Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Magic Carpet Ride

abc_rugs
I saw these awesome over dyed carpets via Apartment Therapy a while ago and just loved them. I work part-time doing antique rug restoration so rugs are always on my radar, and I've never seen rugs quite as crazy-bright as the ones at ABC home!

So with rugs on the brain, it made me think of our trip last year to Eastern Europe. Charlie Bravo and I stopped in a ittybitty town called Blagaj whose claim to fame is a 16th century Dervish Monastery right next to a huge cliff AND where the Buna River starts, out from underneath said cliff. It was pretty breath taking.

monastery2

We were able to walk down to the river and use a very ancient and beautifully etched metal bowl to scoop up the clear water to drink. At first I was thinking "Um...how many people have used that thing?" and Chris is all "Dammit woman this is one-time adventure!" So I drank and I didn't die.

buna_river

Before being allowed up into the rickety monastery we had to remove our shoes and cover our heads. It was fun looking pretty ethnic for a while.

monastery4

All the floors were covered with bright kilims and with the whiteness of the walls, the dark wood moldings and the white doilies everywhere, it was quite serene.

monastery5

On the way out I had to ask the lone worker there if the kilim runners were for sale as I was so ready to leave there with three of them, but they were used exclusively by the Sufi followers who came here for retreats, praying and whirling. I asked him in disbelief, "You guys really whirl up there?" (it was so small) and indeed they do. The man was so sweet and informative, we ended up buying some incense from him and a head scarf.

blagaj_mats2

2 comments:

Stacey Cornelius said...

I was offered a drink from Loch Ness when I visited there ("taste the monster"), but I decided to pass. There were tons of blackberries around the shore, though.

What a beautiful place. The rugs and runners are gorgeous. Is the wall hanging next to the alcove woven? It almost looks hooked, but that might be a combination of the light in the photo and my computer screen.

Patty said...

Hopefully you just stuck to the blackberries :)

Yes, I think that wall hanging piece was hooked from what I remember. It was so beautiful there. All the white walls and the bright rugs...lovely!