Day 2 -Tuesday, January 3, 2023 - Casablanca to Rabat
We
arrived as scheduled at 8:45, the first thing I did was to check the Bills score. When it said game suspended I searched to see what happened and was dismayed when I saw the news and video regarding Damar Hamlin. We'll keep him in our prayers. We quickly got through immigration, picked up our luggage, and met
up with our Gate 1 reps, who were taking us to Le Diwan, our hotel in Rabat. It wasn't for us but someone had a welcome with singing and drums and it was an interesting welcome to Morocco. It
was on our 1 1/2 hour drive to Rabat where we received our first glimpses of
Morocco. There were many areas where it was hard to discern if homes were
occupied or ruins because of their condition. It was also greener than expected
and there was evidence of lots of growth with the number of apartments etc.
under construction. We discovered that Morocco is demographically a very young
country with some 85% of the population under age 55. Our hotel is very nice
and located in the heart of Rabat. We met our guide Khalid and found out that
there are only 14 of us on the tour. He told us we'd meet at 6:00 and gave us
contact info and safety suggestions. We exchanged some Euros for Moroccan
dirhams and then went out to explore the surrounding neighborhood. We, of
course, found a cafe and had a cup of tea along with some walnut pie and almond
rolls. We went to a large tree lined street called Mohamed V. There we saw a
minaret, a Botero sculpture and other statues. Ron got me a flower by bartering
with a flower seller - only he could get it for free. We came back to the hotel
for a little rest and a shower before our meeting and welcome drink of tea (the first of many mint teas).
After we returned to a restaurant down the street that we had scoped out
earlier. We went with two other couples - Susan and her son Michael, and Ying
and her husband Michael. Ron and I had 2 different Menus del Jour and each had
a salad, an entree -me - chicken, him - fish, veggies and dessert for only $20 total.
Returned to the hotel around 9:30 and went right to bed. It had been a couple of
long days.
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