am flight from
Casablanca to Paris, then a flight to Detroit followed
by the final flight to Denver, arriving around 11:15 pm at
the airport, which was
the following morning Morocco time.
THE END
Link to Part One: Pre-trip
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