From Brussels to Casablanca

The desire to go on a world trip probably emerged in me in my childhood. When I was little, we had a board game at home called 'World Trip'. The goal was to find the fastest route to visit randomly drawn cities on all six continents and to be the first one to return to your hometown. Even back then, I played this game with growing enthusiasm. Why am I telling you this? In the game, you had to draw a 'telegram card' after reaching the halfway point and fulfill an additional task. One of these telegram cards told you to pick something up in Beirut and bring it to Casablanca (or vice versa). I remembered this card and the game when I was planning my onward journey to Morocco. After almost exactly half of my planned trip, I didn't have to go to Beirut, but I flew with a ten-hour layover in Brussels to Casablanca, as this was the cheapest and most direct connection between Uganda and Morocco.

At half past six in the morning, I landed in Brussels after a seven-hour flight. I was already looking forward to the European cold (hard to believe, but after several months in the tropics, I had enough of the heat). This excitement lasted for about an hour, during which I walked through the empty streets of Brussels and did a bit of sightseeing. But when I couldn't get warm in the café where I stopped, I was already fed up with the cold again. It was somehow strange to suddenly be back in tidy Europe after the loud, dusty hustle and bustle of Kampala. I felt a little out of place and like I was in a different world.

Since Brussels is only a few hours away from the Rhine region by train, I had the great pleasure of meeting up with a friend from university who traveled all the way from Mannheim to see me. It was really nice to catch up with her over a delicious lunch and exchange the latest news from Mannheim (the restaurant was also well heated, and I had enough time to warm up completely). After a tasty hot chocolate as a farewell, I went to the airport to continue my journey after a short break.

I arrived in Casablanca in the evening and was taken to my hostel by a pre-arranged driver (who looked like a criminal, but was very courteous). I quickly realized that I wouldn't get far in Morocco with English and would have to dig up my few French language skills.

Casablanca is a modern city where people mainly live and work. There are few attractions for tourists - the largest one is probably the Hassan II Mosque. It was located just a few minutes' walk from my hostel. Besides its size and its relatively young age, here are a few facts that impressed me: Unlike the Gaddafi Mosque, almost exclusively materials from Morocco were used here - except for a few exceptions, such as glass from Italy. A paint was used for the walls in the underground washrooms that consists, among other things, of egg yolk and coral dust and absorbs moisture so that the metal chandeliers do not erode. And in the floor of the interior of the mosque, there are glass windows inset to the washrooms, which also serve as basins. When the roof of the mosque is open and the sky is reflected in the basins, it is supposed to look like small pieces of the ocean in the mosque. And yes, YOU CAN OPEN THE ROOF OF THE MOSQUE!!! Crazy, right?!

After several excursions through the city and a visit to 'Rick's Café', a replica of the restaurant from the movie 'Casablanca', which was quite expensive, formal, and full of Chinese tourists, I had probably seen pretty much everything that one must see. Overall, I would say that Casablanca is probably a city where it is quite good to live. But if you are only planning a visit, one day should be enough... I stayed for three. Then it was time for my next stop: Rabat.

Since I got the impression that most of my readership is German, I will first bring this blog up to date and add the English version later. If you are English speaking and don't agree, please leave a comment below, I will do my best to update the blog as soon as possible. Meanwhile, enjoy the pictures and thanks for understanding!