{"id":18281,"date":"2025-04-09T09:12:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T09:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/no-phone-no-internet-a-first-time-visit-to-casablanca\/"},"modified":"2025-04-09T09:12:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T09:12:02","slug":"no-phone-no-internet-a-first-time-visit-to-casablanca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/no-phone-no-internet-a-first-time-visit-to-casablanca\/","title":{"rendered":"No Phone, No Internet: A First-Time Visit to Casablanca"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">According to my pathetic map, I should have been close to the royal palace. But nothing in Casablanca\u2019s bustling Mers Sultan quarter, where trams rumble past shoe stores and cafes, looked remotely palatial. I tried one street, then the next. Finally, I approached some teenage girls in jeans and head scarves downing Diet Cokes outside a snack bar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI\u2019m looking for the palace,\u201d I said in rudimentary French, and pointed to my map. \u201cIt says it should be near here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One of the girls glanced at the creased sheet of paper, and in a voice laden with teenage contempt, asked, \u201cDon\u2019t you have a <em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">phone<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">No, I did not have a phone. Or rather, I did, but I wasn\u2019t using it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Except for buying my airplane ticket, my plan was to explore Casablanca \u2014 a Moroccan city I had never visited \u2014 without using the internet. That meant no online research, no GPS, no Ubers or Airbnbs, no virtual dictionary and no mindless scrolling to avoid social awkwardness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At a time when more and more of us are feeling the need for a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/22\/travel\/digitial-detox-retreat-vacation.html\" title=\"\">digital detox<\/a>, I am keenly aware of how the internet, for all its benefits, has also changed travel for the worse. Not only does it play a key role in overtourism, but it has also flattened the sense of discovery. By allowing us to peruse restaurant menus, visualize sites and compile must-see lists, the internet tells us what we will experience before we arrive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I could have used a guidebook, but that seemed contrary to the spirit of the endeavor. After all, my main goal was to see if I might restore the serendipity of exploring \u2014 and learn a few retro travel lessons along the way.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-1u37br4 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-4a3cc4a7\">Lesson 1: Get a Good Map<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After flying into Casablanca\u2019s Mohammed V Airport, my first order of business was to locate a map. I approached a woman seated at what I took to be the information desk. \u201cOf course I have a map,\u201d she replied. \u201cI have a phone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She did, however, direct me toward the train to the city center. When I arrived at the airy station, I understood how difficult traveling unplugged here might be. There were no \u201cYou are here\u201d signposts, no place to stash my luggage while I got oriented and no clear indications \u2014 at least not to this non-Arabic reader \u2014 of which direction led to the city center.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Still mapless, I picked a direction and started walking. A palm-lined boulevard seemed like a good bet, and soon I was amid shops and restaurants. Beyond a gate into what I took to be the old medina, I saw a hand-painted sign: \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ryad.se\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Ryad 91<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-1u37br4 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-7bc75f2f\">Lesson 2: Ask to See a Room<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I knew from previous trips to other Moroccan cities that \u201cryad\u201d or \u201criad\u201d means \u201cinn.\u201d Soon Mohammed, a tall, bespectacled man, was welcoming me in the cushion-bedecked lobby, and didn\u2019t seem offended when I asked to see the sole remaining room, a bargain at 360 dirhams, or about $37. It was simple and clean, but a little claustrophobic, with a window that opened onto an interior courtyard. I took the room, deciding I would look for something more spacious the next day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the meantime, I asked Mohammed for a map. \u201cOne minute,\u201d he said, sitting down at his computer and printing one out from Google. About a dozen streets on it bore names; the rest was a tangle of lines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<p><h2 class=\"css-1u37br4 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-42bb7a53\">Lesson 3: Embrace Your Ignorance<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The good thing about ignorance is that it can turn everything into a discovery. And there was plenty that fascinated me along Casablanca\u2019s winding alleyways: graceful minarets; bakers pulling hot, flat loaves from open-air ovens; the splash of street art, vivid against the whitewashed walls that gave Casablanca its name.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">My wanderings began outside the inn\u2019s door. Keeping the harbor to the right, I meandered westward, through the raucous food market, where vendors sold fat walnuts from carts, and leafy squares where men sat at low tables eating fried-fish sandwiches. Walking along bastions built when Portugal ruled the harbor, I saw a massive structure. I asked some boys who were diving into the ocean from a rocky beach what it was. \u201cC\u2019est la plus grande mosqu\u00e9e du monde\u201d was the reply.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Had I really just stumbled across the largest mosque in the world? Alas, my informants were not entirely reliable. The <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fmh2.ma\/en\/node\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Hassan II Mosque<\/a> may have one of the world\u2019s largest minarets, but is not itself the biggest. And as the tour buses around the corner proved, it is Casablanca\u2019s chief attraction.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I could see why the boys exaggerated; with a capacity for 25,000 people, the mosque is designed to awe, and not only with its size. Every centimeter is covered in intricate craftsmanship, from plasterwork to mosaics to fretwork. At the accompanying museum, I learned it had taken 12,000 artisans to complete.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">My strolls brought more discoveries: downtown streets lined with Art Deco buildings; contemporary Moroccan art at the elegant <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.villadesarts.ma\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Villa des Arts<\/a>; the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/musee-as.ma\/en\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Abderrahman Slaoui<\/a> museum, with its Berber jewelry and colonial-era travel posters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Traveling without expectations also makes you more observant of ordinary life. I loved coming across a man in a square selling coffee from a small pot, and the housewares store where frantic women in djellabas scrambled to get their hands on air fryers that had just gone on sale, some carting off three or four.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Casablanca wasn\u2019t preening for tourists; it was too busy living its own life.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-1u37br4 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-5fc437f5\">Lesson 4: Let Go of FOMO<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I found my second hotel on a street of bougainvillea-draped villas. The rooms at <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hotelledoge.com\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">the Doge<\/a> (about 2,200 dirham), once a private home, leaned hard into their Jazz Age origins, with velvet-lined walls and at least one Josephine Baker photo. Staying there, amid the inlaid furniture and orange-blossom-scented soaps, I tried not to wonder whether there was even a more exquisite Casablanca hotel I <em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">hadn\u2019t<\/em> found.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Traveling unplugged means letting go of the fear of missing out. The internet can convince us that its best-of lists are objective truths and that any traveler who does not work her way through them has settled for less.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-12\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I had to fight a twinge at the Central Market, where dozens of seafood stalls served fresh oysters and fish tagines. How to choose? I settled on Nadia\u2019s because of the local businessmen there. Were the juicy grilled sardines drizzled with pungent chermoula sauce there the best in the market? They were the best I ate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The same held true for the perfectly spiced chicken shawarma I sampled in the upscale Racine neighborhood, and the delicate gazelle horn pastries at a bakery in the Gauthier quarter \u2014 places I had chosen because they were busy with local customers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-13\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But that strategy didn\u2019t work in my quest for a sit-down restaurant serving traditional Moroccan food, since local diners often choose a cuisine different from the one they get at home. So when I walked into <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/lecuistot-traditionnel.com\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Le Cuistot\u2019s<\/a> tiled dining room, and heard Castilian Spanish, British English and New Jersey accents, I didn\u2019t have high hopes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But my couscous tfaya was fluffy, the vegetables flavorful, and the caramelized onions and almonds added just the right sweetness and crunch. When Aziz Berrada, the chef and owner, told me his couscous was the best in Casablanca, I believed him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If so, it was just one of his talents. Before Aziz became a chef, he told me, he had been a photographer for Hassan II, the same monarch who had ordered the construction of the imposing mosque. When that monarch died, Aziz decided it was time for a career change.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-1u37br4 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-386eaa87\">Lesson 5: Talk to People<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-14\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">My conversation with Aziz \u2014 which wouldn\u2019t have happened if I had been buried in my phone while dining \u2014 made me eager to see the palace where he had worked. So on my last day, the receptionist at the Doge printed out yet another Google map.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That\u2019s when I got lost. After getting no help from the soda-drinking teenagers, I wandered for blocks, eventually asking directions from an older man who pointed to red flags in the distance: the palace.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Only it wasn\u2019t open to the public. Ever, apparently.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The internet would have revealed this. Yet as I grappled with the realization that I had spent hours to reach those impenetrable walls, I spied a street lined with bookshops. At the very least, I thought, I might find a decent map.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And I did. But the street also led to shops selling handwoven rugs and copper tea sets, a courtyard filled with barrels of olives and a warren of whitewashed alleys that reminded me of Andalusia even before I came across a tiny museum of Andalusian instruments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-15\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Habous neighborhood almost looked like a stage set of Morocco, which is fitting, since it was designed by the French in the 1920s and \u201930s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I learned this from a woman who introduced herself as Imane, when I stopped for mint tea at the Imperial Caf\u00e9. She was seated near me, and appeared to be either a celebrity or the mayor, so frequent were the salutations from passers-by. I asked if I could talk with her about the neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cOf course, sweetheart,\u201d she said in perfect English. \u201cI love Americans. You\u2019re so spontaneous.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-1u37br4 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-2dd15f4b\">Lesson 6: Stay Open<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-16\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Imane suggested we move our conversation to a nearby location that she promised I would adore. I overcame my skepticism, figuring I might get some local recommendations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As we walked, Imane\u2019s rapid-fire monologue left little room to ask about her favorite restaurants. But I learned that she had once lived in the United States, selling real estate, working for a jewelry company and driving an Uber.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-17\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Finally we arrived at a set of walls only marginally less imposing than the palace\u2019s. The guard ushered us through a carved door into a gorgeous building, with walls of green and blue geometric tiles and intricate plasterwork, and courtyards dotted with orange trees. I still had no idea where I was (later I learned it was a former courthouse and residence for the pasha, and is now used for cultural events). And I was mystified by the staff, including a stern-faced bureaucrat and a cleaning woman who greeted Imane effusively.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Who <em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">was<\/em> Imane? A politician? A movie star?<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Finally, it dawned on me. \u201cAre you an influencer?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI don\u2019t like labels,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I never did learn Imane\u2019s favorite restaurants. But she told me of her mission to spread the message that we are all connected. Eventually, she pulled out her phone to broadcast us, live, as we chatted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I had come all this way without my phone. I had gotten lost and found my way, discovered monuments and tiny jewels. I had developed a sense of the city as a place that still existed primarily for its residents, not its visitors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And there I was on someone else\u2019s live social media feed.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"css-7ad88g e1mu4ftr0\"\/>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\"><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">Follow New York Times Travel <\/em><\/strong><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">on <\/em><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nytimestravel\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">Instagram<\/em><\/a><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\"> and <\/em><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/newsletters\/traveldispatch\" title=\"\"><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">sign up for our Travel Dispatch newsletter<\/em><\/a><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\"> to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our <\/em><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2025\/travel\/places-to-travel-destinations-2025.html\" title=\"\"><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">52 Places to Go in 2025<\/em><\/a><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/09\/travel\/casablanca-without-a-phone-digital-detox.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to my pathetic map, I should have been close to the royal palace. But nothing in Casablanca\u2019s bustling Mers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5738,5739,123,1188,5740,4917,1186],"class_list":["post-18281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-casablanca-morocco","tag-cellular-telephones","tag-computers-and-the-internet","tag-hotels-and-travel-lodgings","tag-mosques","tag-restaurants","tag-travel-and-vacations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>No Phone, No Internet: A First-Time Visit to Casablanca - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/no-phone-no-internet-a-first-time-visit-to-casablanca\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No Phone, No Internet: A First-Time Visit to Casablanca - World News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to my pathetic map, I should have been close to the royal palace. 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