What we snagged at the side alley shop

morroccan candle altar 3, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Most of what was in the store was either too big and crazy to even try to bring back [see around Judy here], or just random and useless. But this thing struck us as cool and worth trying to lug home. According to the shopkeeper, it's a "pre 1960" Islamic home altar to which Muslims can pray. Well, we certainly would have different intent for it in our house, and we were assurred that all of these pieces are cleansed before they are sold/transferred [seemed like this guy buys estate lots or something]. Rationale for the cleansing, which is done by leaving it out in the sun [again, according to the shopkeeper] is because people don't want any vibes - good or bad - to move from house to house. So even if the new owner was going to use the piece for the same purpose, it would be cleansed before being transferred. I want to believe him, so I do believe him. Hopefully it won't turn out to be any kind of bad mojo, a la the Brady Bunch / Tabu deal.

Originally posted 12/29/06

Spotted a shop down side alley

shop down side alley, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Another relatively low key day here. After breakfast at the apartment and a semi disappointing visit to Maison Europeene de la Photographie where the most interesting stuff to me was a series by Eva Frapiccini, we walked toward Les Halles. On our way we spotted this sign, which was tucked within a side alley within an alley [see the view from inside this alley]. Although you can't really tell by looking at this shot, it was strangely similar to the entry of the place where we picked some cool things up in San Telmo, so we were sucked in.

Originally posted 12/29/06