Here's Looking At You Kid

The next morning, Hamid drove us the three hours or so to Casablanca.  We slept much of the ride, only waking to stop at a rest area to use the facilities and get a quick drink of water (Rachid had coffee and a muffin).  The rest area off the highway was clean, large, and had few customers.  

Rachid chalked it up to the fact Moroccans are not early risers (in Marrakech, we were picked up each day at 10 am, as nothing opens early, with today's drive being the one exception, as we were picked up at 9 am.   

Our first stop in Casablanca was at the city hall/mayor's office.  A city of six million people, Casablanca is definitely not the old, small town from the movie (a movie I've never seen, but I know the classic lines).  The building, a former palace, is quite beautiful inside, as you will see from the photos below.

Rachid had a lengthy discussion with the guards before we were let in, and Carol and I thought that we would not get in.  After all, you can't fight city hall!  But either Rachid was persuasive OR we misunderstood the discussion, the involvement of a superior officer; it does not matter, as we got in.  There were other, larger tours (it's not hard to be larger than a tour of two!).

I noted that my dad had been mayor of Sparta, New Jersey, and town hall looked nothing like this palace!

The first courtyard in City Hall.

They don't have a small fountain

in the Sparta, NJ Town Hall!

The main courtyard.

The entry way.  The King, Six 

Flags, and a Great Adventure.

The minaret just 

outside City Hall.

The flag of Morocco.