With no incident I took the first flight (AZ717) to Rome (slept most of the time) and then the longer one (AZ874) to Casablanca (was asleep for most of the time.) The unusual and strange thing was that even though in order to go to the gate for AZ874 I went through passport control, there was not security check to go through. It is the first time this has happened to me.
Once at the airport Ahmed VI, I took my stuff from the conveyor belt and went outside to put Spithas together.
The process was not difficult but it took sometime.
Everything was fine except for one thing. A small screw was missing. You may think that a small screw is small and unimportant, however, without this small and unimportant screw I could not ride the bike. This screw controls the saddle. Without it the saddle cannot be fixed at the desired height and its only position is the lowest, which is too low for me to ride. Even in that position the saddle turns right and left w/ the smallest push, which would make it impossible to ride even for a person of the appropriate height.
I looked for the screw everywhere. I literally took the box apart knifing it into small pieces but the screw was nowhere to be found. I decided to deal with that problem later and went on to take care of the other priority, to find an ATM. Earlier when I had asked for an ATM I was told that I had to go outside the airport, this time when I asked, I was told that I had to go into the airport. So, here we go again, to enter the airport, I had to pass through security check once more. I guess this security check was in the place of the one that I skipped in Rome. I must say, however, that everybody was very polite, which includes the language they used (in French) as well as body language. After I took money out (the exchange rate was 10.4 Dirham/€1, MAD is the currency’s symbol,) I asked for the train to the city. The airport is 30km from the city center and the train station is very near the airport. I went downstairs bought the ticket and went near the tracks to wait for the train. It was 15:15 and the next train would leave at 16:00.
There was a few things I needed to know about the city, where the center was, about hotels, the store schedules, etc., and I took the liberty to engage into conversation (fortunately everybody there speaks French, my own Arabic is limited to reciting and writing the alphabet, as well as few words and expressions) a young lady, very good looking too, that was sitting nearby. She proved to be my savior angel. She explained to me where I needed to get off and how to proceed from there to the town center. She was there to see her brother and his family off to France. Finally, the train arrived and the crowd moved towards the cars as the crowd that was in them was getting off. I managed to push myself and Spithas through, and as I was getting into a car a man that was passing by shouted that bikes are not permitted in the train. I told him that I wouldn’t be bothering anybody, ignored him and proceeded. Soon as Spithas was on the train the man was back with a another man in uniform. This is when I realized I had no option other than getting off. I got off and went to the director’s office to plead my case who told me to go to the ticket chamber. There, I spoke with the person that had issued the ticket who told me that I had to speak to his colleague at the other end of the booth, which I did. This man looked at the bike and told me that I would have to take it apart. I almost had a heart attack. I told him that I had just put Spithas together 20 minutes ago. He then asked me where I came from and when I told him I have a Greek passport he said that Greece has a good soccer team and, hard to believe, the Greek soccer team performance changed his attitude. He told me to wait and left. A few minutes later he was back and told me that they would make an exception and allow me to put Spithas on the train but at the freight car, which was fine w/ me. Along w/ him was the train conductor and both spoke about soccer and the upcoming game w/ Argentina. I did miss the game and still do not know what the outcome was but I surely wish that the Greek team won or that at least the game was a draw. This will make my trip a lot more easier. Everything in Europe, including politics and traveling is undeniably strongly tied to soccer.
I got off at the second stop, casa voyageurs, and on the platform I saw that lady, and went up to her. She was surprised to see me because she did not think that they would allow me on the train again. We walked out of the station from where she showed me where I had to bike to the center. Then I told her that I needed a bike store to find that screw, otherwise I could not be able to bike. She asked a local man who showed us to a near by motorbike/bike repair store and she explained, in Arabic, to them what the problem was. All along she had told me to be careful because people tend to overcharge tourists. I did not tell her but this is more or less universal, not a Moroccian privilege. I call it the tourist premium. The mechanic was very helpful and disproved us both. He found the screw Spithas needed and when asked how much he said that it was FOR FREE!!! A little screw literally made all the difference and without Sofia I would have been literally stuck. She got dubbed in my mind as my guardian angel.
I proudly rode Spithas and headed to Casa Port. Had to ask people a few times to make sure I was on the right direction and everybody was obliging. The final stop to ask was at a police station where I got precise info regarding the hotel I was looking for. When I got there, the hotel was full and the concierge pointed me to a near by youth hostel, which turned me down because of Spithas. There would be no place to park him. The owner, however, gave me instructions as to how to go to another nearby hotel, which I did. I ended up at “Hotel De La Victoire.”
After I got settled I decided that I should find a way to watch the match between Argentina and Greece but since there was time left I thought that it would be a good idea to take a rest. So, I lied down with the intention to rest for 15 minutes. I got up at 6:00 the next morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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