Buzzing Bazzars

4-5th December 2004: Pre-Tour Tourists

We arrived to a frenzied Cairo and settled down into our hotel with a convenient mosque next door.  The muezzin’s call to prayer was our early morning summons – just what we needed to get out and about early.  We stayed at the neighbourly Salma Hotel and shopped locally for our provisions.  Getting across the main streets however required a certain lemming attitude.  Luckily for us we seemed to have rather nice policemen hold up the traffic to ensure we escaped unscathed. 

Cairo on a clear-ish day.  Don't hesitate, dive right in... 

We had a few days before our tour started, so after a quick glance at our upcoming itinerary, we jumped headlong into our own discovery of Cairo.  First stop, after a hair-raising taxi ride, was the frenzied Khan al-Khalili Bazaar, now over 700 years old.  In an instant, you can be nowhere else except Egypt.  This traditional area with its narrow maze of streets and enthusiastic shopkeepers is a bargain hunter’s paradise.  Somehow, these expert hagglers can convince you to part with your money.  We did buy a beautiful alabaster bowl. 

The bustling medieval area is divided by goods sold.  Mosques and ancient structures seem to tumble over you as you make your way through crowded streets.  I half expected to see a camel or two.  We stopped for mint tea, watching social gatherings of men smoking their shishas.  A nearby cart of exotically coloured women’s underwear seemed entirely at odds with drearily dressed shoppers – but it was selling well! 

Are we there yet?

I had to go to the street of Tentmakers, Sharia Kheiymiya.  It is sited not far from the medieval gate, Bab Zuweila (1092), the last remaining gate of Fatimid Cairo’s walls.  This gate is named after fierce Berber warriors who were charged with guarding this entrance into the city.  The Tentmakers’ applique work was interesting but I was disappointed with the quality of stitching I saw – clearly I didn’t find the best craftsmen.  On the promise of seeing quality work though, we ended up in a carpet shop….  Ah, now that’s salesmanship.  We escaped into a shawerma (kebab or meat & salad roll) café for a local bite washed down with super-strong, sweet coffee.  On the way out, a sweet seller encouraged me to take home a tray of his sugary saturated goodies.  Who could resist!

(I didn't take photos of the Tentmakers because I didn't buy from them.  That would have been bad manners in any language.  I am pleased to report that friends who have visited the Tentmakers more recently, have come back with some beautiful work. So, follow Jenny Bowker’s directions and bone up on her advice before leaving home.)

Reading the Walls

Itinerary

Reading the walls: Layers of Meaning 3 – 22 Dec 2004

We decided to take a tour of Egypt in late 2004.  Luckily for me, digital photography was fast becoming popular meaning better quality and cheaper.  So I made a rash decision and decided to buy my first handbag sized camera, a Sony, on a stopover in Dubai.  Unfortunately, blogging didn’t charm me until 2008, but I had learnt the skills of research and a love of history whilst in India.  Now I can combine the lot.

This section of our whirlwind tour of Egypt has been left deliberately simple given the amount of information in the two previous sections.  I don’t intend to give a detailed account of each and every monument or building we visited; there’s too much learned study out there.  Besides you really have to see it to appreciate it.  Books, photographs or videos can never replace the thrill of really being there. 

I plan to update when I’ve finished my big under stairs cleanout, so any missing information, corrections etc will be attended to then.

3-4th December 2004: Dubai (Hotel Dar Al Sandos, Rolla Street)

Glorious Gold.  We only had a day.  Our stopover was really just for me to see the gold souk.  I had a shopping list prepared!  The day started at the nearby electronics souk in Al Fahidi Street in Bur (meaning old) Dubai which was within walking distance of our hotel.  We snapped up a few bargains for work and I set myself up nicely with a new camera and lots of memory cards.  Unfortunately it didn’t make it out of the box for our walk through the textile souk.  After Delhi’s superb textile shopping I was less than excited so we took an abra taxi (an abra is the simple & traditional timber craft) across The Creek to the Spice Market.  The sights and smells were so tantalizing and familiar.  We also felt we had slipped a few centuries back in just a 5 minute boat ride. 

It didn’t take long however to spot the maze of glittering shops in the Diera gold souk on Al Dhagya.  I was stunned at the seeming endless variety on offer.  No two shops sold the same kind of creations.  The craftsmanship was fantastic regardless of whether you wanted plain or heavily decorated jewellery.  I drooled, I dithered, I looked at all the shops - twice, but still couldn’t make up my mind.
 
Finally, Mr DIY got the fidgets so we headed back to the electronics souk to pick up a few more gadgets.  Luckily, we made it just before closing time.  However all was not lost for my “gold” shopping list.  Have you seen the shops sparkling with gold and jewels at the Dubai International Airport?  Waiting for your flight can be fun…

Quilt (or Guilt) Tripping No#4

Southern Highlands (3 December 2011)

Another day out that pleases us quilting ladies is one spent combing the delightful Southern Highlands for fabrics to start new or finish older projects.  We start early, usually having a coffee in the park opposite the Village Quilt Shop in Station Street Mittagong.  The park used to have a wonderful display of tulips in the garden (at the right time of the year).  We’ve always promised ourselves an opportunity to do a class in the Village Quilt Shop as it always seems to have something that inspires us. 

From there we detour via Bowral, trying not to stop at the cafes, and out over the railway line to Berrima.  A nice round-about trip through lush country and nearby area famous for filming of “Babe” brings us to Berrima Patchwork.  This shop is also a great Highway stop on the way to or from Sydney.  Many is the time I’ve come to a screeching halt there at 4.45pm on my way back from Canberra….  This is another shop that has a wide range of goods and last time I visited there was a wonderful collection of linens to make that French provincial pattern on my list of must do’s.  Berrima Patchwork also makes up nicely matched bundles of fabrics that really help when you want to work to a specific colour theme and don’t have the time to do the leg work &   start from scratch. 

On the way back from Berrima along the Old Pacific Highway, take time to turn into the small industrial area near Cavendish Street.  There you will find two delights.  Japanache has a nice selection of Japanese fabrics, traditional sashiko threads and other goodies to add to your stash.  If you’re starting to suffer fabric burnout, then try to walk past their collection of kimonos, furniture items or ceramic dishes.  Sigh!

A little further on in Davey Street is My Place with its collection of Amy Butler prints and patterns.  Nice, fresh and young – this is the home for quilters of the modern style.  They have some easy patterns for sewing children’s clothes too.  From here, it’s an easy trek back into Bowral for some lunch.  Too many cafes and not enough time to choose!  Find the one with the nicest cakes….

Back out to the Highway and on to Timeless Threads in Mittagong.  Now I can never walk out of this shop without buying something.  This time it was a rather nice “heritage” style scrap quilt pattern to do some therapeutic hand piecing and use up that growing box of scraps.  Both features of my new year’s resolution list – not to waste time or fabric!

Lastly, if we haven’t dallied too much, is a quick side-trip into Victoria House.  This long-time favourite is home to a dazzling array for needlecrafters – cross stitch, tapestry, you name it they have it.  From there it’s an easy drive out to the highway to get home.  Did I really buy that much (again)?

Christmas Lunch 2012 in Bowral (with a treat desert tray)

Designing Matters in Portugal

Terciera Museum

Azores: Azulejos.  Blue and white tiles – what more can I say?  Introduced by the Moors in the 15^th c this popular form of decorating both internal and external walls is still popular today.  Rather than explain the history of azulejos, you best check out wiki.   These are just a few of the ones we saw during our stay in the Azores.  I would have happily replaced tonnes of lead ballast with tile, but sadly the captain reneged on this plan. 

Cascais: Paving.  We were taken by traditional pavings of basalt and limestone pieces meticulously set by craftsmen in amazing designs.  Of course, these artistic pavements are not limited to the narrow streets of old town Cascais. We first made their acquaintance in the Azores.  Ships and sea motifs are quite common in this art that has been practised long before Greek and Roman times.

This is Horta in the Azores.  Cascais had similar pavings

Lisbon: Manueline Architecture (1490-1520).  Who could not be attracted to the excesses of Manueline style?  Elaborate, rich, excessive are terms that slip easily off the tongue when describing this mix of Renaissance & Gothic motifs.  Lisbon of course, is the centre of excellence when it comes to definitive examples of this fine style.

Sines: Roman Ruins.  Although more famous as the birthplace of Vasco da Gama, one of the first to make incredible and slow voyage to India, Sines has hidden treasures inside the medieval district that predate this event.  We’re talking fragments of nearby Roman settlements.  These pieces, 2000 years old, can be found in their compact Archaeological Museum of course.  Romans were the wanderlusts of their time and they build fine cities with many functional and beautiful features.  Nearby, an excavated Mirobriga stands as a testament to these skills.  Interestingly, Sines claims even earlier Iron Age settlements.  As we sat on the beach near our anchorage, sipping our evening “sundowners” and contemplating the meaning of life, we wondered how many others before us had walked on the sand and sailed its seas.  A quiet moment for some almost mind-bending reflection…. 

Old Portimao

Portimao: Photo Marathon.  

The Portimao Museum had organised a Photo Marathon Competition (2011) and on our visit we were fortunate to see the creative results.  Firstly there were 2 categories – Underwater (serious underwater camera work) and Digital.  Each category was then broken down into a series of themes to which the entrants had to produce 3 A4 sized photos.  Digital for example, had 8 themes and therefore needed to produce 24 photos.  These photos were simply mounted on card (no frames) and exhibited in theme order. 

Ceramics on exhibition at
the Portimao Museum 2011

Seeing them made me understand why the winner had been chosen.  His work was essentially the tightest – all photos were portrait, all perfect close-ups that complemented each other, of subjects that spoke clearly of each theme yet related well as a whole.  The colours were bold and dramatic subject lighting was well balanced throughout.  In this way the whole worked as a complete presentation, flowing well as a design, almost mosaic like in quality, which fitted the surrounding old city (and its pavings).

Being a quilter I got a little caught up in this project.  A big part of working in textiles is taking the time to stand back, balancing the “pieces” or blocks into a well-balanced whole.  

So, I learned quite a lot about the value of working in series; imagining connections between a single work, a series or indeed of a larger body of work – just like an artistic mind map.  Fascinating. I sadly don’t have any photos of these photographic works at the Museum so I’ve included some general ones around Portimao instead.

Could that be a fishing boat?  Arade River, Portimao

In Any Language

Still in the Azores....

A few traditional textile terms that I came across in the Azores which needed further exploration were:

Green Fields above the Harbour in Horta, Fiail

Manta de Retalhos.  This term is often used when describing a landscape of green fields, likening the scene to a “patchwork quilt”.  The term translates loosely as “motley” although I suspect we would think in terms of scrap or charm quilts.  Inner Blooming has a photo of her interpretation on the subject of traditional mantas or quilts, which is more to the point.  Featured are reds, blacks and whites – traditional colours. This was the closest reference I could find.

Woad, a souce of blue dye.

Colchas de Ponto Alto.  Weaving typical of Sao Jorge.  Handloomed quilts described as “high points” or webs of St George. 

Tolha de mesa (Terciera) Tablecloth

Manta de Farrapos are made on wooden looms with left over strips of colourful fabrics.  Fabrics are torn or cut into strips, joined end to end and then rolled into balls of “yarn”.  These strips are handloomed into colourful rag rugs.

Colcha (Terciera) Quilt

Cobertores are blankets and I’m presuming woollen ones at that. Pano de terra woven on Terciera were also made of wool.

Dyes grown on the islands included woad (blue), cudbear (purple) and dragon tree fruit (red). 

Pano de cozinha (Terciera) Kitchen Cloth

Cloth was typically woven from flax, linen, tow (a course linen), rags or wool on horizontal looms. 

Don’t for one minute think this was easy to put together.  What a tangled mess with too few examples (on line) and too little information, so do feel free to expand this list of traditional Portuguese weaving and quiltmaking terminology.  I am also wondering too if there isn’t some mix in the translation between blankets & quilts and woven (loomed) and stitched.  Unfortunately it’s too late now.  What is not lost however is the meaning attributed to these traditional handcrafts.  Weaving has been practised for centuries and the practice of re-use, now fashionable in our throw-away society, essential.  Patterns were traditional and most likely varied from village to village.  If you want to see some brilliant modern day interpretations though, try these by Joao Burno Videira.

Finding Dragon's Blood

The Azores are a stunning group of islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean - more or less.  We found ourselves adrift for at least 5 weeks exploring them.  This is my textile take:

Flores.  By far the most remote island and said to be the most easterly point of Europe, this fragile island is what I image Portugal was like some hundred years ago.  Dotted with little villages, bright green fields hedged by blue hydrangeas and surrounded by wild seas and huge basalt cliffs – we loved it. 

The cottages in particular - little white buildings in traditional style with vivid blue trim and every window hung with lace.  This island is renowned for its lace, crochet and embroidery, although we were unable to find much evidence of it – perhaps too precious a commodity to make for tourists.  Interestingly, we were told Flores was settled to grow woad (indigo) commercially.

Faial.  Friendly Faial is home to Horta, destination and safe harbour for trans-Atlantic sailors.  This small harbour town has been host to many Grand Voyages over the centuries, although that nasty Sir Walter Raleigh did burn it to the ground in 1597. 

Horta’s museum, housed in a building of historical consequence, has in its collection a traditional long black cloak and hood worn by women in 18^th c.  Now seldom worn, we were fortunate to see this capote and capelo being worn at a Marina-side shindig – a bit of an island produce & cultural affair.  (The attached photo is a bit fuzzy but you'll get the gist.)

Faial is also known for its traditional straw on tulle embroidery although we didn’t see any examples on our round island bus jaunt.  We did discover later that had we stopped at Capelo Village we could have seen local handicrafts being made. 

Pico.  Pico is the summit of the greatest mountain range in the world; one of a number of volcanos, many submarine, along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.  We headed for the wine museum sheltered under this fuming, cloud encrusted brow to learn about traditional methods employed in island wine growing and making. (Oh well, someone has to do it in the name of research!)  Its wines have graced many an aristocratic table over the years.

Here, at the Museum, I also learned about local production of a red dye made from the fruits and seeds of the dragon tree - seen at left.  Red dye was used to colour threads for weaving cloth. Pico is also known for scrimshaw, lacework and cheeses. 

Essential velvet & red combo
necessary to attract bulls

Sao Jorge.  We had planned to stop here but at the mercy of the winds, it was not to be.  Saint George, like Corvo, has a history of handloom weaving.  Corvo folk typically used dark blue (indigo) and white threads in traditional complex methods of stripe seen in their woollen hats – a bit like fair isle patterning.  Sao Jorge added red to the mix (dragon’s blood) and produced colchas de ponto alto or high point quilts woven on handlooms. 

Terceira.  Although famous for its loom woven quilts made from geometric shapes (squares, diamonds and strips) from multi-coloured wools and hand sewn embroidery on white or red linen, we saw few examples on our travels round this lush island. Red & yellow woven jacquard weaving is also said to be popular. 

Sao Miguel has a history more focused on tea and pineapples.  One can imagine these extraordinary treats grown on Sao Miguel gracing tables of kings and noblemen.  Ponta Delgada was our last stop before heading on to mainland Portugal and it is certainly the most modern city of the islands.  We gave textile seeking and museums a miss and went instead to the village of Furnas for a soak in hot bubbling springs and a walk through age old botanic gardens.

Picture Postcard Gardens in Sao Miguel (Furnas Village)