Fes: rugs & wood

March 22, 2012

Ok, let’s be frank. By now I figured we’d have bought some souk junk. I mean, really. I even knew what junk I wanted to find.

But no. We moved so fast through hundreds of souk alleys there was no chance to stop. In fact, our guide didn’t want us to. This is A&K and with A&K, we only stop at approved vendors. Read “high end.” Or maybe I’m cynical? {Our guide promises we can buy souk junk in Marrakech. I also admired his gorgeous black velvet jacket and he’s taking me to that shop, too, decidedly NOT junk. }

Anyway, we stopped in at a high-end rug vendor who had the most gorgeous floor coverings I’d ever seen. Definitely worth the stop.

I’m not much for the traditional carpet with the center medallion like the one above, although the ones on offer were stunning—so red the color nearly jumped off the weave. Photo does not due it justice.

No, more my speed were the Berber carpets, but they’re not Berber like we have in the States, which seems to refer to a texture.

Berber tribal designs. The “real” Berber rugs.

No, real Berber rugs were all different tribal patterns and colors and I really did want one for my dining room. But life is all about choices and I just didn’t want to pay that much, although it would have been worth it. Besides, it’s more than a bit of a risk to buy a carpet from a shop 8,000 miles from my home. What if it didn’t work out?

Oh, a word about walking. When I say we walked all day in the souk, I mean we walked ALL DAY in the souk. Miles and miles of speed-walking. And then, the stairs at the rug merchant’s place took us to the rooftop where we had a lovely view of the medina. But it was four big flights up: twice. And then more stairs, here there and everywhere. It might not have been a great day of shopping but it was definitely great day of exercise.

See below? These are Berber rugs and the top one is the one I wanted.


Oh–and then we went to the wood museum, where we saw things like this very old wooden olive press.

And this old prosthetic leg–I guess it’s what used to be known as a peg-leg.

Ok, so we’re in the desert now, on the edge of the Sahara, even though I’m blogging about Fes. Sand, sand and more sand. Sahara defines arid. Tomorrow is that camel ride and then we’ll be in the tent overnight. I’ll be back after the desert, when we board the Marrakech Express.

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Here you’ll find my blog, some of my essays, published writing, and my solo performances. There’s also a link to my Etsy shop for healing and grief tools offered through A Healing Spirit.

 

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