On April 24, we were on our own again, with no one to tell us what time to wake up and what time to eat! Cry me a river, I know.
Our first order of business was to check in at the Movenpick, which was a short taxi ride from the Hyatt. Mohamed had found a great deal online, and I was very pleased with our room especially given the budget pricing.
We then took the tram to its most southwestern point (for only 6 MAD each person each way), where we walked along the corniche to the very large mall. The tram was great -- timely, clean, and uncrowded. I wish we had something like this in the South Bay!
Our first order of business was to check in at the Movenpick, which was a short taxi ride from the Hyatt. Mohamed had found a great deal online, and I was very pleased with our room especially given the budget pricing.
I was famished when we arrived at the mall because the brisk walk took us about an hour. The food court was huge! I was pleasantly surprised at the wide range of cuisines (Thai, Moroccan, Lebanese, etc.) and low prices. Mohamed couldn't resist a fresh seafood plate. I think it cost less than $10 for all this food. He was happy!
We took a nap for the rest of the afternoon, arising only for a small snack, and headed back to sleep.
On April 25, we took the tram to downtown Casablanca and walked around for a bit before I felt hungry again. We headed back to that first restaurant we went to on April 11 because we liked it so much. Mohamed ordered the seafood gratin and lamb-and-prune tagine, and I ordered the seafood bastilla and royal cousous. As usual, Mohamed's selections were far superior to mine, and I ended up eating more of his food than mine.
We walked to the medina, which was quite busy with buyers even though the tour director had warned us (and I could see) that most items here were knock-offs from China. Needless to say, after all the beautiful and quality things that we had already purchased, we didn't buy anything. It was still fun to see!
That night, we went for the dinner buffet in the Movenpick. At only $25/person, it was a good deal even though the selection was much more demure than that of the Sofitel's.
Little did we know that we were in for a spectacular ending to a spectacular trip the next day: on April 26, after giving the porter our bags post-checkout and looking at meager poolside offerings for lunch, we headed back downstairs to the restaurant because I wasn't impressed (at this point, as you can imagine, I was a tough customer). Mohamed spotted their ultimate seafood platter, and it was like nothing I'd ever seen before.
The Movenpick chef had gone all out: on the skewers hung half of a grilled lobster with roe, and kebabs of fish, shrimp and calamari. Underneath, catching the delicious drippings, were the largest shrimp -- which deserved their "shrimp royal" moniker -- I have ever seen. They were seriously the size of small lobsters. And boy were they tasty: full of roe too, the tender meat was juicy and sweet. And the smoky flavor of the lobster's roe was unforgettable too, as it had been grilled to perfection in terms of both texture and flavor. Yum!
After spending six hours overnight at an airport hotel in CDG, where we were happy that we could meet up with Mohamed's son Adam (who lives in Paris), we headed back to the terminal. I bought coconut flan and Laduree macaroons because, well, I was in Paris. They were impeccably made, of course.
I had such a great time on this trip -- I learned so much and saw so much, and I loved sharing it with Mohamed. I plan on taking our little boy back to Morocco as soon as he's ready to walk and take in the sights and sounds! Here's to our next adventure.
