kobe

Today, after Satoshi's German language class, we went to Kobe.

A friend of mine, (that I had met through one of my bead classes at the JTB Culture Salon) and other students had an art exhibition at the Gallery Kitanozaka.

While she was taking bead classes, she was also taking "sarasa" classes. Sarasa is a type of wood block printing.

What they do is weave the fabric (from raw cotton) they will print onto, the teacher then carves out the wood blocks (why buy when you can make them yourself!!), then they stamp their designs onto the fabric, fill in their designs with some color and dye areas and then have their teacher put their projects into a steamer (like a little sauna).

We were very impressed with the different types of stamps and also the intricate stamping and dyeing techniques.

We then went next door to a cafe called the Pearl Cafe. It was a very quaint place and the cafe latte and sweet potato "mon blanc" were great! (UPDATE: as of 4/18/07 they are out of business!)

After our afternoon tea break, we walked over a couple of streets to a bead store that my friend told me about, Beads Lot.

They sell a lot of semi-precious stones (beads), but I bought some sterling silver parts. I think I may go back, if I need to get some semi-precious beads...

As we made our way back to the Sannomiya station, we stopped at the Chocolat Republic to pick up some cookies and other treats.

Despite the rainy weather, we still managed to have a nice time!