All Around the Town I

All around the town (city) via subway train—so convenient!

After Curtis and Kathleen left, Aaron and I enjoyed a down-day. Aaron was starting to catch a cold so we watched a movie and I did laundry. Later that evening we went to Itaewon for dinner—a unique place in Seoul where one can enjoy the international diversity of culture, dining, shopping and entertainment. We had a drink at an Italian pizzeria…

    

…strolled by English-style pubs and other themed restaurants…

…and ate dinner at a Spanish tapas restaurant.

The next morning we moved to the citadines apart'hotel situated—alongside one of Korea’s most historically 

iconic bodies of water, the Han River—on the island of Seonyudo. From there we enjoyed exploring...

…our neighborhood. We found a couple great coffee shops, a bakery and a pizzeria. 

This was an ingenious parking garage.

Waiting for the subway to go to Sinchon.

Sinchon is surrounded by well known universities. As a result, the area is youthful and full of energy. You can find everything here, including department stores, discount marts, innumerable trendy stores and every kind of restaurant and bar that you could imagine—not to mention, other popular hotspots like noraebang (karaoke rooms) and plenty of other places where young people relax and have fun. The streets of Sinchon light up at night with glowing neon signs. Young performers gather in the streets singing and dancing, K-pop style.

We met Neal, Se eun and Se hee for lamb, shrimp and chicken kabobs.

The next day we explored Myeong-dong—one of the busiest places in Seoul and among Korea’s premier shopping destinations. Over 1 million shoppers pass through this area each and every day. Located in the heart of Seoul, Myeong-dong market has been a witness to Korea’s tumultuous modern-day history as a center of city politics, economy, and culture. To international visitors, Myeong-dong is a stunning shopping district with countless shops and restaurants. To me it is crazy and I really couldn't wait to get out of there (and it wasn't even that busy).

Gelato

We eventually found a coffee shop and hid out for a bit.

We're not sure what this man was hollering about but he was dressed oddly and sporting a Groucho Marx nose and glasses.

We did have a delicious meal while we were in Myeong-dong

Bibimbap and…

Manduguk (dumpling soup)

So yummy! I ate it all up!

Later that evening, we returned to Insadong for a little shopping. Stores in Insadong specialize in a wide variety of goods that can only be purchased or appreciated in Korea: hanbok (traditional clothing), hanji (traditional paper), traditional teas, pottery, and folk crafts.

We decided to try Korea's milk beer makgeolli—a slightly sweet alcoholic beverage. It is made from rice or wheat mixed with nuruk, a Korean fermentation starter. It was originally quite popular among farmers, earning it the name nongju, which means farmer liquor. However, it has recently become more popular in cities, especially with the younger generations and commonly imbibed alongside Korean pancakes. source: wikipedia

To be continued…

Sentences in italic were borrowed from
Imagine Your Korea
—a great website for planning your next trip to Korea!