I have found that taking the tour bus that lets you get on and off around a town is a great way to get an overview of what there is to see. My friend Diane arrived for just a day and a half before she and her husband headed off on a trip to Vietnam, so I thought it would be a fun thing to do together. She did not have time to really see anything in depth, so this was a good summary.

Here in Seoul the tours are run by the city. Maybe because of that they didn’t seem to be as high quality as ones I have taken in other cities. Our tour began with the bus driver talking in Korean (and maybe Chinese?  It all sounds about the same to me.) He did not translate what he said to English, so Diane asked if there was any English translation. He showed us the ear phones that we could put on to listen to an English tour. It turned out that one of the sets where we were sitting was not working, so we changed seats. Then during the tour the recorded English guide would talk about sites without giving us any idea how to find the site. On other tours the guide will say “look to your left for the tall building…..” to give you some idea of what they were talking about. On this tour I found myself looking everywhere and sometimes never finding what was talked about and other times seeing it after it was talked about. The other problem was that the bus driver pretty regularly gave his own talk using the microphone without translating to English. At these times we could not hear what the English guide was saying and could not understand him either.

So, finally we decided to get off of the bus, eat lunch and then pick up another bus in ½ hour or 45 minutes. We just happened to get off at a very interesting place with lots of outdoor art (more about that with pictures later. We had a great lunch and ice cream and got back on. The second tour bus was better.

After the trip it was clear to me that there were a few places I really wanted to see. I wanted to go to the Namsangol Hanok Village to see typical Korean houses. I wanted to go to the North Seoul tower and see the overall view of Seoul. I wanted to go to the Namdaemun Market to look at stuff and maybe to buy some things. I learned that there are 5 palaces in Seoul and thought it would be important to at least visit one. There is a man-made stream that goes through the center of town that I wanted to see. I was interested in going to one of the many museums (art, Korean history, etc…)  There might not be enough time to do all of that, but I had a starting place!

The end of the trip was a bit of a challenge. We had been told that we could not get off at certain stops because a demonstration was planned for those places. It turned out that the final stop where we needed to get out of the bus was one of the demonstration places. Because it was their final stop they eventually let us off, but we were stuck for a long time in traffic. 

There were lots of people prepared to demonstrate and a HUGE number of police and police busses lining the streets. It was difficult to get a good picture of what was happening because it was behind all of the busses. Later someone told me that the busses were a strategy that the current president was using to keep people from seeing the protests. The busses blocked the view across the street. I heard that the demonstration was about the minimum wage and was labor unions in support of workers.  

We were never unsafe since it was a local issue and had nothing to do with tourists. I tried to find information about it the next day, but it was not in the papers. 

Landing in South Korea

It is Tuesday, July 5 where I am, but maybe it is Monday where you are???? Anyway, it is pouring rain outside, so I decided that it is a good day to check out the gym at the hotel (just OK) and to stay inside and write about the two days here so far. 

This post will just be about first impressions. The second post will be my experience using the Subway and a few other things.

It is odd here.... but all of the signs are in Korean and I can't read them. I guess it was that way in Greece also, but English is an official language in the Philippines which is made up of 7000 islands and lots of very different dialects. They need one unifying language. It is not so with Korea. The Korean language works quite well here, but not English. I am surprised at how few people speak much English. Often you do find someone who can translate for you, but we have been to many shops and restaurants where there is no one to explain things.

My experience with Greece was similar. I could not read the signs, but I think that more people spoke some English. At least it seemed that way.

To start.... the food on Korean Airlines was weird. We had a choice between seafood and a Korean dish with vegetables. We chose the Korean dish, but we had to watch our neighbor sitting near us to know how to eat it. 


There was a little container that the stewardess opened and poured hot water into (soup?) and then there was a dish with some assorted stuff on it that we did not recognize.  There were 6 things... I think I could identify 2. There was a packet of Sesame Oil and a tube of Korean hot sauce. There was also a salad (I recognized that).

It turns out that the stuff in the middle of the bowl that they gave us was noodles and you empty the packet of Sesame Oil on it and then put in what hot paste you want on it (none in my case) and then stir it around and eat it with chopsticks. I thought it was OK. I let the stuff in my soup dissolve and then tasted it, but decided one new dish was enough for this meal.














It was amazing that we even got a meal since it was only a 4 hour flight! 

From the airport we took a Taxi to our hotel. It was about an hour drive. The striking thing is that the view of the city from a distance is so different than other places I have been. As we got closer I think that the reason is that multiple high rises are built in the same style next to each other so that you get a view of a lot of parallel high rises. I could not take a picture that adequately illustrates that. This image from http://editorsitinerary.cntraveler.com/korea/ sort of illustrates it.

Anyway, after a stomach problem and so much strange food I decided something that I never do in a foreign country..... I wanted to go to McDonalds!  or any place without pictures of strange food in bowls. 

After unpacking, Steve and I went searching for American-style food near the hotel. He had looked online and there was a Subway. I have seen McDonalds in EVERY country I have been in, so I am pretty sure there are multiple. We saw 7-11 and Starbucks, but they aren't usually too good for a meal.

Finally we decided to forage in a 7-11 and it was not easy. A good deal of what you can find in a 7-11 here is like Ramen (instant noodle bowls), honey flavored potato chips or other stuff I did not recognize.  We finally agreed on string cheese, crackers (we had bought them in the Philippines), apples, and wine. I was quite happy to dine on things I recognized and told Steve that I would be more open to South Korean food after that meal and it is true.  


In the morning Steve went hunting for something to eat in the room for breakfast. It was Sunday morning and many places were closed. Almost every other shop in this area where there are two colleges is some sort of coffee shop. Finally he found coffee and some bagels.  Can you tell which one is the onion bagel? The onion was pretty mild :-)

Later that day Steve went to his meeting and I went to the shop next door and got lunch. It was a lovely chicken sandwich and fries with a half corn on the cob and salad. I topped it off with Mango Ade which was delicious.

Our hotel (Ever 8) is nice. In the hallway the rooms look like bank safes. There is a really industrial feel. Inside the room is pretty nice and there is a kitchenette AND a washer/dryer (one machine that does both???-more on that after I try it out). There is a microwave, full sized refrigerator, hot plate and dishes! I think that there are many Ever 8 hotels in Seoul.

A Day on the Town

Steve had meetings all day, so it was tempting to stay in and read the book that I had downloaded from the library (The Farm-hard to set down) and be lazy. That just didn't seem right. I needed to make myself go out and explore. So, after postponing for a few hours and catching up on email I got ready and began my adventure.

First I had to master the subway. Seoul has a wonderful Subway system. You can really go anywhere in it. It is clean, cool and fast. At the stops there were glass barriers to the rails. I am not sure if that is to keep people from jumping, but I am sure it keeps the stations cleaner.  I had decided that I needed first to get one of their travel cards that you can load up with money and then use each time you go on a subway ride. 

After looking at the machines and trying to figure it out on my own I asked the men at the information booth. They seemed to understand what I was asking, but did not speak any English. They took me to a machine where for 3000 won (about $2.50) I purchased a card. Then I had to go to the next machine and put some money onto the card. The machine had a button to choose English, so that was straight forward. The problem was that I could not see anywhere how much a ride cost, so I was not sure how much to put on. I decided to put on the least that it suggested (2000 won) and then see what happened. 

When I went through the entry gate the LCD showed that it cost 1250 and I had 750 left on my card. I would have to refill it before I could come home.

I took the subway to the City Hall stop and got up to walk around and explore. I have never seen SO many huge video screens. In this picture which I took when I got out of the subway there are three. As I walked down the street there was one in every block or so. It looked to me like they were all playing commercials, but since I don't understand Korean I am not sure.

In this area I saw more business people. Near our hotel I feel like one of the oldest people when I walk down the street. Near City Hall there were more mature people (do you like how I said that?) I stopped to eat lunch at a Duncan Donuts!! Yes, I did say Duncan Donuts and lunch in the same sentence. I had a chicken sandwich and a capuccino. There were donuts, but I did not have one.

On the way I saw two temples which I will have to visit later and two impressive statues. I also saw that there is a on and off bus that I think I will take to learn the basics of what is here. There was a monument thanking the US for helping take back the 38th parallel. It had pictures of soldiers and I wondered if I might see my Mom because she was a nurse here at that time. Of course it was mostly generals and really important types, but you never know.

As I walked down I observed these helpful and friendly police people. They don't actually look very Korean to me.  They were outside of the Police station. I know that because it said "Police" in English.

At the Sejong Art Center there was an exhibit of the work of Joan Miro. I decided that it would be fun to see so I went in and after looking at the exhibit I sat in one area and took time to sketch (badly). I decided to take a picture of what I was sketching, turn it upside down and sketch it again and see if it improves. I will post the two sketches here if it seems helpful.

After the Miro exhibit I headed back toward the subway to return 'home'.  I was thirsty and so I stopped at Caffe Pasucci for something to drink. I ended up with a Peach Granita which was very nice. 

I did celebrate the 4th of July a little in the evening by having Korean BBQ. It was fantastic. In the middle of your table is a large grill and they bring meat and grill it for you there. They also provide you with all sorts of sauces, and vegetables to eat with the meat and kimchi! I also had ice cream and by accident ordered something quite strange. I can't believe I did not take a picture of it. It was in a large bowl and had shaved ice at the bottom and then mashed azuki beans with nuts sprinkled on them then a scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. It was served with a bit of sweetened condensed milk that could be poured over it. hmmmmm I will try to go back and get a picture.

On the walk home I saw this very interesting parking garage. I am not sure how it works... but here is my guess. You drive your car into the bottom slot and pay. Then the Blue machine rotates, like a ferris wheel, so that your car is stored up higher and another blank space rotates down. It seems ingenious like many of the things that we have seen in South Korea. 

I got my idea for this blog and also using big pictures from this blog:
Subway excursions in Seoul

https://seoulsuburban.com/

Let me know what you think!