The Flying carpet

Ode to Brisbane

captiv8online@gmail.com — Mon, 27 Dec 2021 00:33:34 GMT

Is leaving Brisbane an act of madness?

As said I suffer from outsickness . The opposite of homesickness . But one must first have a home to achieve outsickness , by definition , unless one is of that extremely rare , rare breed of the permanent wanderer. I have only met two such people in all the years of travel.

Brisbane my comparatively new home , for 8 months now , out on Moreton Bay . After some decades in Sydney it is more a paradise than I ever imagined . Big enough, small enough. Hugely friendly . People have time to actually speak to one another . There is no overwhelming traffic . It has become a vital and active city which lacks nothing . It holds wide green spaces . The ocean breezes , especially here in Wynnum , my country town of 12,000 within a major city , on the Bay are nearly constant . They soothe and refresh . Beaut . Brisbane has now enough of everything : bike trails , parks , jazz bars, restaurants, book stores, art galleries , good graffitti , street musicians, fine restaurants and fun cafes, outdoor markets, urban neighbourhoods, people of all colours , health food , cinemas with taste , university districts , -- enough of that city intensity, intelligence and verve that makes a place swing . Its abundantly green! Sub tropical it has no real spring as we know it but get this -- the summer rains come ( very intermittent ) and there is something like a big summer gush of green, a bloom which races in . Plants seem to be growing visibly .

And unique in my experience this Wynnum town on the Bay next to Manly a village attached to a Marina , next door, on the Bay . And the climate, if you like fine and warmer weather and sun , must be one of the world's best . This always mattered to me, coming from Seattle . And beliefs that it is too hot , I find much exaggerated , by the " southerners" in Australia . Maybe 6-7 weeks of thick humidity a year . I've felt it much worse in New York and Hong Kong and numerous other places .

After 30 years of visiting Brisbane briefly and not really knowing it , though watching it progress from a big country town, which it was back then , into this sparkling city , I am rapt . There's wandering to do , but its fine to be anchored here .

Usual Last minute travel Chaos

captiv8online@gmail.com — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 23:10:23 GMT

Brisbane palms

Packing for six months and every season/clime , within a weight restriction ? Not easy. Takes some thought . What shoes do I need? Which is the best all around raincoat ? Ah, gloves , which ones I ask imagining I will be in some snow at some point . Vitamins , yeah need those , and perhaps being a bit stodgy ( be prepared) I like to have , where possible a 6 month supply of just about everything. I am no fan of running around in foreign places wasting time looking for things .

And masks . The Covid outbreak -this time Omicron which has shaken the world - is racing around the world. Airlines are cancelling flights. Politicians are re-thinking ............everything. The newspapers are gushing , whining , debating. Infection rates are soaring like never before . Great timing .

My two Kindle readers are loaded with 200 books . Can't live without them. Avoid the terror --for me that is what it is -- and I am little terrified in life , maybe never , apart from this -- of heading into a place where English language books are scarce . Very hard to find good books fast, even in some English language speaking countries like the Philippines , had this happen before . Even Paris, with Shakespeare and co, and W H Smith on Rue de Rivoli who don't have enough variety and there's the weight problem of course .

Covid ? Yes perhaps this will turn out to be a memoir about travels during the era of Covid , as well as an adventure as to carpets and rugs , and inevitably other things of note .

But I am undaunted . I have an Airinium mask from Sweden, claimed to be 99.97 and another , Sonovia from Israel , claiming the same level of protection . And I have had 6 vaccinations over the past 8 months . A friend said " you may be the first person to die of Covid vaxx. Not a bad legacy" . But no , surely not -- I reckon I am doing what everyone else ( apart from the obdurate anti-vaxxers ) will be doing in another 3 months. In fact there are signs they are already doing it . Boosters is now the big thing . I had mine in advance, and a little extra , thanks . Also: rabies (2) , yellow fever, typhoid and the rest .

Chaos, bring it on . That's what travel is about .

The Joy of Research

Thu, 23 Dec 2021 09:19:42 GMT

A new very fine book on the subject

"Half or more of the fun" , said my father years ago , " of travel is in the preparation". For the seasoned traveller this is undoubtedly true . Its ideal to have some objectives, and arouse the curiosity in advance . In this case , reading , not only about carpets, but history , geography, modern society and political tracts have surely begun already to enrich this project . Some of the better titles will be mentioned as we go along . This fine book , above, just came out . It was preceeded some 40 years ago by the same author , with his first , now legendary book on the subject . Ford spent more than 40 years in the carpet business , frequently travelling to Persia and Azerbaijan . Cambridge educated, he also progressively evolved into a serious scholar on the subject .His new title occupied him for over 10 years after his retirement , published when he had passed the 80 year age mark . Beautifully produced , it follows his interest in his first volume in the nature and origin of patterns and styles . But he has succeeded in telling a riveting history as well and immerses us in the multiple environments which nurtured the major evolution of carpet design occuring form the 15th- 17th centuries .

More Planning and reflection - some chaos

captiv8online@gmail.com — Thu, 23 Dec 2021 03:06:54 GMT

This Ferahan Sarouk 1880 consoled me during a few very hectic days

Chaos, the normal prerequisite to travel, particularly of long duration, did ensue . This is the Covid period after all . Airlines are suffering, disorganization is rife . PCR tests ( which not even doctors I spoke to know what " PRC " stands for, just that you need one now !!) are difficult to obtain in a 24 hour time frame . I am phoning , ultimately running all around Brisbane in full summer heat , now , being given different stories . Finally I wind up driving to an obscure office park near the airport to find a supposed PCR testing site for pre flight . Ahhh, it doesn't exist , though a senior executive at the company told me it did, and gave me the address.........you get the story . Finally after questioning many people and raising a bit of hell , I find that there is a facility at the airport itself , and make a booking . All in a days work . Meanwhile I am organizing Rabies shots , amongst other vaccinations .

The Planning

captiv8online@gmail.com — Thu, 23 Dec 2021 02:40:11 GMT

This rare Afshar 1880 kept me company as I was researching the trip

In two words, confusing and horrendous , in this Covid world perched between Delta and the new Omicron scare . A lot of running around, phone calls , web searches, vaccinations not only for Covid but: rabies and typhoid, etc . researching and obtaining the supposedly best masks , etc.

But that's boring and its largely done . The real pleasure has been boning up on the rather large canon of superior literature -- that is the best of the " classic " books devoted to carpets, largely Persian , but others too . We will look at these as we go along on this ( mis?) adventure , commencing in a few days . There are some great works , those by PRJ Ford for example , and others who spent decades in the carpet trade , and then turned to scholarship and writing intelligently , if sometimes idiosyncratically , about the wonders of carpet weaving .

And another , on a slightly different plane: " The Root of Wild Madder " published around 2005. This is a fine travel story built around the author's growing love of carpets. He a journalist of many years explored Iran ( Persia ) and Afghanistan . And also the Persian poets, particularly Hafez . And politics and intrigues then and now . Fine book, and recommended for anyone with an incipient or advanced love of carpets. Because it is a telling which unites the history , architecture, religion and many other facets of Persian culture to bring focus on the technique and grandeur of Persian weaving . Excellent .

Carpet Adventures and Travels Begin

Wed, 22 Dec 2021 06:23:29 GMT

Why leave Glorious Brisbane to travel a Covid World ?

Cooped up too long . Tired of looking at Carpets on line , nice as that is . Need to hold them . And - I Suffer from a condition described by Hans Christian Anderson as " outsickness", the opposite he explained , of " homesickness" . As great as Australia is , the world beckons, in particular those parts of it known for outstanding weaving , carpet production ,natural dyes , and ........adventures : Morocco , Turkey, Iran , Azerbaijan , Pakistan and beyond .