Travelogue: Morocco [2006] – the final episode {Rabat with a dash of Casa}

Read about what I did before: Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3 and Part 4

Wednesday 28 June

After a long, deserved sleep and a hearty breakfast of more typical fare, Marion and I were given some of Zak’s mother and sister’s traditional clothes worn at weddings to try on. Needless to say, they were gorgeous (the clothes I mean) and we were also fitted with the traditional thick golden belts.

Mayma and Simo then picked us three up to go around Rabat for the last time. Our first stop was at a bakery/sweet maker so we could buy Moroccan sweets to take back to Malta. Their sweets are rich and very, erm, sweet, the ones made with almonds and dripping with honey being the most abundant. Some are flavoured with orange water which is also used in some Maltese sweets. However, unusually, rose-water is also used which gives a delicious original flavour.

We then moved on to the Chellah citadel and gardens, where Roman and Muslim architecture stand side by side. Several storks perched high in their nests continuously clicking their enormous beaks provided a soundtrack to our stroll. We also stopped to feed hard-boiled eggs to eels in one of the ponds, reputedly for good luck.

After Chellah we went back to Zak’s house where his mum had purposely cooked us a meal of couscous, which is usually prepared on Fridays. And to make sure we got a taste of everything, she prepared both a savoury and a sweet mixture. Although it takes some time getting used to, the cultural aspect of communal sharing, including eating from the same dish, which is alien to Western culture, is all part of the welcoming and friendly nature of the Muslim tradition. It was great to experience this great hospitality within a Moroccan family and it definitely made this holiday more special.

Our last few hours in Rabat were spent going round shopping malls so Zak could do his last minute shopping before coming to Malta. We also went to Oudaϊa to get our henna tattoos and back to the Medina to buy our shisha pipes.

Bags packed, it was time to say good-bye and get back on the road. Going past the highway leading to the airport, we kept on going till we actually reached Casablanca, our Moroccan friends wanting to give us a glimpse of this city too! From slums to the high-tech industry area with all the big names in IT present and the beautiful luxurious villas, Casa is a city of extremes. We finally passed by Hassan II mosque, definitely the main reason for visiting Casablanca. This enormous mosque by the sea, the second largest in the world, is so majestic, truly a sight to behold, even by night. While enjoying every minute, the phrase “We’re going to miss our flight!” kept resounding in my head. In fact, all my best holidays seem to be characterised by a mad rush at the airport on the return home (flashback to Italy, 3 days after Expro 2004). We managed to arrive at the airport just in time for boarding, just before the check-in closed most probably. Phew. A swift goodbye to Mayma, and off we were.

To finish off this wonderful adventure of course there had to be a funny incident (funny is probably not the right word here) on the plane. While preparing for take-off, a British couple were going to take their seat, when suddenly the male half caught the attention of a steward and said “I’m afraid we’ve been very stupid, but we forgot we had our camping gas and it’s half full with the rest of our luggage.” What???!!! So, we had to patiently wait as they went down into the luggage hold to find and remove this bloody camping gas. Thankfully, they did not take too long and I’m very glad he remembered before take-off and not mid-flight! The rest of the flight went smoothly by and in a couple of hours we were back in Malta.

So, this brings me to the end of our amazing Moroccan adventure. Inchallah, I’ll be back in this magical land some time in the coming years.