Asia 2016 - Day 7 -Traditional crafts & Royal palaces
As usual we started the day late and we tried to find our way back to the Paris baguette place where we had spotted really tasty mini-hamburgers that we wanted to use to kickstart our day but we failed. It seems a recurring theme but we were a bit lost again in Seoul. But as this is a marvelous city with great spots everywhere we settled to A great cafe. That's right, this café is actually called that. We had dinner with a friend of Ran who lived in the town for over four years and she told us that Koreans are crazy about coffee. With her colleagues at least, drinking three cups is normal. That probably explains the prevalence of coffee shops rather than tea places. By the way the only shop that I feel pops up more often than a Starbucks is Olive young.
Again properly fed, we felt prepared to another venture into this crazy city. Out destination was Insadong which is the shotspot for traditional Korean crafts and souvenirs. Hm, who might get what, you'll have to wait and see ;) .
The photo below was taken at one end of the Insadong street.
We were perusing the stores for hours it seemed because the was just so much to look at. For the basic stuff it seems it is similar to buying Eiffel towers in Paris; you get the near-identical ones in every store for near-identical prices. However as you climb the price-ladder the items become more unique and fascinating. We had no intentions to bring any of the more expensive craft back home, sorry guys, but customs is a bitch these days and rightfully so.
Lunchtime drew nearer and we had planned to visit the chicken-soup restaurant that was made famous by the late South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun. Unfortunately we go hungry and did not want to wander around much longer so we just went into a nice place we spotted on our way back to the subway station. On the menu was a spicy Korean beef soup that was a hot as it was red, no those were no tomatoes, and fried pork-slices as well as Kimchi pancakes. If you want a taste of Korea i recommend you start with these pancakes as they have the typical Kimchi taste but without much of the spicyness.
Following up the street we made our way to the Bukchon village. This is another village or rather quarter within Seoul that tries to replicate the feeling of a traditional village. But unlike the former Hanok village which consists of an artificial park with a number of authentic houses, this is a living breathing quarter. As is usual in these old-style quarters, you can take pictures and walk around but you should not disturb the people actually living in the neighborhood by poking your head in their living room uninvited. There are a number of houses you can visit and workshop you can participate. What surprised me most was the peace, that unlike the rest of the city greeted us here.
Below is a photo of the Korean painter Go Hui-Dong who lived around the 1900s and brought a (for that time ) new Western style of painting back to Korea after his stay abroad. He even designed the house himself where he painted and like to drink with his friends.
The house has been restored nicely after the family no longer lived there since the 1950s.
Continuing walking towards the Gyeongbokgung Palace, we found a place offering a Hanbok photoshooting in traditional Korean clothes which Ran could not resist participating in.
The palace, also called Northern Palace as it the most Northern palace of the five palaces in Seoul. It dates back to the 14th century and was destroyed during the Japanese war and parts were used temporarily as arts museum in Japan before returned to Korea. It is considered to be the Korean Forbidden City since it house the Royal family. Embedded between the surrounding mountains it is beautiful sight.
The photo above only shows a small pagoda not any of the actual royal residences.
When we had explored all the sights at the palace we went back to nearby Insadong for more shopping and then headed to the Lotte Main Department store in Myeongdong to meet Ran's friend with whom we had a lovely dinner with tons of food at a Korean BBQ place. In the background you can see the hills surrounding the palace which accompanied with a surrounding wall protected them.
Below you see one of Korea's national dishes; Bibimbap. A heavy (and hot) stone bowl filled with rice and vegetables and an egg which is mixed at the table with a spicy red sauce before being consumed. After a while the bottom rice will get crunchy and even more delicious.
After dinner we walked along a small river to the subway station showing us yet another view of Seoul by night. Sometimes it doesn't have to be a flashy skyline that shows the beauty of a city by night. In this mega city there are small yet beautiful and quiet places when you know where to look.
I'm going to bed now as it is already 1PM 8AM (I forgot to press publish).
PS: I'm sorry about the messed up pictures but I don't have time to fix them now, I hope you can enjoy the post anyways. See you around.
