We left Ottawa on Tuesday the 2nd in the morning. Had a flight to Toronto then to Seoul, South Korea. We finally got to our hotel by 6:30 pm on Wednesday night! It gave us three full days to visit Seoul and area.
Thursday was a pretty quiet day. We both were a little jet lagged, so we just visited the area around our hotel, on foot. Right across the street from where we stayed was the Namdaemun Market, which is one of the largest and oldest market in Seoul. It was pretty amazing as the whole block was the market. You could buy pratically anything! We then walked to the Lotte Department Store, in the fashion district of Myeongdong. It consists of a combination of three department stores: Lotte which has 13 floors, Avenuel which has 11 floors and Lotte Young Plaza which only has 9 floors. If you want to shop, this is the place!
We booked a tour on Friday to go visit the DMZ (de-militarized zone) and the Third Tunnel, which was built by the North Korean in an attempt to invade South Korea. The DMZ is 4 km wide - 2 km on each side of the border between North and South Korea. It is no man's land! It was quite interesting to see! On the way back, we visited the Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was originally built in 1395, but rebuild in 1850 ish after it had been destroyed by fire during a war with Japan.
Saturday was another walking day in Seoul. We went to visit the Myeongdong district, with its Cathedral and multiples stores - a lot of them being high-end stores. It was pretty cool to see: streets after streets of shops and stores. Someone with money that likes shopping would be in heaven in that neighbourhood! We then walked to the N Seoul Tower, to get a look at the city from the top of the tower that is located on top of a small mountain which is basically downtown. It was amazing to see how big the city is, and how it is built around the mountains in the area.
We found Seoul to be a very modern city; everything seemed to be new. It was as clean as can be, and people were very nice. We really enjoyed our short stay there and wish we could have spent more time.
 |
| Right across from our hotel - a whole neighbourhood market! |
 |
| Side street in the Myeongdong district |
 |
| This street runs parallel to the main street - a lot quieter! |
 |
| Along the way to the DMZ |
 |
| At the Third Infiltration Tunnel |
 |
| 4 Km from North Korea!! |
 |
| We are at the DMZ! Haven't seen any bombs fly by yet! |
 |
| It says it all! |
 |
| Part of the DMZ, and North Korea in the background. |
 |
| At the Dorasan Station, where trains used to travel from South to North Korea (and vice-versa). |
 |
| After 5 years, we see pictures of Jacqui in winter clothes on this blog! We're at the Gyeongbokgung Palace, and yes, it's cold! |
 |
| Ceiling of one of the buildings |
 |
| Residence of the parents of the King |
 |
| We had KFC for dinner - Korean Fried Chicken! |
 |
| The N Seoul Tower, seen from the Myeongdong district. |
 |
| Best winter coat I've seen! |
 |
| The Myeongdong Cathedral (roman catholic), built at the end of the 1800's. |
 |
| On my way to church!! |
 |
| In front of the rectory |
 |
| Merry Christmas everyone, regardless of which language you speak! |
 |
| Fried (baby) shrimps for lunch; didn't go over too well with Jacqui! |
 |
| The eyes freak her out!! |
 |
The N Seoul Tower
 |
 |
| Part of Seoul, seen from the N Seoul Tower (which is located on top of a small mountain) |
 |
| Love locks at the N Seoul Tower |
 |
| You can see in the distance the Lotte World Tower (123 floors, 5th tallest in the world) |
 |
| From this window, Toronto is ... pretty far away!! |
 |
| We're only 3746 Km from "home"! |
 |
| A whole lot of albums, found in the underground mall close to our hotel |
 |
| In the Myeongdong shopping district |
 |
| The "free beer" part of the panel caught our attention!! |
No comments:
Post a Comment