After our stop in Casablanca, we proceeded on to Rabat. We were shown to our room in the riad and since we had eaten late, we decided to skip dinner. Granny wasn't feeling 100% so we just went to bed. The next morning, I decided to check the room as it didn't appear to be what I had reserved. Once again, Hassan had told the riad people to change our room so Granny wouldn't have to walk. We looked at the room we had reserved and decided that was the room we wanted for our second night. Granny wasn't feeling well so we moved her to the new room and I went out with Hassan to explore. Hassan took me to a small beach side area where we just strolled and relaxed.
It came time for our tour with the guide and Granny still wasn't feeling up to it so I started the tour alone with the guide. The first portion of the tour was the Hassan Tower and the Mohamed V Mausoleum. These two sights are in the same "compound" and have an interesting history. The tower was supposed to be the minaret of the mosque. The project was started in 1195 and when completed was supposed to be the largest mosque in the world - large enough to accommodate 20,000 worshipers. Unfortunately the sultan died in 1199 and the project came to a halt. All that was left was a small portion of the minaret - about 44 meters - half the inteded size and about 200 columns that were going to be the supports for the mosque.
The grounds are guarded at all times.
The tower and a few of the pillars.
In 1755, an earthquake tore down a number of the columns. Most have been restored to show the size of the original project.
The mausoleum is a contemporary building, built in the 1950s. It houses the tombs of Mohammed V and his two sons.
Samples of the tile work in the mausoleum.
Views inside the mausoleum.
After visiting the mosque/mausoleum complex, we wnt back to the riad to get Granny for the rest of the tour. Granny was feeling better so we took off for the Oudayas Kasbah.
The kasbah is on the river. As part of our tour, we visited a cafe that had very nice view overlooking the river. The kasbah is also the home of the Andalusian Gardens. The gardens were actually designed by a French landscape architect in the twentieth century.
To cap off the day, we first had a very nice visit with Fatima Abida, a friend from Palm Beach Gardens. Fatima is from Casablanca and she came out to Rabat to visit with us. After our visit with Fatima, we went to dinner with a young couple - Louis and Amina - that David and Robin had met on their Italy vacation.
