Gwangyang Maehwa Festival

Thank god.....the weather finally decided to take a turn for the better this weekend which allowed your favorite cold weather phobes the opportunity to get out an explore again. We took the 2 hour trip southwest to the city of Gwangyang for the Maehwa festival which is known for the Maehwa apricot tree that blooms a very pretty white flower that decorates the rolling landscape.

We ran into some old friends Peter and Leah who were heading out to the fest and made a day of it together. We grabbed some bibimbop on arrival to power up and trekked though the pathways leading us throughout the area, attempting some artsy photog's of the flowers as we went.

In true Korean fashion, we witnessed the usual high-heel hikers at the peak of the climb which although somewhat impressive, never fails to induce a "wtf" moment for me.

After we'd seen enough of the blooms we walked to a second level of the fest where we took in the sounds of some Korean sax players and checked out a field of plum wine barrels. We also got to sample some pickled and spiced plum in the gift shop nearby.

The last stop in our visit was back on ground level where a large outdoor tent was setup with booths and some sort of award ceremony. In the tent were some handmade tapestries, jewlery, traditional wall art and a cool booth that let you build your own flower crate of wood. Naturally, Nicole being an excellent carpenter, she jumped in and constructed a masterpiece which will be a gift for her yoga instructor in town.

Nicole can't get enough of these little Korean babies strapped to their mom's backs.

It was nice to get back outside after what has seemed like a long and uber-chilly winter. Lots of fests and events upcoming so stay tuned and thanks as always for checkin us out.

-adam

All of the photos from today are under the photos link at the top of the website.