Seoul, South Korea
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
For any foodie that lives in New York City, Korea-town might be the closest thing to heaven on the east coast. My love for Korean food goes back nearly ten years to when I tried my first bowl of ramen. When the opportunity came to visit South Korea, I was more than ecstatic.
Getting there was the most daunting part of the trip but i like to mix in the good with things I rather not do. So here, I got to scratch off the personalized board in the Delta terminal in Detroit and I mixed that in with the long flight. Almost two days later, I was where I wanted to be.
The plane of choice was the Airbus A350-900 for the fourteen and a half hour journey to Incheon International. When I landed in South Korea, everything was relatively easy and I made my way out to the taxi terminal. I got a taxi from the airport kiosk and made my way into Seoul. My first stop was the Four Points by Sheraton Josun. The hotel is centrally located in Myeongdong and close to many of the first attractions I wanted to visit.
The first stop was the Myeongdong Catherdal. The cathedral is at the start of Myeongdong-Gil. This street is where the Myeongdong night market is located. Here you can being to immerse yourself into local dishes while perusing the streets with a mix of locals and tourists alike. Food is always a great way to be introduced to a city.
With a full nights rest, I was ready to see the city. The first stop was Deoksugund Palace. The palace is situated in the middle of the city almost hidden amonsts skyscapers but demands the attention its surroundins. The wherewithal to keep the monument in its original state down to the dirt floors shows the intention of Sotuh Korea to move into the future while keeping a strong hold on it's past. There is also two national museums on the premises where you can learn about both modern and contemporary art as well as see visual masterpeices that show the history of South Korea. The walls of Deoksugund is a toursit attration in itself. There are the original walls from the palace and there can be live performances on the outside daily.
After a quick walk, I arrived at Sungnyemun Gate. Another examples of historic relics in the middle of a bustling city. From there I headed to Namdaemun Market to pick up a wide variety of local fruits I could not get at home and hydrate for the extended walk that was my next stop. Since watching the movie Past Lives, I added the Seoul Tower to my bucket list and i embarked on the nearly one hour walk to get there. This is another reason I like traveling, I tend to walk more than I would at any other point in life. I arrived at the Global villiage and Folklore Musuem. There were many outdoor statues that told the tale of the city in good times and bad. When I thought my exercise was over, I proceeded to walk up to the tower. Namsan Park has great viewpoints of the city and a list of things to do at the top. I took the Namsan Cablecar down so I could make it to the Namsangol Hanok village before it closed. These villages are kept in great conditions with the original houses of south Korea. These are great places to eat local dishes and buy a souvenir or two.
The next day I had two things on the Agenda: to move to the Four Seasons Seoul and visit a few historic places. The check in was seamless and the room was exquisite as always, the view alone was worth it. After having a meal at the hotel, I walked down to Gwanghwamun Squrare to see the statue of Sejong the Great and the surrounding art on the square. Across the street is the National Museum of Korean Comtemporary History for those who want to know more about the statue and South korea as a whole. The visit then moved to the festivities at Gwanghwamun Gate and to visit the Gyeonbukgung Palace. I thing this holds the largest crowds in the city. From there was a quick walk to the Changdeokgung Palace and the Bukchon village. In the village, you will see people renting traditional Korean attire to take pictures with these houses.
Day five was museum day. There wwere stops resrved for the Seoul Museum of History, Gyeonghuigung Palace and a trip to the War Memorial of Korea. The war museum was more to fulfull my affinity with airplanes but I got to learn a lot about the war and the history behind it.I don't think anything stands out more than the Statue of Brothers. I talks about two blood brothers that met on sepearate sides of the war and the embrace they had in that moment, which was one of the more lighter stories of the war. I then switched hotels one final time. I stayed at the JW Marriott Seoul in order to be picked up for my trip to North Korea on day 6.
The final day in South Korea was spent at the Yeonmandong Park, to one see the cherry blossoms as well as the Cherry Blossom House. The area is one of the more busier areas of town and great for those who want to experience the shopping life in the city. I tend to visit the local sneaker store when traveling to scratch that itch as well. (The joys of being a sneakerhead) On the way to the airport, I got to see my final bit of Korean Art, giant passengers. South Korea is one of my favorite cities and I hope it's one of yours.
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