This might be a super-long post, but it was a busy day on Saturday, and I have time now, so here goes...
Doorway into a small courtyard
Huge ceremonial bell near the main buildings
Main building of temple complex. Buddhist rituals and chants were happening at this time, but it felt disrespectful to take a video of that. P.S. I'm horrible at what Koreans call "selcas", or self-photos.
By the way, it was CRAZY hot, despite the clouds. Then we hiked up part of the fortress walls around old Seoul, which are several hundred years old:
It got pretty steep for a while here.
Above is a view of Seoul from the highest point we hiked to. Mind you, this is only part of the city. It pretty much surrounded the mountain we were on. You can't see it very well, but you can see some palaces in the middle part of this picture, and the tiny needle tower on the Namsan mountain (the dark green mountain in the background on the left) is Seoul Tower.
After that, we hiked down to an area called Samcheongdong, which is at the tail-end of my Bukcheon Hanok Village tour from my 2nd day. They had many nice restaurants, so we picked a good one (with air conditioning) even though we were gross and sweaty from hiking in the muggy heat. I ordered something I wasn't sure what all was in it, but sounded good, kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) with seaweed and abalone:
Guys, I know it looks crazy, but trust me on this one: it was sooooo delicious, and everybody at my table tried some and agreed. The seaweed was a special kind - it was made up of super fine strands, so it looked a little like green hair - just try and get past that imagery - but it has such a nice subtle flavor, not the strong seaweedy aroma you might be imagining. I had seen it on a Korean show before and wanted to try some, but thought it was unique to some coastal towns, not something I could find in Seoul, and the abalone was so tender, and it burned my tongue b/c it was so hot - loooved it. Gotta go there again.
On the walk to the subway station, I found this little gem:
A little much, admittedly, but at least less vague and possible creepy as this one:
Which would you choose - coffee, dessert, or me? Post your answers in the comments below.
And to round out the trifecta, here's what Alejandra and I found on our trek to the nearby area called Hongdae later that afternoon/evening:
What worries me the most is that it isn't just HO Bar, but HO Bar 2...there's more than one...
After getting a bit lost due to faulty internet directions (oh internets, why are you so full of lies?), we had a few missions to take care of. First on our list was going to the Hongdae Free Market in the Children's Park across from Hongik University:
There were at least a few dozen artists selling their crafts in this children's playground area, and apparently there are hundreds of artists who rotate every Saturday afternoon here, so maybe I'll try again next Saturday and see different things. Since it had been rainy, sales had been poor, so the artists were willing to give us deals. I scored a leather bracelet and earrings with jade and pearl for under $30 total. The lady selling bracelets even added some links to the bracelet so it would be looser on my wrist the way I liked it. They were all so super nice, and it was great to support artists directly, and not see the same mass-produced items over and over at touristy stalls around.
Our next task was to find this place called Isaac (pronounced ee-sack) Toast:
They make delicious, buttery toast sandwiches with various meats, egg, cheese, sauces, and sometimes even random corn (Korea be loving some canned corn in unexpected places), all for 2-3 bucks. Mmmmm...
Then we found the Eat Your Kimchi studio, owned by the Canadian couple who blog about Korea I met my first weekend, down the street, but we didn't see any movement in the windows, so we think nobody was there at the time.
This was on the way back to the subway station:
I have no idea what it is or what they sell.
We decided to end our day at Cheonggyecheon, where I went and was accosted by that creeper my first Friday. We bought some ddeok, or rice cakes, from a lady in the subway station and were really excited to try several different kinds:
Cheonggyecheon did not disappoint, of course:
Yay, so fun! But still pretty tired from adventuring so much. I still haven't begun on Sunday...phew. I've got another quiz on Wednesday, but found out I got full points on my quizzes last Friday!
4 comments:
That looks so fun. That steep pathway was crazy! The Hello Kitty cafe was really cute! That would be a fun place to eat with the girls. And the Isaac place sounds really good to eat. Hope those rice cakes didn't make you too sick. Good job on your quizzes!
That was a super busy day! You really packed a lot into one day. How early did you start and how late did it end? Love all your pictures. Would like to hear how they say "Dorothy Diary". Bet you were surprised to see that form of your name there. Congrats on the quiz grades!
I have more quizzes on Wednesday! Can you believe it?
And all my teachers speak English to varying degrees, but NONE of them can say my name, although it is pretty cute to see them try. I answer to the koreanized version of my name, Do-ro-shi, which is how it's pronounced in the wizard of oz for them.
From now on you won't be called Do-fy but Do-ro-shi. Bet your calves are getting a good work out with all the hiking and walking. Probably got a good shape to them by now too.
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