On Wednesday when we got to the hotel, it was fairly late, but we'd not eaten so we went up to the hotel restaurant for dinner and we got a bit of a show from a belly dancer who was working that evening.

Thursday

We went through the ancient Medina for a while in the morning, exploring the small streets the space is huge and easy to get lost in, but not nearly so confusing as the Souk in Marrakesh, before attempting to go to the famous (and not related to the film) Ricks Cafe for a drink, which was unfortunately closed over lunch and opened in the evening. 

From there, we headed into the Central Market, where we stopped for some lunch and sightseeing. After we'd explored the market for a while and got changed at the hotel, we headed to La Bodega for dinner.

Friday

We took a small red taxi to a place called Terrace Gourmad, which had brunch references in Trip Advisor, but turns out it doesn't open until 12. We loitered around for a bit and were the first customers at midday. We had good food even if it wasn't for brunch.

We then took a bit of a tour around Casablanca with a driver arranged by the hotel, starting with the huge Hassan II Mosque, it is one of the largest in the world, and can hold 100,000 worshipers on its grounds at any one time. 

It is a huge structure, that can be easily seen in much of the city. We saw a little of the inside, but we did not get the chance to take the tour that the hotel's concierge had suggested to us.

We drove past the La Corniche beach on our tour seeing the famous beachfront where a Saudi Prince has a palace, there are clubs, and beachfront restaurants. It’s the most obviously touristy place.

We then stopped at the races, as our driver only spoke french it was unclear to us that we had longer, and though we only had a few minutes, so did not stay to watch a race. There is a strong irony in how many people were gambling at the races Friday afternoon after the main Mosque service...

From there, we were taken to the Quartier Goutier and the Twin Centre, two huge towers that, along with the mosque dominate the Casablanca skyline. We didn't know much about them at the time, so had a look around the shops, which are disappointing, before finding a cafe for a cafe creme. 

We later discovered that the Twin Centre, is essentially three things. one tower is offices, one is a hotel with Skybar and the central structure joining them is the shopping centre we went to.

From there we went out to the Quartier Habbous and were taken to the famous Bennis Habous pastries where we bought a lot of pastries for ourselves and for friends who had requested them specifically.

We then went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and had drinks at Cas Bar (a pun I approve of) before leaving for Ricks Cafe for dinner. Anachronistic, but much less cheesy than you'd expect. The restaurant's food is good, the ambience is great and the staff are attentive.

We then took a red cab home and I found the truth of why they are called 'petit taxi' as I was folded up in the back seat, head touching the roof, knees by my chin.

Saturday

Saturday morning, we headed to the large morocco mall on the outskirts of town. Inside there was a lovely tea place on a balcony, a miniature souk of all things as well as an adventure playground for kids and a cinema. The shops are almost all high-end fashion. The food court was absolutely heaving with people getting lunch.

We then headed back to the beach we passed a few days before on our tour. We took a Cab to the La Corniche beachfront in the rain, it took some negotiating, but we finally got a decent price for the cab.

We walked along the front and found a nice looking bar called Tahiti overlooking the water and got a seat undercover by a flaming heater.

It was the first place we went to that served Bier Presson, (Draft) so had 3 of them, and then when I ordered the bill they misunderstood and brought number 4...

During the evening, after we had eaten at the hotel, there was a power-cut and we had to walk down a dark staircase and out the back of the hotel's alley to reach the rallying point as they were unclear what caused the power-cut. When we were allowed back in after it was confirmed safe, it remained dark, and we sat in the room drinking wine in the dark.

Sunday

On Sunday, for lunch, we headed to a  small terraced restaurant hidden behind the city walls called La Scala. It would be very easy to walk past it as it is tucked away, but word of mouth brings people in. The women cook in outside covered ovens, and there are flowers and trees all around. In better weather, the restaurant would spread out in the courtyard. The food was spectacular, though we missed the breakfast by 15 minutes, the lunch menu was excellent. Starting with minced chicken pastilla, I then had a chicken tagine which was delicious but far too much to eat it all!

The rain had stopped by then, so we took another walk through the Medina. We picked up some local kaftan style outfits for my friend, and I got some photos in better weather. When we reached the other side, we decided to take a cab to the next location.

We decided to partake in a Hammam, checking reviews, the best recommendations were for Wing Thai in the south of the city, an odd name for the best Hamman in the city. So we took a cab there from the medina and sprinted from the back of the cab to the front door in torrential rain.

From the Hammam, I wanted to do something equally special and had found out about Sky28 a rooftop bar on the top of the Hotel Twin Centre tower. The smoking detracted from the experience but the views were incredible and after 5 minutes of being there, we were lucky enough to get a window seat looking out over the coast and at Hassan II Mosque. We spent an hour or so there watching the light change, and seeing a double rainbow.

We then cabbed it back to the hotel and got ready for dinner at Basmane restaurant out near La Corniche, a famous and highly-rated Moroccan restaurant with live music and belly dancing. I had the Couscous Royal for main and a giant chicken pastilla for starters. We had Kir Royale aperitif and local wine for the mains. It was a lovely meal. We then took an Uber back to the hotel, for a much lower fare than we were having from the taxi drivers and the car was a BMW rather than a little runabout.

Tuesday

We had a late start to the day, as we were rebooking our flights due to the cancellation. It took an hour on hold to speak to someone but once we got through to a Lufthansa representative they were super helpful and got us booked in for the following day.

For lunch, we headed to the port to try the Restaurant Port la Peche. It was not as I'd imagined,  I was expecting more of a hole in the wall cafe for longshoremen instead of the real two-story restaurant we found. The fish was very good and naturally very fresh given the location.

We took an Uber to the Cultural Centre at Les Anciens Abattoirs but did not find the entrance. The guard on duty had no idea what we were saying. It didn't look like anything was actually going on there.

We walked to the tram stop from Cultural Centre, going past a number of small cafes and stalls. Reading online, we discovered that there were violent clashes ongoing between the Uber drivers and the cab drivers, dragging each other out of cars in certain parts of time. 

We stopped into the Movenpick roof terrace - lovely, relaxing, but the traffic noise intrudes

We then headed down to the Villa des Arts, a small museum set in a converted house with an interesting collection of artworks on its two floors. 

We went past the Cathédrale Sacré Coeur, which was being redone, but it was still impressive. It was then a short walk to the Museum Curiosity, which has a strong vibe of the Horniman museum in east Dulwich vibe.

We then headed down to Irish Pub - very 'Irish inspired' with a lot of memorabilia on the wall. a little bit like what if TGI Fridays did Irish bars, but the beer was good, and the spirit measures were hearty! We ate some Popcorn and some fried chicken, not hugely Irish.

We then took a. taxi to the Souvenir Station and picked up a Moroccan knife, a new wallet and a coat. 

We headed to Café Étoile d'Or for dinner which had good food, good portion sizes and a good price. 

We finally went back to the hotel to pack and drink some wine with Westworld on TV.