And in other news...Morocco

This past week I was able to go to Morocco for work. It was pretty amazing. Above is a picture of just above the doors of the third largest mosque in the world, in Casablanca. (And yes, I did say "here's looking at you kid" at least once. But, no, I didn't go to Rick's cafe--which while it was fictional in the movie has since been opened by an ex-pat who opened what I hear is nearly identical to what was in the movie).


The fruits and vegetables there were amazing. This is a picture of a guy who was selling these enormous grapefruits on this cart in the middle of the market area of downtown Casablanca.

I also got a chance to walk around the spice market (and yes, I did work while I was there. I took most of these pictures in a reasonably short time frame on Wednesday afternoon when we were done with our meetings). this is the amazing view of the market. The tubs are of things like saffron, cumin, cardamom, lavender, cinnamon, sesame seeds, and dried herbs like basil and mint. The stalls smelled amazing.

And just around the corner was the olive market. There were just rows and rows of places like this. Our translator (who lived in Casablanca) said that all of these olives would likely be gone by the end of the day. The olives were so, so, so good. Oh they were yummy (and yes, it was very much a free sample sort of area.
This is what the streets in the area known as the "Medina" looked like. It is the old city of Casablanca (where I purchased some adorable shoes for Caroline. Seemed fitting for the kid whose second word was "shoes").

It was a whirlwind trip--I left late on Sunday and returned Thursday evening. And there was a good bit of work while I was there. But, it was an amazing place and I'm really glad that I was able to go.