I understand why some Westerners are wary of wandering in Casablanca’s Médina on their own, even in broad daylight. It’s just the way it is now - even the most liberal can’t avoid a near constant diet of negative stories about Islam and Moslem countries. That said, if there’s a safe Moslem nation, it’s Morocco and I’ve never had problems.
I plunge into the Médina, knowing full well I’ll get lost, but have a whole day to make my way out. And, as before, I find colour, chaos, delightful people.
Passerby and the king, Mohammed VI.
A cyclist wants to pose.
Proud owner brings out one of his birds (no idea what the birds are) to pose, too.
Even now, many residents, as does this lady, depend on communal taps.
Emerging near the Médina's far end, a pharmacy reassures me in French that I’m more or less on route.
I’ve come to the mosque named for the current king’s father, Hassan II. This link takes you to a previous post showing something of the interior:
http://trainsandboatsandplanesandtheoddbus.blogspot.ca/2014/12/mediterranean-2014-part-thirteen.html
After passing a few minutes watching swimmers below the mosque …
… I return to the Médina.
Then, rounding a corner …
… I come across a carefully tended, idiosyncratic delight in the Médina's heart. Had I set out to find it, never in a million years would I have got there on my own.
Youssef Halabi pokes his head from a door and is happy to pose with his ‘garden’. And he’s anxious to show something else.
On one wall is Youssef’s own painting of the Hassan II Mosque.
Youssef puts on a serious face, his hand indicating ‘there is no god but God’.
With wishes for continued safe travels, Youssef points me in the right direction. In minutes I’ve emerged from the ancient maze and am back in the bustle of 21st Century Casablanca.
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Link to previous post on Casablanca:
