Bikan Trip

We had a girls day trip in January to the Bikan Historical District in Kurashiki, the main draws were the historical white wall district and two outlet malls (that had Coldstone and Krispy Kreme!).  We took a bus about 2.5 hours away and immediately set off to find the old town.  It was GORGEOUS!  Felt like we were stepping back in time, all these old buildings on a cobblestone street separated by a beautiful canal. 

"The real housewives of Japan"

The shops and trees and canal

 

 

D in a cool phone booth

Just a beautiful place

 

We found this temple that was on the top of a hill, and climbed about a million stairs to get to the top to see it.

(a million stairs, count them)

A shrine within the temple grounds

E, D, me and A!

 

Probably my favorite place of the day was the Turkish store we found.  There were these beautiful pieces of bright colored pottery out front, all hand crafted by the owners who are from Turkey.  That was what drew us in initially (and now I really wish I had taken a picture of the pottery) but once we went inside, I was just enthralled.  It smelled like spices and was dark and full of beautiful things.  Hanging all throughout the store were these gorgeous glass mosaic lanterns, every single one was different and unique.  If I was a millionaire I would have bought every single one of them. 

 

Amazing!!

They invited us to have some Turkish tea, which was delicious and fun!

 

 

Even though I couldn't afford to buy one of the amazing lanterns, I did walk away with a beautiful handmade bowl.

 

I love it!