The New Normal - A Day in Sidi Rahal, a Casablanca Suburb

Richard and I had a beautiful day today in the Casa suburb of Sidi Rahal. Our gracious Moroccan friends, the El Ouattassi family, generously let us use their lovely seaside villa.  We had never been that far down the Casablanca coast (southwest-ish, past Dar Bouazza), and it was fun to see new sights along the way. 

It took less than an hour to drive to Sidi Rahal, thanks to the loan of a car from American friends.  The villa/beach house is located a short walk from the ocean and has a view of the water.  

I wonder what's up in this tower . . .

If you walk down the road and turn to the right at the corniche, you can stroll along a tile promenade, which over looks the ocean and rocky coastline.  Turn in the opposite direction, and you encounter a huge sandy beach, which stretches as far as the eye can see.  

Walk left, sandy beach

We had the beach mostly to ourselves today

Walk right, rocky beach

Long tile promenade

I wonder if I'll ever learn to take a decent selfie!

Looking towards Dar Bouzza

If you walk straight ahead, you run into a fish market.  Near the market are fishing boats, mostly made of wood and very colorful.  I imagine residents can buy very fresh fish here.

The Fish Market

The streets near the beach are lined with palm trees, and across the street is a large park.  There are flowers of all sorts popping up everywhere; springtime is beautiful here.

                                   

Sidi Rahal at first glance could pass for any tropical beach community, but it is distinctly Moroccan.  Carts pulled by donkeys or horses passing by, random sheep, goats, chickens, and cows walking around, among other sights I have gotten used to seeing, reminded me that I was still in the country that I have grown to appreciate.

We hope to come back here really soon.  But, we are left with one question . . . who is this cute child?

And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it, we are going back from whence we came.  –John F. Kennedy