- We had a fantastic quiet walk through Seoul this morning. We started to coffee that was too expensive, and then moved on to explore the park surrounding Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung Palaces, which was only a 15 minute walk from out hostel. We almost made it for the official tour of the UNESCO site (the only way you can see it on a Sunday) but not quite :/ After that, we walked towards Cheonggyecheon Stream, on our way to Gyeongbokgong Palace.
- As likely the only 20-somethings to not go out this past Saturday night, the streets were devoid of crowds. Except the huge amounts of police officers! After a lot of confusion, a little interaction with some officers, watching them walk around, and the giant banner announcing the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, we realized that they were practicing for the arrival of all the important people who are coming to Seoul tomorrow (including President Obama!). Once we realized this, we were much less freaked out (than by the thought that there had been a bomb scare, for example). The weather was beautiful and our conversations were fantastic; in addition to normal stuff, we talked a lot about Korean history, combining what I’ve learned here with what Anna already knows and our ideas about things. I love that the 3 of us don’t run out of things to talk about :)
- We eventually arrived at Gyeongbokgong Palace and I really enjoyed it because when we were here for the Scavenger Hunt, we only passed by the outside (I kept having Scavenger Hunt flashbacks throughout the day). The grounds of the palace are very extensive and there are a lot of beautiful buildings and scenery. I’m very grateful to Anna for taking lots of pictures at my and PP’s will, in addition to her own (PP had lost her camera last night :( and mine was dead), although we did have to fight with the memory card a few times.
 |
| Modern + traditional |
- After wandering for a couple hours, we made our way over to Insadong, a more historical shopping area (thanks to the Scavenger Hunt, I knew where all these great places were!). There are tons of shops here and I realized that it is a fantastic place to buy souvenir gifts! Scarves, traditional arts (paper, pottery, statues, etc.), things with “Korea” on them...I will be returning to purchase most of my gifts here :) Also, it’s a great place to buy ridiculous tourist items – like Boys Before Flowers socks!!! Anna and I found Kim Bum AND Lee Min Ho socks! Naturally, we bought them. We were so fan-girl giddy. We had a yummy lunch and then bought tea that was way too expensive (and too strong to be very good :/), and successfully made it back to our hostel. We had to pack up kind of quickly to make, but we managed to have an incredibly awkward encounter with a guy at the hostel (we asked him to take our picture on the roof, with the city in the background – and he told us he was busy! Eating lunch! I thought he was joking so it was really weird when I realized he was being serious...) and meet the other hostel manager (he was REALLY nice...I hope I get to stay there again) before heading to the subway.
- We walked 16,652 steps and burned 1,190 calories today! Add that to the things that made today fantastic :)
No comments:
Post a Comment