Travel Bird | Casablanca - Morocco

Hola chic@s !

Hope you are all doing well and having an amazing summer whenever you are right now (even though you are still waiting to go on a proper summer break like myself #workingirlsummer ahah ) 

Anyway, as I can't stay too long in the same place, we decided to randomly book a flight to Morocco with one of my friends on a day we were both bored to death at work ahah 

So the plan was to go to Marrakech but our dumbass didn’t realise that Marrakech  during the month of August was just hell in terms of temperature ( I might be from sub-Sahara Africa, but I cannot handle 50-ish degrees. That’s just madness fam ! ) 

Hopefully, we switched up the plan and headed to the less touristic city of Casablanca, with its quiet elegance, under the kind and warm aegis of the beautiful Rania, the friend of the friend I was travelling with. 

Casablanca was such a nice weekend getaway. Despite not having the “in your face” and loud charm of Marrakech, the city enjoy a beautiful seaside, a more laid-back vibe and extremely good local food. You definitely wouldn’t be missing out by giving it a try for a first stop in Morocco.

Few things (not an exhaustive list) to do there: 

1) Visit the Hassan II Mosquée: an architectural masterpiece and a place of prayer too, located right to the seaside. I was so mesmerised by all the beautiful adornments of the walls, the orientalist aesthetics, the solemnity of the place... I was a bit sad not to be able to visit the inside of the mosquée (for not being a Muslim,  and it is totally understandable that it is that way). But our friend Rania told me it was beautiful and I can imagine it is.

                                              

 

2) Have a brunch or lunch or dinner at the restaurant “La Squala”: a beautiful place with excellent food and a very impeccable service. We went there for brunch and ate way more than what we paid for. So shouldn’t definitely miss it out 

 

3) Try some traditional Moroccan dishes at the traiteur called “Le Médina”. We ate so goooood ! I don’t even have enough praise words for the quality of food we had there !! And try also one of their local yoghurt desserts, it’s absolutely delicious !! 

4) Go party at one of the fancy restaurants / lounge bars near the seaside. The vibe is good, more “westernised” and you can have good fun. Best having a local friend with you because the bouncers at those places seem to be quite tough and sometime to get in the struggle could be real. But you can just try your luck as well and see. Just make sure to be well dressed when you go there ! 

5) Enjoy a chill afternoon at the beach, taking sunbathes, enjoying the sea motions or even swim for the most courageous one (despite the fact that we are still in summer, the water was quite cold and the waves were also pretty strong, so be careful not to go too far), having nice local snacks (grilled corns are the best, we also have this back in Togo, my country !), and finally enjoy a beautiful sunset on the sea. 

Hope this gave you a little glimpse of “Casa” as the locals fondly call their city, and that I will give you the desire to go visit there as well. 

Stay inspired.