After Moulay Idriss and Fes, we made our way down the East Coast of Morocco through Casablanca to our destination of El Jadida, a small coastal town. After reading all of the travel guides that basically said to skip Casablanca all together, we still wanted to at least check it out. Well, the guides weren’t wrong, it was pretty crowded, not very pretty, and we didn’t see much to do except for take in the majestic Hassan II Mosque:
This place was gigantic, and it was right on the water, jutting out into the ocean. As Nouzha (our guide in Fes) told us, Islamic architecture typically includes four elements (plaster, wood, tile work, and brass):
Everything about this mosque was huge:
A beautiful fountain near the entryway to the mosque:
After high-tailing it out of Casablanca, we quickly made our way down the coast for a few hours until we reached El Jadida. Again, when we reached town we called Oliver (our Riad host) who met us at our car and guided us into the neighborhood to a parking spot. By this time, we’ve fully tossed the maps. No use in using them if there are no street signs or address numbers.
El Jadida was a small town that included an old Portuguese settlement. A lot of the old part of town was a bit run down and unkempt, but in their rawness there was absolute beauty:
There were also a ton of kittens all over the place, which thrilled me… Erik not so much. 
There were some very cool sights and the people in town were very friendly and the city had very relaxed, coastal feel to it.
There was also a very cool market, complete with fruits, vegetables, and all types of fish.
Our Riad in El Jadida was by far the nicest one of our trip. The original building was purchased by a French couple a few years back and they completely refurbished and rebuild the Riad into something special. The attention to detail, craftsmanship, and design elements incorporated into the building were magazine worthy:
There was even a cool courtyard in the central area with a banana tree, orange tree, and huge fig tree:
Ummm.. yeah, I couldn’t resist photographing this shower. Lovely, lovely, lovely.
A fresh new catalogue will always make me smile, a tall glass of lemonade signifies the start of summer. I will never underestimate the power of a post-it note. I love anything old, and with a story. I'm always up for a challenge. I love traditions especially when it comes to family & friends. I laugh when I'm nervous. I believe gyms are for sweating not make-up. I think crafting brings people together. That’s me, in a nutshell.