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2015-02-26 Travel: Morocco - Casablanca and Marrakesh

Date: Feb. 25, 2015, 3rd day of our cruise on the Norwegian Spirit
Country: Morroco
Locations: Casablanca, Marrakesh

We had booked a guided tour from Casablanca harbour to Marrakesh and back before we started our cruise because we did not want to miss Marrakesh. In the end we spent 6 hours in the bus and 6 hours visiting Marrakesh, which was rather exhausting and due to ours being a large group, i did not have enough time to take good photos. Plus my new travel cam, an Olympus E-PL-7 went into electronic frenzy and was not working half of the time. But Tom and me got a first impression and will probably visit again.

Smoggy Casablanca

We got up rather early and spotted Casablanca in a grayisch yellow smog cloud..

Welcome to Casablancawe didn't believe the stories about the smog and the smell ... until we arrived. Ugh!

It was very interesting to watch our cruise ship maneuvring in the harbour of Casablanca. There is no dedicated cruise terminal and the harbour looked rather interesting although not exactly beautiful.

will add text later, here are some images

The Kasbah MosqueAs a non muslim tourist you are not allowed to enter the Kasbah mosque (also called el-Manouria or Moulay Al Yazid mosque) but you can enjoy the building from outside. It was built in 1190 and although not as spectacular as the famous Koutoubia mosque it is nevertheless a prime example for the architecture of the "red" city.
Saadian TombsWe only had 5 hours to visit Marrakesh but at least managed to visit the Saadian tombs and the Bahia Palace
Saadian Tombs IIAnother peek into the building
FuchsiaThere were some rather nice flowers in the gardens surrounding the tombs
Marrakesh Mobylette you can recognise recently exchanged parts quite easily
Marrakesh SoukStreetlife in the Souk of Marrakesh, blind shot from the hip
Typically MarrakeshRed walls, palm trees, blue skies, snowy mountains in the back and lots of ACs
Koutoubia MosqueLow sun behind the minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque. Time to head towards our bus and leave Marrakesh.
Back in CasablancaWe returned to our ship rather late in the evening, the harbour was smelly and foggy and we hurried aboard, looking forward to a whole day at sea on our way to Madeira
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