Playing it again, and again, and…
As these things go, Niamh's plane arrived an hour late. However, no one at the airport was able to tell me anything about her flight, remaining on the board with only the cryptic 'delayed' next to it, up until when the plane actually landed.
Not too much of a hassle in itself, as food and drinks at the Casablanca airport are both cheap, at least at airport standards, and pretty darn good. However, I also had to get up at 6am in order to meet Niamh at the airport at her designated arrival time. And that with all my luggage, dropping them off at the hotel we were going to stay at.
My early get up and go and Niamh's lack of a proper night sleep meant that we didn't do much on our first day together in two months besides having a nice meal, followed by the walking tour the Lonely Planet recommends, which shows off the few French built art deco buildings in the area around the Mohammed V square.
A day later, having rested, we checked out more cafes and restaurants, including what is just short of a tourist trap, Rick's cafe, inspired by the movie Casablanca, which wasn't even shot in Morocco. In the evenings, Issam (no joke), plays it again, and again, and again… The place, though really way too expensive, is quite lovely.
It's probably more enjoyable to have lunch or dinner at the nearby La Sqala, just inside the walls of the medina. Also a very nice setting, and with much more reasonable prices. And cute kittens begging for scraps.