OUR WINTER CRUISE: DAYS 6, 7 and 8

At Sea

Tuesday 6 November

It was a day at sea today and the weather wasn't very nice. We managed to get our rounds of the track circuit while it was still dry but later it became windy, cold and wet. I didn't quite manage all my laps of the track running, after 15 minutes a pain developed in my right calf muscle and I completed the remainder of my half hour walking with Moira. I took an anti-inflammatory for the injury but it looks like rest will be the best course of action.

My calf muscle pain didn't prevent me going to the gym and working my upper body. I had two short sessions and Moira came along again in the afternoon. While in the gym, which is at the bow of the ship, we could see the huge waves that the ship was ploughing through but it must have good stabilisers as we didn't feel any disturbance to our equilibrium. 

The rest of our time was spent in the disco lounge at the top reading and relaxing when we weren't in the buffet eating. The lounge was crowded today because of the weather and we met a few people from South Africa that were either returning home after a holiday in Europe or had flown out to Venice especially for the cruise back. One couple had been doing this trip with MSC for about 12 years and were getting 'frequent flyers' type discounts. They had one of the luxury suites on top for not much more than we were paying for an inside cabin.

Before dinner we went to the show in the theatre. It was a magician, who wasn't bad, he had a couple of men from the audience and spent most of the act picking their pockets. They had supposedly been chosen at random but I think they were part of the act. They said he was a star attraction for one night only, so he must have boarded at Palma yesterday and will depart tomorrow at Casablanca.

After the show they said we would be passing through the Straits of Gibraltar. We went out to the ship's rail to have a look but there wasn't much to see other than the lights on shore as it was now well after sunset. It was narrow as the lights were clearly visible from the tips of Europe and north Africa. The disappointment was that we hadn't been scheduled to sail through during the day, we would have liked to have seen the narrow straits and the Rock of Gibraltar from the sea.

It was the usual evening after dinner, an hour or so in the bar listening to the music then off to bed to read for an hour before dropping off to sleep.


Casablanca, Morocco

Wednesday 7 November 

We had a rest today from circling the jogging track but made up for it by walking round Casablanca for about 7 hours. My calf muscle was feeling much better and gave me no trouble on our tour of the Moroccan city.

We were docked and allowed ashore at 8am after having breakfast. Most people were going on the bus tours and excursions organised by the cruise, we intended doing our own thing and walking. It was long walk from the ship to the dock gate, took nearly half an hour and we had to run a gauntlet of taxis trying to pick up fares into the city and for their tours. Although they all spoke English the meaning of the word 'no' seems to have escaped them and it was quite a hassle before we cleared the line of them.

Hassan II Mosque

 When we exited the dock gate the signposting was good and we followed the direction indicated to the Hassan II Mosque. It was 2.5 km and we could see the tall minaret in the distance, it is the highest in the world at 200 metres, so it was easy to follow. It had been warm with plenty of blue sky when we started but as we approached the mosque there as a short shower of rain. It continued like that all day with blue skies one moment then clouds and a splattering of rain the next.

 VIEWS INSIDE THE MOSQUE

The mosque was magnificent and the next largest after Mecca and Medina. It was fairly recently built, in the 1980's, took six years in the construction and designed by a French architect. The mosque is partly erected on the waters of the Atlantic to adhere to the Koranic reference 'The Throne of God was on water'. It was E12 to visit and our shoes had to come off before entering and Moira had also brought a scarf to cover her head. A lot of the tour buses had arrived at the same time and they were being guided round in parties. We started to wander about snapping away with the camera. A guy came up to us and said that we weren't allowed to go around unattended and put us with another four English speaking tourists and acted as our guide. The inside of the mosque was enormous and during Ramadan can accommodate over 25,000 worshipers with another 100,000 outside with the prayers being transmitted through numerous loudspeakers. Two hanging mezzanines on either side of the prayer hall were reserved for the women. The guide had all the dimensions, weights, materials of construction etc that he rhymed off and we immediately forgot. Whatever the statistics it was a tremendous undertaking and the results were breathtaking. It didn't have the ornamentation, statues or coloured windows of the Christian church's but the size and some carvings on the many marble columns made it a masterpiece.  The wooden carved roof high above was moveable and could be opened and closed in 5 minutes depending on the weather, much faster than the one at Wimbledon. The huge multi ton gates into the mosque were also electronically operated and when opened were raised and hidden in a slot in the stonework. From the main prayer hall we were allowed to put our footwear on again and were guided downstairs to the area where the pilgrims ceremonially wash, according to instructions from the Koran, prior to prayers in the mosque. There were hundreds of water taps and 41 fountains and a large pool used by the Turkish Moslems in the ablutions hall known as 'hammams'.

The Mosque piazza towards Casablanca centre

When the visit was over we asked our guide for directions to the Christian cathedral. He found a large tourist map for us which became an essential. I had picked up, at the reception desk on board the ship, a small map that we took to be of the city centre, . It was useless as it turned out to be a map of Tangiers centre. This proper map gave pictures of the highlights in the city and after the mosque we took a street they led straight from the coast into the centre.

Eglise Sacre Coeur

 We had a stop in a park for a cup of coffee from our flask then we found the next place of interest, Eglise Sacre Coeur - Church of the Sacred Heart. It was white with many carved spires. The map said it was built in 1930 and was a former Catholic shrine. I don't know what it is now but there were two characters at the entrance who looked like bouncers and they told us that it was private and we couldn't go in. We left and hoped for better luck at the Eglise Notre Dame de Lourdes, a modern cathedral constructed in 1956. We followed the directions on the map and in the busy city centre couldn't see anything resembling an important church. Where it was supposed to be was a concrete structure that looked more like a huge warehouse but there was a cross on top so we went for a closer look.

 THE WINDOWS OF EGLISE NOTRE DAME de LOURDES

It was the cathedral and the guy at the gate this time welcomed us and told us to carry on in. What a wonderful surprise after the plain outward appearance. Inside was just a mass of windows, all in coloured glass. The write up on the map said there was 800 sq metres of windows. We were so amazed that we sat down on a pew to gaze in awe at the beauty of it. Down both sides and the length of the church there were enormous mosaics of religious and biblical significance. Above these and all the way to the roof were narrow windows in multi coloured sections of tiny glass. One coach tour arrived while we sat and had a quick walk round before getting shipped off somewhere else. The map told us that it doesn't get many visitors, this was very surprising as it is a unique exhibition of modern stain glass artistry. 

On leaving the church we found a lovely park in the city centre with a Scottish sounding name, Parc Murdoch, where we found a bench among the trees to sit and have our packed lunch. From there we made our way through the centre to a large square with lots of tame pigeons looking for crumbs, Place Mohamed V. Continuing we eventually reached the central market with its stalls of fruit and vegetables as well as seafood with oysters, crab, lobsters and prawns fresh from the ocean. There was a bar there with the sign 'Rick's Cafe' from the film Casablanca, it was worth a photograph.

Rick's Cafe, Casablanca

By this time we had been on our feet for hours and were extremely tired. Although the ship didn't sail for another few hours we decided to head back, we had seen all the main highlights anyway. We had to make what we thought was a detour to get across the railway line but when we did eventually reach the seaside it was at the dock gates and we just had the long walk from there to where the Opera was moored.

We sat in the lounge when we boarded and had a coffee and waited until the ship was out to sea again before going to dinner. There wasn't a show on in the theatre tonight because of the late departure so we had an early dinner. Afterwards we listened to some music in the bar before getting off to bed, also early.



Agadir, Morocco

Thursday 8 November

It was another call at a port today. We were still in Morocco but further down the Atlantic coast at the city of Agadir. The Opera wasn't arriving there until mid-day so we spent the morning relaxing in the disco lounge. We hadn't done any exercising this morning, being still very tired after all our walking in Casablanca yesterday. The ship wasn't far from the shore all morning and we could see the foothills of the Atlas Mountains all along the coast. Earlier it had been a bit overcast but as we approached our stop it brightened up and was very warm. Before going ashore we had lunch on the patio, pizza and chips. They had both been freshly cooked and were piping hot for a change.

From the ship it looked like quite a distance to the city and we didn't fancy a long slog through the streets again today. We decide to take one of the taxi tours that were advertised on a board at the dock. It was E50 for a trip to see the sights of Agadir. The first taxi driver to approach us was wearing a Glasgow Celtic shirt, he told me that Celtic had won 2-1 last night against Barcelona in the Champions League. That was enough to get him the business and we hopped into his cab.

Agadir Mosque

Before leaving he pointed out the hill above the city and informed us that Agadir was originally situated there but was twice destroyed by earthquakes, one in 1731 and more recently in 1960. What is now the city is all relatively new and has been rebuilt along the coastal strip, the original site on the hill is now bare. The trip out of the dock area was a long way and we were glad not to have walked. We passed docks with hundreds of fishing vessels and the fish market sheds and ship repair yards before eventually reaching the dock gates.

From the docks he took us to the beach area, we didn't actually see the sand and sea but from the number of large hotels it seemed to be a popular holiday resort. Next we passed a large wooded region that the driver said housed the King's palace, but we couldn't see anything for the trees. It was a long drive to the city centre but the roads were fairly wide and although the traffic was heavy it wasn't the chaos that we have experienced in cities like Cairo and Dehli. Our first stop was at the mosque, it looked from the outside of much the same design as the one in Casablanca but much smaller. We had a walk round outside but didn't bother about going in. 

The driver asked if we had seen 'Arnam oil' in Casablanca, we told him no, so that was where we went next. I was expecting some large oil refinery or a company like Shell oil and was surprised when we stopped at a narrow side street and entered a little shop. Arnam oil is extracted from some type of plant, like olives, and after pressing the juice is recovered. This juice or oil is then made into different potions for various applications from acne to diabetes and hair treatment. It could also be used in cooking and had a nutty odour. We had a look at all the sizes and shapes of bottles labelled for the varying treatments and the fancy prices but had no intention of buying.

Elaborate entrance to the Berber bazaar

Next it was a stop at the souk or Berber bazaar. This was a shop with five floors of local produce from antiques to clothes,shoes, jewellery and carpets. We had one of the girl assistants following us about as we went from floor to floor but she didn't try to sell us anything or was pushy in any way. We found that here and in Casablanca, other than the taxi drivers, we weren't being annoyed by people trying to force us to buy. Not at all like the aggressive selling techniques we experienced in countries like Tunisia, Egypt and India.

After that our tour was over and he headed back to the ship. The three hour excursion became only two but we had had enough. We should have known, again from experience, that the taxi drivers only take you to places where you might spend money, where they obviously receive some form of commission. 

MSC Opera from the dock wall

Before going on board we went up to the top of the harbour wall and began walking out to the shipping entrance to the dock. We had just begun when an official tried to stop us proceeding. His English wasn't very good and it appeared that he was frightened that we would fall in the water or be mugged. Another couple, from Holland, were also walking and we both told him we would take the risk and continued. We chatted with the Dutch pair and took photographs of the ship but turned back half way along. 

Once on board we filled our mugs with coffee and went to the stern of the ship to sit and read. The weather was very nice, sunny and warm, so it was pleasant sitting outside. We watched a small ship below tying up, it manoeuvred into a mooring the same size as the boat. A crane then began to load enormous concrete blocks on to the deck and another crane on the ship moved them neatly into rows. It was interesting to watch until it was time for the lines to the Opera to be released and we set sail again.

When the ship was again in open water it was time for this evenings concert in the theatre. Tonight it was classical music from the same singers that did the arias the other night, plus a woman playing the violin. It was all right but again mostly obscure pieces of music. The rest of the evening followed our now usual routine, dinner in the buffet, music in the bar and bed.

Sunset over Agadir as we sail.