Cruise Day 5 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

We finally woke up to nice weather! Although the Canary Islands do not get tropical hot, they usually stay around the same 20-24C range all year and with our luck, we figured we'd get the 20C side.

I knew nothing about Las Palmas. I had seen videos from The Unofficial Travel Guides about Fuerteventura, but that one looked like it might be drier than the other islands (it's the lower one on the right).

 If you had to draw an island created by a volcano, this would be what most people drew!

We had no plans for the day. I had found out there were two beaches. A calm one kind of in the port area, and another one that others said would be a 15 min walk, through downtown to the other side. 

As we ate breakfast in The Galley, we could see Hop On, Hop Off buses lined up. I quickly looked it up and it seemed reasonable. 

We headed on to land and saw some people handing out pamphlets who said you could buy the HOHO bus tickets at the tourist centre right there. So we joined the line. It was quite sunny and warm. Before we got to the building (it was tiny inside, maybe enough for 1 or two in the line), we heard they were out of tickets. But they said they could still sell tickets. We were so confused. They didn't really explain but since they obviously knew we were there for just the day and they were still selling, we bought and headed towards the line of buses. 

The buses were basically at the corner of the harbour

It was still confusing. There was a long line, and some people had tickets, some didn't. There was a stand near the first bus to buy tickets. There was a nice British lady walking up and down the line answering questions. Apparently, even though we had tickets, we had to wait in the same line. The couple ahead of us asked her if they should do the whole route first, or get off at the beach. She said to get off at the beach because otherwise, they're wasting their time going all the way around and back again. I wish we had listened to her!

We got up to the front and the first bus seemed to be full so it sat there until it's departure time. Then they started boarding the second bus, we were maybe 2nd or 3rd couple in line. The bus was not ready though--the phone with the scanning program wasn't even turned on yet. By the time we got on the bus, it was probably 40 minutes since getting off the boat. 

Upstairs, several of the audio devices were obviously broken. Ours was half working. Rob said he didn't care about listening anyway. We started off, and the bus goes through downtown. 

Waiting to go, 10:35AM. 

I was really loving these Halloween nails. Having long nails is not my thing, but these were fun! And, they glowed in the dark!

Downtown was interesting. Old meets new. A little smelly being on the open deck of the bus though

Gabinete translates literally to cabinet, but also office. The single letter y means "and".  I think you can assume the rest LOL.

Click on any picture if you want a bigger view, and then you can scroll through them all.

Some sort of Christmas tree!

A plane

Auditorio de Alfredo Kraus--a concert hall. 

The bit of the island that is north of the port

It felt like there were a lot of bridges once we were out of the downtown

I had no idea where we were. I was listening to the audio tour, and I had a map with the route. The problem was the audio would say "The next stop for the beach" but there'd be nothing--audio or visual-- to indicate when when we were at the stop. Being upstairs, and on the road side (not sidewalk side), we couldn't see if we were at a stop, or a red light, or stopped for traffic. So we didn't even know where to get off for the beach. There was also a detour around one of the stops that was for the beach, I think. 

Funny to see things we associate with the cold, snowy winter when it was....

Yes, that is reading 28C. So much for 20-24C!!

Euro per litre....one Euro was about $1.50 Canadian.

The quieter beach in the habour area. We like waves, not still bathwater.

Charming area of town, if you like living perched on the side of a hill. Can you even drive to your home?

Once the bus got back, we were getting hungry. It was probably around 12:30. We went into the large mall (it was behind the tourist centre), there was a sign for a McDonald's. We couldn't find it. Much of the mall was under renovation and there wasn't many actual stores. What was fun was seeing all the kids dressed up for Halloween!! It was a Thursday but I don't know if they had the day off school, or if they were field trips to the mall, but there were class groups of kids, as well kids with parents. There were a few businesses (and empty stores) doing events. We headed back to the ship for food.

This ferry company goes all around the islands. It's 3.5 hours to Tenerife, which was our next port. So I guess if you miss the cruise ship, you could just take the ferry! Starting at 19Euros. However, it leaves at 10pm and 4am. There is one on the other side of  Gran Canaria that is a shorter trip to Tenerife. The one in the picture was likely going to Huelva, which leaves at 1:30pm (there's also a ferry to Fuerteventura). Huelva is a 42.5 hour ride there, and 40.5 hours back! Huelva is in Spain, on the Atlantic coast, near the Portugal border. Fred Olsen also goes between the other islands. 

We thought we might take the bus back to the ocean beach, or even just walk, but we were both tired. I am a bit disappointed we didn't do it though!

What did we do? I have no pictures, no notes. I know we didn't go to the show, which was Persephone, which we saw right at the end of the trip. There was a lot of live music this night, so we probably just chilled. 

For dinner, we went to Gunbae. We had been looking forward to it. We had a 5:45 reservation and were one of the first tables to sit. We had some interesting couples/singles at the table. We played one drinking game, which I think I won and Rob lost on the first round LOL. We tried the sharing plates, and most was quite good. I'm sure it was all good, just not to my taste buds! I recommend the crispy fried chicken!

As we were leaving, the manager called my name. What? He wanted to inquire about our experience the other night and why were weren't totally satisfied. Took me a minute to realize. Every night you get a quick survey on the app, asking about an experience/interaction from the day. I had responded on the night we went to Razzle Dazzle that our meal experience hadn't been as good as the first two times in the restaurant. I explained that our waitress just seemed to lack any razzle dazzle or speed, and there was a mix up on my drink but we were still happy. I got a little scared to do the rest of the surveys, but also, I know they're important. 

We did get the last of our Splash of Romance treats (except the champagne). Although these were lovely, they also did not really appeal to me. They weren't bad, actually, but the Saffron and Ginger gummies were too strong, even though I like ginger. I wish they had paced out the treats to go over both weeks.

This might have been the day I got some peanut brittle for Rob from the Social Club because they hadn't had any for a few days and he liked it. Well, it broke off a crown! Ooops!

We were having an early start the next day so we had an early night.

Also....as part of the Splash of Romance package there was supposed to be a champagne night under the stars with live music. Originally for day 2, but that was bad weather. I'm not sure when it ended up happening, but it was inside at On The Rocks, where a lot of the live music was. 

Cruise Day 4 Sea Day

 We had a time change overnight which should have meant an extra hour of sleep, but really, as most people, it just means you get up an hour earlier. It was also pretty rocky on the ship. Our room was in a good location for it, but you could feel it in the halls. I'm not sure when we found out, but in the medical clinic there is a vending machine with free packets of sea sicknesses med, pain killers, antibiotic ointment, etc.  That was pretty handy, so you didn't have to go to Guest Services. Despite the roughness, we never saw sea sickness bags anywhere like some people have shown on other ships.

This was nice it was a sea day though,  despite the rough night.  

In the morning we went to a lecture on the history and resilience of the Canary Islands. It was interesting. It's a top destination for digital nomads--beautiful weather, quick flight from western Europe, large populations of Brits, Spaniards (it is Spanish), French and Germans. 

I was looking forward to going to these islands as it's unlikely we'd ever get back there. They're not really close to anywhere, except the western shore of Africa!

I don't remember why there was a slide about China during the presentation! I think it had to deal with island nations, island states, etc.  

I also missed out on another Knit Happens meet up. It was still on when the lecture ended but I felt weird about going half way through.

It actually brightened up outside by afternoon. It wasn't all that warm though. This is Rob trying to stay warm in the breeze.

We had brunch at the Wake, and Rob declared it his favourite restaurant. Or, at least, the filet mignon is his favourite. 

None the less, we somehow ended up at the Dock and raised the flag for some of the little nibbles! They are so good, grilled up right there.

This is what the morning looked like, so it was great that it cleared up for the afternoon. It wasn't hot, but definitely warmer than Casablanca. 

We could see a rain storm over off in the distance though! That's something that's really cool about being on the sea. I love seeing the storms at a distance! Much better than up close!

I was waiting for Rob on deck 6 by the elevators and I noticed there was a Sephora store! Usually we come out of the elevator at head the other way, or come down the stairs and just don't notice.

I just noticed while sitting there that I was wearing Sephora colours! LOL. 

Dinner was at Extra Virgin, our first time. I think Rob had the meatballs for an appetizer and ragu for the main, and wished they had been one dish. I don't really remember what I had. Maybe the ribollita, which is actually a soup--not that you could tell from the menu) and the carbonara.  I think we had the cheese course as well. I might have had the limoncello sorbet. The food was all really good, but just not my thing...like, everything had at least one ingredient I didn't want (crispy beef tendons? So many different mushrooms...). I found this many times in the restaurants. It was too fancy. 

Our server, Zaza (I think) was really sweet. We had a nice chat with her and that was something really nice about this cruise. Staff were not at all overworked, and quite often looked a bit bored! Outside at the pool, there was often no one lounging because it was chilly. With so many bars and so few people, staff weren't madly dashing around. Some said it was a nice break, others said they prefer the hustle times because the calm trips made the days longer. It had been really busy on the ship until our cruise.

After dinner, the Halloween parade was forming at the top of the round about stairs. It was great seeing SO MANY costumes! Some simple, some quite elaborate. I didn't take pictures because I didn't want to invade anyone's privacy and share them online. We loved the one Canadian couple dressed in yellow No Name outfits. If you know, you know! The problem was, it was so busy, there was no where to really watch. The people walked past the Next Cruise desk (the Chart Room?) where the judges were, and the line of contestants wrapped all around the opening and down the hall. So you could maybe find a spot to see people from the back, or while they waited in line. I think the line should have gone straight down the hall, or even down the stairs and had the judges at the bottom. I wasn't expecting so many costumes!

The day plan guide is a little confusing as to what happens next. The parade said 7:30-9:00pm, and I was expecting more of an actual parade situation. Then it says Halloween: Sirens and Sailors Costume Ball, 10:00pm-12:00, Red Room, and Sirens & Sailors Afterparty, 11:00pm to late, at the Manor. I seem to remember it being in the Manor. We went and there was a great DJ and we were in the upper level. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, it was the Red Room! It was the first time we saw it without the seats, which is why I was thinking it was the Manor. They announced the winners at 11pm I think. It was a fun dance, even though we weren't dancing. The group prize went to Gilligan's Island, the DIY prize went to the champagne bubbles (I think), and the main prize to the Steampunk Vampires. It was amazing to see how complex some costumes were, and how much stuff was needed! We couldn't have fit anything!

I found a video of the party! You can see the steampunk vampires near the beginning, sitting in a bar.

It was a nice chill day. I really don't recall much from the day LOL. 

Cruise Day 3, Casablanca Morocco

 I was SO excited for this port day. I couldn't believe we were actually going there. Not a place I ever thought we'd go, so never on a bucket list (don't really have a bucket list though). Just like Barcelona, it was fun to research somewhere new! 

We decided that because the ship was in port for so long (I think departure was 10pm), that we would do a non-ship excursion. It's a big city, with lots of options. After watching some videos, I knew what places I wanted to see and experience and I started looking on Viator. It can be very overwhelming looking for tours. The cruise group I'm part of on FB had no suggestions. I hadn't yet joined the VV FB group for our trip. I decided to just pick one tour website (Viator) and go from there. 

We thought we'd dock at the new cruise port, and would be able to go over to the cruise marketplace and get some McDonald's/Burger King. But unfortunately, we docked at a pier in the industrial section. We were panicking about how to meet the tour, since I had put "Cruise Port" for the pick up location. I tried connecting through the Viator app and they responded back which gave me some piece of mind, but we were still pretty wound up!

We headed out, following the crowd through the customs/security building. Once outside, we spotted a man with a sign with some names, including ours. He directed us to "the first van" and pointed to a short row of vans. We headed over but doubted if he meant the first one at the far end or the first one at the near end. We got it figured out and climbed aboard. There seemed to be a total of 11 or 12 people. Often with these group tours you get lucky and there might be one or two couples, so it was a bit disappointing to see a "big" group, but really, it wasn't big at all. 

Our guide, Mohammad, was funny! Very smart, very educated, could speak many languages (he sampled Spanish, French, German, Italian, Korean!). The first bit of business was finding out who had tickets for the Hassan II Mosque. What? I had booked a tour that had tickets included! It seems that they sell several different tours and maybe due to numbers, they got combined. There were two couples that didn't want to go in to the Mosque. So he had to figure out what they were going to do. Then he asked who had bought lunch. What?! I had seen tours with lunch listed, but I was hoping we'd either have a small group and would get to chose a spot, or have time somewhere to grab food. He said we could buy our own food if we hadn't purchased the tour with lunch. Okay...

(Click on photo to open a photo viewer for larger photos) In looking at the photos again now that I'm working on this post, I think we were actually docked at the third pier, on the left side of it (where the label "Ship docked here" actually is, not where it's pointing to). As we walked back to the ship, it was on our left side.

Before we got to the Mosque, we stopped at Rick's Cafe. The movie (Casablanca) was actually not filmed at all in Morocco. We didn't get to go in, but did get a quick photo:

The guy on the right was a Spanish speaking fellow, travelling solo (at least on this tour). He had a lot of camera gear and took a lot of photos. Pretty quiet guy though. The girl in the pink sweater hopped into a car with another girl and they seemed to be on a private tour. Our guide was very big with compliments throughout the day, and he started it off with complimenting my camera. Just a Canon, not even a DSLR. I guess he doesn't see many actual cameras anymore!

We headed to the Hassan II Mosque. It's a huge complex! It's the 2nd largest (functioning) mosque in Africa, and 14th largest in the world! Out of curiousity, I Googled a list of the largest mosques. Wow!! The total capacity is for all the buildings, promenades, plazas, etc. Incredible. 80 000 can pray outside, 25 000 can pray inside. The minaret is 689ft, the second tallest in the world. 

We got a golf cart ride across the plaza because one of our group had a walker. We had to wait outside for a little bit, I think until it was our tour time.

This is the area on the map where you enter the plaza, I think. There's buildings on either side. 

I mainly wanted to come here for the architecture and tile work. I remember going to Epcot Centre in 94 and our honeymoon in 97 and falling in love with the tile work and metal work. 

This is Rob on our honeymoon, at the Morocco pavilion at Epcot Center. I don't know if I made him pose or he just started doing it, but there were lots of photos of him like this LOL.

I also loved Kaffe Fassett knitting patterns that were based on tile work. The geometry just amazes me.

None of the fountains were running, because of drought. We tried to find out if they are used for pre-prayer washing but couldn't get that info. 

When you enter the mosque, you must remove your shoes. They even give you a reusable bag to put your shoes in and carry with you. There are also benches off to the side which is a thoughtful touch.

Upon entering the mosque, our guide turned us over to another guide, his "brother from another mother", friends forever. Another well spoken, well educated man but I forget his name. However, we merged with another, larger group, and we weren't all that certain who was part of our group since we had mainly seen the backs of heads on the bus. We were worried about getting left behind!

Most of the materials are from around Morocco, except the 56 chandeliers.

The roof can divide and retract, in 5 minutes. This is their ventilation system for when there's 25 000 people in here praying.

We didn't find out what this recessed area was for. Some parts were glass and you could see into the fountains (ablution area) below. On Wikipedia, it says there's a view of the ocean, and that it's built over the ocean, but there's no glass floor. 

Incredible...they could just go with the standard plastic poles and fabric ribbon barricades like at amusement parks or the airport, but no. Everything was designed to be pleasant, interesting to look at.

The mosque has these pillars, and the sound system was designed to be integrated and not noticeable (as opposed to just about everything else in the building!). In between the two columns, you can see the very skinny, long speaker. You can see the one at the back too. They were all around.

This is from the ablution area under the mosque. It was also incredible. There is also areas for getting traditional hammam, which is a massage and body scrubbing. Like in the mosque, men and women are separate.

This picture helps to show the scale of the building. Massive. Keep in mind, only men are in this centre section. There are sections for women off to the sides, on an upper level. I wish I had taken more pictures. We just didn't know how long we'd be there, or how much there was to  see in the tour. I wish I had thought to use the panoramic feature on my camera!

We had been  told to "wait there" for Mohammad. Our group sort of re-grouped, I guess each person was recognizing someone else in the group. It helps that Rob's pretty recognizable! We didn't know exactly where we were supposed to meet him, and it was kind of rainy. Did we meet where he left us, or where we got on the golf carts? He had said if we needed a ride to let him know... There was the one couple that did need a ride. I believe the rest of us decided to walk across the plaza to where we had gotten on the golf carts initially. Indeed, we found him and the van.

I think that's our van.

What an incredible place to see. I can understand some not wanting to go in, based on religion, but I feel knowledge is power and the key to getting along. Just like when at the Sagrada Familia, I could feel the importance of the building to their spiritualness. I am happy that these people can buildings they can be proud of, that might help build bridges among communities. As an atheist, I get these feelings when in the glory of the great outdoors, in certain places, but still sometimes yearn for something more symbolic and static.

We drove along the coast, saw the lighthouse and La Corniche--the trendy beach area. Then we drove around ANFA, a well to do area of 330 000 people! You can see how small the scale is in the picture. Casablanca is a very compact city. This is where the diplomats and ex-pats live, as well as upper class locals. We're talking, the richest of the rich. My red lines on the map above are NOT how we drove, obviously. I see I drew from the Royal Palace to the Sacred Heart Church, but we actually went to the Church of Notre Dame of Lourdes, which is near the Royal Palace. Well, we went past it...

Square of Mohammad V was next in the tour listing, along with Church of Notre Dame of Lourdes and Old Medina of Casablanca. Now, we went to the Habous (also Hubous and Habbous) which means:  an inalienable charitable real estate endowment for Islamic religious purposes or charity. Not sure what the "inalienable" part means! However, we were told that the land was gifted to the people by a Jewish businessman. Wikipedia goes a bit deeper, saying that it wasn't appropriate for a Jew to gift land to the Sultan, so a government entity was created. It was developed around 1916, when the French were still newly in control. There is so much French influence in Casablanca, from the streets being called "Rue" to names of businesses being French. This is also known as "The New Medina" and "The Old New Medina."

This is the Mohmaddi Mosque, from the 1930s.

This is the Great Habous Olive Market. 

Mohammad bought a bag of a variety of olives which we all passed around and sampled. I'm not sure if anyone in the group actually bought any. It was a dreary, drizzly period. 

On the walk back to the van, we passed little shops but we weren't given time to go in and shop.

Not sure what kind of tree this is, it was along the street, and fairly large. 

From here we went over to the Royal Palace.

There were armed guards at the gatehouse, and we were told we would have to wait. They "don't usually allow people to come in and take photos." we were told. About 5 minutes later though, we were let in to the compound. This is where the royal family works, not lives is what Mohammad told us. However, Wikipedia says this is where they live. Whatever. Might have been a language/accent thing. Anyway, the Palace itself is not open to the public.

I wonder if the bigger doors actually open and how heavy are they?

I Googled, and there are photos online (Trip Adviser) of the ceremonial guards. That's not what we saw.

Mohammad did not pass up an opportunity for a photo. He said to please post videos on YouTube so he can become famous LOL. The palace was built in the 1920s, and it's interesting how it's quite plain, except for the doors, the photo opportunity area.  Hey, look at the light pole! I wish I had seen our honeymoon photos before we came; I would have made Rob hug it!

Yeah, I'm wet and not very warm. Not what you expect for Morocco! 

We had noticed that almost everywhere, the cars were newer. Mohammad exclaimed that Casablanca is the financial centre of Morocco and people believe in presenting their best sides and no one wants something old looking.

We drove on, past the Notre-Dame de Lourdes cathedral. Kind of ugly, but Wikipedia says it's cool inside. 

We were supposed to go inside but apparently it was closed. There was another cathedral on the list we were supposed to see, L'Eglise du Sacre-Coeur, but I don't know what happened with that. A couple times we stopped but no one wanted to get out for photos in the rain. After passing this Catholic church (remember, the French controlled Morocco for a while), I really don't know where we went. This is where it got super confusing. There didn't seem to be a stop for the Central Market, or the Old Medina, or the other cathedral. We were told we were going to the Arts Collective, an amazing treat because it's not always open. This is where handicrafts and rugs are sold. 

First we stopped at Mohammad V square. On the map earlier, it's right near the church we didn't go to. The red line basically goes through the square. Our guide again posed for pictures and one of our group got pooped on. 

Rob wanted a picture of the brown pigeon at the lower left. Yes, he has his own phone/camera!

Google Lens tells me this is the Consular General of France building. It's right by the Mohammad V square. 

At some point in the day, Mohammad produced a box of traditional cookies. We could have half of one. They were quite good, but I had really wanted to go to a bakery in person.

I really wish I knew where we went next! It's not in the description. Somewhere I read that if selected, you'd get to go to a secluded cafe and have mint tea. I can't find that anywhere now in the tour info though. 

We were in an older section, with smaller streets and older vehicles. I was trying to take a picture of a truck but there were people standing around and I didn't want to do it with them there. If I had that, I might be able to Google the location!

We passed by a man reading a magazine with women in swimwear, and were ushered into the back room of a business and sat on benches around the room. Somehow we ended up right in the middle of the back. They started off with offering mint tea, with or without sugar. Many were unsure about this, but it was fine. 

As we waited, they started their sales, oh, I mean, educational, spiel. This place dealt directly with the rug making collective of women out in the mountains. We learned about the different fibers that are used (wool, agave, camel and more). We learned about how they're made.

I really liked this blue one! Very different but not crazy different. 

Not sure why I took this picture. They were all pretty neat. The agave fibers were pretty cool. They're sort of like silk, good for allergies and I think if you have pets.

This one was also cool, and reminded me again of Kaffe Fassett designs.

They kept bringing them out, from different regions, different sizes and colours and styles.

I also liked the couple neutral coloured rugs they had.

Then, they teach you "yes" (?maybe?) and "no" in Arabic, I believe. As they roll up each rug, they want you to answer yes or no, if you wanted more information. Which they didn't give you right then. Somehow, it whittled down to me and a group of Australians beside us speaking for the whole group.

At the end, there were only two of us (I think) that wanted more info--an Australian and me. They took each of us into separate rooms of this stuffed business, and the rest of the group headed to a pharmacy. The seller said the rug was from his tribe and wasn't it lovely. It's only 1200, including shipping. I ask if that was Dirhams, Euros, American dollars...what currency. It was US dollars. Mmmm'kay. Too much for me. I said that's more than we would spend on carpets, we're just not into buying things like that, especially while on vacation. Oh, but shipping is included!! The Australian had mentioned that she'd had many rugs shipped from Morocco with no problem. I said it was just out of our budget. He asked how much we would spend. I said "Well, we bought a rug a few years ago from a local shop and it was about $250, we're frugal type people." He looked and me, pointed to the doorway, and said "We're done, please leave."

Ooohhh. I wasn't saying we'd pay $250 for THAT rug! It was gorgeous! If money wasn't a concern (and yes, I know, we were in the middle of a 2.5 week international trip), I would have gladly spent $1000US. But you've also got to figure the exchange rate. Not in our favour!

We got out and found the Australians who also did not buy, and we headed into some "pharmacy". In there, we were ushered to a back room with rows of benches in an L shape, with a podium/table in the middle. There, a funny but bit racy, black man told us about each of the lotions and potions they had for sale. Morocco is known for the argan oil, and I was hoping to get some but the best deal was multi packs and I didn't need that much or wanted to spend that much. 

Then. He told us about black seed. What kind of seed? Black seed. Google tells me it's probably black cumin seed. He said it's amazing for congestion, snoring, respiratory issues. He puts a bit in a piece of cloth, and rubs his palms over it vigourously. Then he went up to the first person at the end of the bench and  

WHAM

to the bottom of her nose. Not a gentle "Sniff this". No way. It was forceful and her head moved back. We were all a little shocked but then he walked down the bench doing it to each person. Rob managed to get his hand in front of his face, and I backed my head up hoping just to get a little sniff but he sniff made full contact with me. I was the last of the 11 or 12 of us. I hoped no one was sick!!!! I would have liked to buy it but Rob said no way, we'd probably get searched. 

After that, we waited in the main area while some people bought stuff. Many needed the washrooms, which were little cubicles opening to the main area, with swinging doors, not even full doors. One man got stuck in his cubicle! 

We headed outside, hungry, wet, tired. Finally, we were going for lunch. We were assured we could order off the menu and pay individually. I had taken note of the restaurant name on my phone, thankfully....Solamo's Cafe.

Some of the group were seated inside the restaurant, and some of us were seated in a sort of outside covered area. I think those of us outside were the ones that hadn't paid for lunch already. It had lovely green velvet seats, but something felt sketchy. There were extension cords everywhere, things seemed disheveled, there was a very skinny cat who was lame in the rear end. 

I took this photo so Rob could see all the cords behind him LOL. 

We had a great time talking with the other couples, something that was really hard to do on the bus or at the various stops. There were people from all over the US. One couple had been hiking the El Camino and when it was time to return to the US, they found out the cruise was cheaper than air fare (we heard this at another time from another couple that were in Spain for another reason). 

We ordered tagines, since we were in Morocco. The ones we chose were lemon and olive, and I thought that would be a really cool combo.

It came with big piles of French fries! Everyone else that got it said the same thing. It was interesting. The chicken didn't really have much flavour, but the sauce was okay. Not what I was expecting, but it was 3:30pm and we were starving! It wasn't too expensive, 

While we were sitting there waiting, the Australian people walked past and out to the sidewalk. Rob said they were stopped by someone who wouldn't let them walk away on their own. They walked back up to around where we were, so we got up and formed a big group. They did not have a good experience--one said their chicken was raw so none of them ate the chicken. They were appalled with the French fries. Everyone else thought the food was "okay" but not what they expected. 

While researching this post, I found the restaurant on the map and was surprised at how close it was to the Hasan II Mosque. I don't know if the Australians were going to walk to the Virgin Voyages shuttle bus that comes to the Mohammad V square, or the tram, or to the mosque or even to the ship. 

 The red pin is where the cafe is, it would probably be a 20 min walk to the port but not sure about through the port itself. 

However, the most incredible thing I found out while researching...five months before we were there, the 5 story building next to the cafe FELL DOWN. Partially on the restaurant! 

The restaurant is between the pile of rubble and the white building. According to their FB/IG pages, they had to close for awhile, but I don't know how long. This explains why pictures I found on Google, Trip Advisor, etc did not seem to match with what we remembered. It seems they had not totally finished repairs. Also, menus and reviews on line showed that they were "known" for their pizza--but we don't recall seeing a pizza menu!

New research says "the owner of the neighbouring cafe that was affected" might be partially responsible because they removed a concrete support. The buildings were evacuated 15 minutes before the collapse! At the right edge at the start of

this video, you can see the corner of the cafe sign. On this page, you can watch an actual video! It says they were evacuated the day before. I don't know about the restaurant though, if it was open at the time. Although it happened 5 months before we went there, it still feels a little too close. You read about these collapses in cities and towns around the world and think you'll never be in those places....I wonder if the cat was injured in the collapse. It certainly explains why pictures don't seem to match our images!

Mohammad showed up and asked how the meal was and the group was pretty quiet. He said that we have to let him know if something isn't right, so he can let the proper people know and they can change things. No one spoke up though and it was a fairly quiet ride back to the port. I did thank him and tip him, but I never know how much to tip!!

It was quite a bit of a walk through security and down the pier. I wanted to take the shuttle bus back in, but our dinner reservation was in only an hour, hour and a half! I really didn't think we would be having lunch at 3:30.

In our cabin, another "Splash of Romance" treat was waiting for us. The description of the package on the website mentions treats to keep things spicey, but I wasn't really expecting all the treats to actually BE spicey. They were okay--very well made, but not really our cup of tea.

I got dressed up  for dinner, in red and black, because we were going to Razzle Dazzle (again) where it's all red and black.

This is actually the red "infinity" dress that I was planning to wear on Scarlet Night, with a lace Amazon skirt (that I cut the slip out of) over top.

I had the lamb shank and Rob had fried chicken and biscuits. This meal was not like the other times we had been there. It was SO slow. The waitress was expressionless and seemed to move in slow motion. I think she was also our muster station attendant. I had picked out a drink on the menu, the popcorn drink, but then when I saw it at another table, I changed my mind. When the waitress came to get our order, I started with the popcorn drink and then the food, then remembered my mistake and told her which drink I wanted instead. Well, you can see the corner of it....she brought the popcorn drink. The food was so slow too. These two photos were AN HOUR apart!! Our reservation was 5:45, and this photo was 6:33. 

After dinner, we walked around outside, I really wanted to get some photos of the mosque. It was definitely a Hallowe'en sky, especially with the mix of modern and old. It 

I was playing with settings on my camera. We went to the Love, Love, Love show.  It was more a singing show than what I was expecting (more of an interpretation somehow of the 5 Love Languages, which were referenced in the posters). Millie the Hostess was dressed rather vintage, so I thought the sepia filter might be fun.

We really realized how small The Manor is. We were upstairs and there's not much seating there if you want to see the show. There's not a lot on the floor either, especially with tables. 

We went back outside to watch the sail away.

Rob was quite concerned with the lifting bar (the trapeze) used to swing the gangway out of the way. It was bent. He deals with lifting bars (beams?) in his work. I thought it was interesting that some workers had hard hats and some didn't. 

You can just make out the green laser in this photo!

Not sure what these piles were of. A grain? Salt? Sugar? Sand? Google Maps indicates there's grain silos there. 

I looked on ship finder apps and couldn't find what either of these two ships were. There were alongside the new cruise pier, which did not look finished at it's furthest end. 

And that was our day in Casablanca! We did things I never thought we would; we didn't do things I was hoping to do; the weather sucked for much of it....but it was still an amazing day. How could it not be? It's CASABLANCA!!