I anchored my one week of Moroccan travel in early December 2017 from Casablanca, the largest city of 3.5 million people. Also known from the 1942 film Casablanca (but filmed in Hollywood) staring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman (with the famous line, “Play it, Sam!”), this Atlantic coast city is often overlooked in favour of larger tourism draws such as Marrakech, Fes, Essaouira and Tangier. I met up with an Ottawa friend of mine, Normand, who was working during the first part of my stay (and hitched a ride with him for a day’s trip to Rabat) but we were able to travel together later in the week for a day trip to Marrakech before returning to Ottawa.
On my first day of exploring Casablanca I happened by a fish market just a few blocks from the hotel.
Turtle soup anyone?
I was greeted by a friendly merchant inside the market and he convinced me to eat lunch at his outdoor patio table adjacent to his food stall. It was a delicious seafood meal comprised of many types of fish with shrimp and a tasty side dish. I must admit that my French was not up to par and some drama unfolded when he tried to charge me an outrageous price for lunch. I persevered and we struck a compromise before I left to wander on foot for other sites in Casablanca.
I passed by Mohammed V Boulevard and captured a tram passing by. The Casablanca Tramway consists of one 31 kilometre Y-shaped line with 48 stops.
And I too had my sip of tea along the way, with free WiFi.
Hmmmm, doesn’t this look familiar even in another language
And yet another place to buy leather products
I think it was a holiday, families out in a community square.
The street food vendors come out after dark, tasty food.
On another day, I walked along the coast and returned to capture the Hassan II Mosque, the largest mosque in Morocco and the 13th largest in the world. 
My friend Norman and I ate breakfast at a local cafe, for a cheap $2 omelette.
Looks like lunch cooking away.
My friend Normand and I took a tram to a Casablanca beach, Ain Diab, and walked 16 km back to the hotel. We came across a popular island rock outcropping where there’s a tomb of Marabout Sidi Abderrahman who was reputed to possess powers to cure people afflicted by nervous disorders and evil spells.
Sunset from this rock outcropping (not the best image quality, taken with my iPhone 7). I didn’t have my big beast of a camera for the 16km walk about.
My friend Normand and I went out for Chinese food dinner. Something got lost in the translation 🙂
One Canadian dollar is about 7 Moroccan Dirhams (DH)
Near the end of the week we left Casablanca for a day trip to Marrakech. You can view the earlier blog entries from Rabat that occurred on the day I arrived in Casablanca: