Wednesday, October 14

While Larry worked, I played. After 24 hours of flying, a leisurely and relaxing pace seemed to be the right thing to do. I had done some touring in 2012, so Namsam/N Seoul Tower, Jogyesa Buddhist Temple, and Gyeongbokgung Palace (the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty) did not need to be on the list.

We are staying in the Gangnam area south of the Han River, and although this side is hopping with restaurants and Gangnam-style shopping and attractions, the major attractions are on the north side of the Han River.

After getting cash and then getting a loaded-up T-pass for the subway, I headed off by subway – above ground crossing the bridge :) – to central Seoul, re-surfacing at City Hall/Seoul Plaza. By the way, the subway stations play cute Mario Brothers type music as the trains arrive :) , and announcements and signage are in Korean and English.

Although I hadn’t planned it, I walked past one of the lesser palace/park areas — Deoksu Palace – and decided to go in and walk around. The Palace served as the king’s residence twice during the Joseon dynasty – once around 1593 following the withdrawal of Japanese forces that had destroyed the other palaces, and then around 1897-1907 by Gojong who later was forced to turn over his throne to his son and lived there until he died in 1917. Much of the palace area has been reduced by the many commercial buildings surrounding it, but it is still a sizable park. In addition, there are two western neo-classical buildings built in the early 1900s that now house an art and empire history museums.

I then proceeded to my original plan for the morning – the 11 km Cheonggyecheon Stream starting at Cheonggye Plaza. Until it was restored in 2005, Cheonggyecheon Stream existed only as a neglected waterway hidden by an overpass. There is a walking path on both sides of the stream, with stepping stones across so people can cross from side to side without going up to a bridge at street level, and greenery/interesting paving and art installations starting near the Plaza.

Eventually the art ended, and I exited up a stairway a little over 2 km from the beginning.

I then wandered north of the stream to the Insadong area, a popular, mostly pedestrian, tourist area with winding streets full of art galleries, restaurants, tearooms, and trinket shops. I wandered around for a long time, window-shopping and stopping at 2nd floor tearoom open to the outside and relaxing with green tea.

I headed back before rush hour to the hotel. Larry got back from work, and we went to a local's dumpling and noodle place recommended by one of the guys — Gangnamgyoja Korean Noodle Restaurant. We walked for about 20 minutes in both directions, both on the large streets with lots of restaurants and brandname stores, and through narrow streets full of people, shops, and restaurants, all aglow with neon.

Thursday, October 15

While Larry worked, I relaxed, packed and gave our bags to the front desk. I planned to explore a little of Gangnam. “With the name literally meaning “south of the river", Gangnam is a mainly commercial area located south of the Hangang River. The district is lined with a dazzling array of shops selling everything from expensive designer items to unique vintage clothes."

I walked down to the Gangnam station, explored some underground shops, and then took line 2 and line 3 to Sinsa. I walked along Garosu-gil. "Adorned with ginkgo trees, Garosu-gil stretches less than a kilometer in Sinsa-dong, but is still considered a main area within the greater Gangnam area." It was a pretty walk past the usual high-end stores plus some fancy boutique shops. I walked up to Apgujeong, intending to make it to the fancy “Rodeo" section and Dosan Park, but never quite made it. I wanted to get back to meet Larry and be ready for our airport bus, after doing a little shopping in the Gangnam station underground. Bought some nice casual Korean-made sneaker/loafers I saw a lot of people wearing.

By the way, this place may have started with tea, but there is a coffee shop about every 2 feet in this city — Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Pascucci, Dunkin’ Donuts, Paris Baguette, Caffé Bene, Tom n Toms, A Twosome Place, etc, etc, etc.

We gathered up our bags and headed to the airport. Next stop, Hong Kong for connection to Singapore.

Eileen Samberg