After the Sakkara pyramids, we took advantage of the plethora of "carpet schools" nearby to see how Middle Eastern carpets were made.... and to see if we could find some "good bargains". LoL.
It was pretty kewl. There was a large room with wall to wall carpet apprentices and experts weaving the threads by HAND! Their fingers were aflying!!! Whoa to the maximus!
The carpet school's rep, Mahmood, who spoke English came out and explained the process. This pattern that he is holding is an example of one that would be loaded onto a carpet loom. Once it's in place, threads made solely of either Egyptian cotton, wool, or silk (depending on the price and quality) are weaved in and out with finesse and dexterity. Truly amazing to watch!!!
And then the round of "show and tell" began as Mahmood the Carpet Man started showing us carpets from the showroom floor for "special American price". Talk about sensory overload!!!
There were so many beautiful carpets to choose from and because they were all hand made, the "special American price" was still NOT cheap. Ugh!
Deb in deep thought. Mahmood was striking a HARD bargain! There were so many undeniably fabulous carpets to choose from, but only a few were at a price range that we were willing to pay.
I love how Deb blended in with the exotic carpets in the background below. LoL.
I fell in love with the huge silk carpet on the left and Deb loved the silk peacock pattern carpet on the right. If I had $37,000 and Deb had $5,000, we would've bought them on the spot! Instead, two Carolina girlz walked out with two very small carpets under $200 each, and dreamed of coming back after we won the lottery to buy the silk carpets of our dreamz ..... Sigggggggh.
