This weekend was rather uneventful, but today (Monday) was aweeeesome! Nick and I finally got up and out of the house early enough to get a full day on the Seoul City Tour Bus. We didn't have time to do everything we wanted, so we will definitely be doing this tour again. The tour is on really big nice buses with headsets explaining everything in English. The tour we were on (there are different packages) was the biggest with 27 stops. This tour covered everything from the Blue House (where the Korean president lives), to the giant markets, to the palaces, tourist spots (souvenirs and keepsakes), Traditional Folk Villages, shopping districts (everything from clothes, to 140 toy stores, food, movies, shoes, fashion shows, live performances... and more!), The N Seoul Tower (highest point in Seoul.... beautiful!), hotels, and historical sites.
We had an excellent time and finished our day out by having dinner with a friend at On The Border at COEX Mall (yummmmmm Mexican food!). I did a ton of shopping today, and bought some cool gifts to mail home to my mommy.
So, now that I explained what we did today... here are some pictures so you can absorb the awesomeness!
The first stop you will see pictures of is the Namsangol Folk Village. They had a huge Lunar New Year celebration going on today so it was even more spectacular than normal. We saw traditional Korean Games, food, and clothing. They also had a live performance using these crazy Korean instruments. They were pretty talented! The normal purpose of the Folk Village is to show people how Koreans lived hundreds of years ago. It's amazing that some aspects, like technology, have come so far. Other things (furniture, beds (i.e. floor mats), kimchi pots) haven't changed at all. Korea definitely has respect for their ancestors and culture. It's kind of nice that all these old buildings, palaces, and monuments are treasured and preserved here. I feel like in American we always want something more impressive, so we level old things to make room for new monstrosities. I love modern and swanky just as much as the next person, but sometimes preserving the past is important too.
Our next stop was N Seoul Tower. The bus, luckily, could drop us somewhat near the top of the giant mountain because it was a private tour bus (they stopped letting general traffic up in 2005 to preserve the mountain) so we only had to hike like 10-15 mins up the mountain. It was so steep and cold!! Once we got to the top we were surprised by an array of Lunar New Year activities and performances. There were games and fun things for the whole family! The second most impressive thing at the tower (which is the most impressive for obvious reasons) is the fence that surrounds the observation deck. This chain link fence is literally COVERED in thousands upon thousands of locks. Couples go to the Tower with two locks and write a message on them. They then lock the locks together and onto the fence. This is supposed to mean the couple will stay together. I'm not sure how this tradition was started, but I was blown away by the sheer amount of locks covering this fence. Amazing!
Our third stop was Insadong. Insadong is a shopping and eating district. It's loud and fun and full of tastes and smells. I enjoy it!! I will be buying all my souvenirs for friends and family there before I go home !
(Ok.... the pictures all loaded backwards, so they start in Insadong and end at the Folk Village.... SORRY!...)
No comments:
Post a Comment