Spain and Morocco - 7, Rabat

Hi, Our next excursion off the ship was to Rabat. This was a day trip and Ruthe chose to stay behind as she had caught a bug.

Our first stop was the Royal Palace. Security was tight although the King was only here when he had official business to conduct (above and below). He was away on the day of our visit.

Then it was on to the Hassan Tower (above and below) and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V (second below). The tower was planned to be the largest minaret and part of the largest mosque in the world at the time construction began in 1195. However, the current Sultan died in 1199 and construction ended with the tower rising to only 1/2 its planned height.

Construction of the mausoleum was completed in 1971. It contains the remains of King Mohammed and his two sons, one of whom was King Hassan II.

A group of Muslim women arrived to visit the Mausoleum.

This seems to be some kind of decorative lamp.

A special place is reserved inside the mausoleum for a holy person to sit and read the Koran aloud.

Ceremonial guards at the mausoleum (above and below).

From the mausoleum we drove along the water front (above and below)

to the Rabat lighthouse

which was just across the road from the Jewish Cemetery.

Towards the end of our visit we traversed some streets in the historic Kasbah where I captured the knocker,

this window,

a street vendor selling pottery and

a view of the ramparts.

Our last stop in Rabat was at the Hasan II Mosque built partially on land and partially out into the Atlantic Ocean. Once again, we were unable to enter the Mosque.

When we returned to Casablanca we stopped outside Rick's Cafe inspired by the movie Casablanca. However, it would not open for another 1 1/2 hours.

Thanks for looking.