Catch the first episode of Explore MOROCCO #1: White-Blue City Rabat at https://th.readme.me/p/3007

Follow the second episode Explore MOROCCO # 2: Travel back in time to the Roman city of Volubilis at https://th.readme.me/p/3010

Watch Episode 3 of Explore MOROCCO #3: Entering the alleys and exiting the alleys in Fes at https://th.readme.me/p/3011

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Catch the sixth episode of Explore MOROCCO #6: Marrakesh, the Metropolis of the Maghreb, at https://th.readme.me/p/3022

For today's program, we will travel from Marrakesh to Casablanca by train. The train will depart at 8:45 AM.

The hotel serves breakfast at 8:00 AM. So we went up to pressure the hotel to serve breakfast a little earlier. But the hotel was well prepared and was able to serve breakfast a little earlier than usual.

The train station looks beautiful. It takes less than 15 minutes from the hotel to the train station. After buying the ticket, I hurried to reserve a seat. You can sit anywhere on the train because the ticket does not specify a seat. There was still some time left, so I went for a walk to take in the atmosphere on the platform. I was about to raise my camera to take a picture when an officer signaled me not to take pictures again. The train fare from Marrakesh to Casablanca is 90 Dh.

It took us about 3 and a half hours on the train.

We arrived at Casa Voyageurs train station and then called a taxi to take us to the hotel to leave our luggage before exploring the city of Casablanca.

Upon entering the hotel, guests will find a seating area on the ground floor. Further inside, the lobby is located next to the stairs.

The restaurant is located right next to the lobby.

Each floor has an area for guests to relax. This spot is popular because guests can sit and use the wifi. (The wifi signal does not reach the guest rooms.)

My room is on the 3rd floor, which is quite a climb as the hotel doesn't have an elevator. The room is decorated in a white and blue color scheme, which is quite cute. There's also a TV.

The bathroom is of a reasonable size.

This room has one large bed. The room is smaller than the room with 3 beds.

After putting everything away, we went out to find lunch to eat.

From our hotel, we walked to Marche Central to find something to eat at this market.

The entrance to the market has a flower shop. The light is beautiful.

At the back of the market, there are many restaurants, most of which focus on selling seafood. We can buy seafood from the market and bring it to the restaurant to be cooked. I chose the restaurant at the entrance and exit of the market because it seemed to have more customers than the other restaurants.

As soon as we sat down, the restaurant started serving appetizers. It looked like a vegetable salad, with diced tomatoes, cucumbers, and coarsely chopped onions. It was followed by bread and some kind of nuts that looked like a dipping sauce.

I ordered fried seafood, which included sliced squid, fried shrimp, and fried fish.

Grilled sardines.

Seafood Paella is similar to chicken biryani, but instead of chicken, it is filled with seafood. It has shellfish, squid, and shrimp. The taste is very good. One dish was not enough, so I had to order a second one. The food is delicious and the price is not expensive. Each menu item is around 40-50 Dh. Everyone was happy with this meal.

After lunch, we continued exploring the city of Casablanca. We hailed a taxi to take us to the Hassan II Mosque.

This mosque, located on the Atlantic Ocean, is the largest mosque in Morocco and the second largest in the world after the mosque in Mecca. It was built to commemorate the 60th birthday of King Hassan II of Morocco. The mosque took six years to build and was completed in 1993.

This mosque has the tallest minaret in the world, standing at 210 meters. The minaret is located on the south side of the mosque and is a key component of the mosque used to call people to prayer. It has a square shape, built on a square base with a length of 25 meters on all four sides. It is made of stone, and if you stand close to it, you will have to crane your neck to see the top of the minaret.

The Hassan II Mosque, designed by French architect Michel Pinseau, is a masterpiece of Moroccan art and modern technology. The mosque features underfloor heating, a retractable roof that allows natural light to flood the interior, and massive electrically operated steel doors.

Admission to the Hassan II Mosque is free. However, if tourists wish to visit the interior of the mosque, there are specific times for guided tours. From Saturday to Thursday, there are four tours: 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, and 2:00 PM. On Fridays, there are only three tours: 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM, and 2:00 PM. Each tour lasts approximately one hour and costs 120 Dh per person.

Stepping into the mosque, I was stunned by the sheer grandeur and beauty that unfolded before me. Words cannot describe the magnificence of the sight. It is said that the mosque can accommodate up to 25,000 people.

The interior of the mosque is very spacious and divided into several sections. There is a long central hall and a separate area for the mihrab, where the imam leads the prayer. The hall is surrounded by large pillars made of marble, granite, and onyx, giving each pillar a unique appearance. The chandeliers and pendant lights used to decorate the interior of the mosque were imported from Italy.

The patterns on the door are very beautiful.

The dome roof is made of intricately carved cedar wood.

We will be able to see the inside for less than an hour, then an officer will come to follow us to see other points.

The exterior walls of the Hassan II Mosque are built from marble, with intricately carved arches that resemble delicately woven lace.

We are now entering another point which is located on the lower floor of the mosque.

The ground floor of the Hassan II Mosque is dedicated to purification halls, covering an area of 18,800 square meters. These halls resemble fountains and are distributed throughout the space.

Inside the cleaning room, some parts of the ceiling are made of clear glass, allowing you to see the atmosphere inside the mosque.

There is also a small rocky beach.

The construction of this mosque employed 35,000 Moroccan workers and used materials sourced entirely from within Morocco, with the exception of the lamps and chandeliers that adorn the interior.

In the evening, many Moroccans will come out to relax in the area of this mosque.

I've been here for about 4 hours, waiting to capture the evening atmosphere.

Although the entrance fee to the mosque is quite expensive, I recommend that you don't let the cost deter you. There are only a few mosques in Morocco that allow non-Muslims to enter, and this one is truly extraordinary. The interior is incredibly ornate and opulent, and I guarantee that you won't regret spending the money to see it.

Follow Explore MOROCCO # 8 : El Jadida is like Portugal at https://th.readme.me/p/3027