Today we left the port of Casablanca at 8:30 am for the 1.5 hour drive to the city of Rabat. Rabat is the political capital city of Morocco. The city dates back to the 7th Century and is one of four Imperial cities. It is a far cry from the hectic warrens of Casablanca. It is a surprisingly modern city with wide boulevards, gardens, and white buildings. It is extremely clean and organised (no loose power wires intertwined around poles and drooping down to the street as we often see in developing countries).
First we stopped at the main Royal Palace, one of 17 the king owns. The king is extremely well respected and loved in the country. Even though the palace is a couple of hundred years old it has a very modern feel to it. Unfortunately we could only view the palace from the exterior.
We then went to the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, which was completed in 1971 and contains the tombs of the late Moroccan king and his two sons. It is extremely elaborate and beautiful. Guards on horseback stand out front but they are far from rigid in their stance unlike their British counterparts. The horses dance about trying to swat away flies.
Next we went to Kasbah Oudaya. Like much of what we saw in the city, it's a Unesco World Heritage site. The walls are white with some blue. It a warren of old homes. Many "Dars" (homes) and cats. As cats are clean, Muslims are allowed to touch cats so many roam freely.
It's right on the Atlantic Ocean so we enjoyed the views of the waves crashing onto the rocks.
We were offered hot (very hot) mint tea and a cookie before walking through the Andalusian Gardens.
Along the way we observed a very contemporary 51 story apartment building being built, the new Four Seasons and Fairmont Hotels, and Dame Zaha Hadid's brand new opera hall that has the fluid appearance of a cobra, all standing near centuries of historical architecture.
Additionally, Morocco will co-host the 2030 World Cup with Spain & Portugal so a lot of other modern construction is underway.
Fascinating to see the country develop so rapidly.
In the end we agreed that we really had rocked the Kasbah!