At Rabat

I'd wanted to visit Rabat for a while. We had intended to take the train but when we got to the train station in Tangier the previous day, we learned that the journey took four hours, just one way.

So Mohsine drove us in his brother's sleek, smooth, black Mercedes. We had met up at Puerto Rico cafe in Tangier. Rain began to fall as we got into the car and fell heavily all the way down the coast for two hours.

It had virtually stopped by the time we reached the Hassan mosque and Mausoleum of Mohammed V. I was amazed that we could simply park in a street just around the corner. Not like tourist sites in other parts of the world. 

The Hassan mosque was begun in the late 12th century but never finished. All that remains is the minaret (the tower), supporting pillars for the roof and fragments of surrounding wall. It would have been a huge mosque for its time. 

See an album for the day on Flickr.

We enjoyed a plate of gambas in a restaurant on the harbour. Rain began to fall heavily once more as we walked back to the car and didn't stop for the rest of the night.