The list of things to see today is rather short. Only six.

Sacred Heart Cathedral, Notre Dame, New Town, The Royal Palace, Old Town, and Rick’s Café.

Well, one things fore sure when jet lag has you wide awake at 4am, you really get a good start for the day. We’re both ready to hit the road early – by 9am half the list has been checked off.

We notice as we are walking by the Royal Palace it doesn’t really look that inviting for visitors. Turns out it’s still actively being used and is impossible to gain entry. So just the obligatory pic of the front gate.

Every old town has a market, and so does this one. Though Ramadan has most stores and restaurants closed for the day, you can tell from the ones still open Casablanca’s markets have everything you need. Tiny glass jars, yes. Canvas to make your own backyard chairs, check. Thousands of shoestrings to choose from, absolutely! And so many other thing you don’t need too.

Final stop for the day? Rick’s Café. A gin pilgrimage for many and it’s easy to see why. It has all the hallmarks of Casablanca of a 100 years ago. One of those places where ordering a beer is just wrong – you get a gin cocktail!

2:00 and 20,000 steps – time to head back to the hotel for a nap. I don’t want to fall asleep for our hammam!

The hammam can really sap the energy out of a guy and I need my second nap. From what we hear we’re going to need muster up lots of energy for tonight as the city wakes up.

8:30 and out the door to check things out. To be honest, we weren’t sure what to expect. We found that half(ish) of the restaurants were still closed, yet you could shop for a jacket at nearly 11:00. Odd.

It was impressive though to see all the coffee shops still open, filled with old and young men solving the world’s problems.

Back to the hotel with 30,000 steps behind us. So glad we only had a few things to see and time for two naps. Lol