I only visited Morocco once, and for a very brief two days. Those two days I spent in Casablanca. Yes the city where the movie was set called… umm… you know the one where people think there’s the famous line ‘play it again Sam’, but actually that’s not quite the line? The name of the movie fails me right now.

Is it a romantic city like the movie (whose name still escapes me) suggests? I don’t know about that. To be honest, I remember very little of it. It’s been such a hectic week with work and other hobbies that I simply don’t have a heap of time to go through what I saw and did. But, it is pretty nice all told, and it’s also a great budget destination. My hotel room, a single, was less than $15 a night and pretty spacious and comfortable.

The roads are mostly wide, boulevard-type affairs. At least along the seaside, which is nice to… see? It’s not build in a strict grid, which I like. The streets wind around themselves and therein lies the city’s charm. And then you get to the markets, the souks. It’s pretty special.

The Old Town is a highlight, the perfect place to get lost in. It’s kinda walled up like a citadel. Life goes on, people sell all manner of fruit and vegies on carts, people make their way to the mosque for prayer, and there’s a combination of colonial French architecture with Arabic culture, all in North Africa.

The mosque by the seaside, the Hassan II Mosque, may not be an ancient structure, but it is a very peaceful and beautiful place, and without a doubt the building you must see should you venture to Casablanca.

But above all things, Casablanca has a soul. It’s really sometimes just about being in a place, choosing your meat from amongst the brains and liver in the hamburger shops, smoking or watching people smoke hookah, and soaking in life.

So, should you get the chance, visit Casablanca. If you don’t go, you’ll regret. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life!