Posted by Jess
19 April 2011
After the bus dropped me off in Downtown Seoul around 3pm, I had a renewed energy to explore the city. If only I had a good map...
I followed street signs to an area called Cheongye Plaza, which has a nice pedestrian area and a stream that you can walk along. This was a recently revitalized area of the city. And I got to see a K-Pop group practicing their dance for a music video.
I headed in the direction of City Hall and in order to get to N Seoul Tower, an observation tower in the middle of Namsan Park. I took a few wrong turns and saw a few extra things - including a couple of churches, museums and another palace. When I finished walking in one giant circle, I decided it might be better to just look up and head towards the tower without using the map. While going in that direction I ended up back at where the bus dropped me off. I should have left marks in the tree because I'm pretty sure I walked by that place 4 times on Saturday. I turned towards the tower and was getting closer when the buildings parted and I saw the park. It's on a mountain. No joke. So I can see the tower but the cars next to me are all going to go through a tunnel to go through the mountain and under the park. Discouraged and sweaty from hiking around all day, I decided to forget it and headed towards Seoul Station.
After walking for about 15 minutes, I checked some information maps along the way and was at a turning point - Namsan Park straight ahead or Seoul Station to the right. Or what's this? Cable Car access straight ahead. So you don't need a car to get up to the tower, eh? I can take a cable car? Alright, I'll bite. Wrong answer! I walked about another 20-30 minutes up half the mountain to get in line for the cable car. It was a steep hike and not many people were headed up that way with me - most were headed down. If only I were so lucky! I stood in line for a while and then rode the cable car up. After the landing - more stairs to the tower. Fantastic.
The tower itself was pretty average. It was a clear day but the city looks so ubiquitous from up there it was hard to get a flavor for it. Plus I was a little bitter about how long it took to get there so it really would have had to be spectacular to get me going!
I did see at the base of the mountain on the opposite side I came from the Grand Hyatt hotel. I was told by friends before going that this hotel had a great band that played every night and I should check it out. It was almost 6pm and it was right there so why not? Now, how to get there? I started walking down that side of the mountain and got to a bus stop. I could still see the Hyatt below me. Next bus in 38 minutes. Well, it's right there and all downhill, how bad can it be? Wrong answer again! I took the path to the left and probably should have gone to the right. So I was walking and the path was taking me down and away from the hotel with no where to turn off. And turning around and going back up the hill was not an appealing option. I kept going and finally at the bottom of the mountain, on the other side of the park, I grabbed a taxi and went to the Hyatt.
I was a little early for the band so I took my time exploring the hotel - had a glass of wine in the piano bar overlooking the city, shopped a bit, ate dinner and then headed to the bar. The hotel was beautiful and a little fancy, totally out of my price range had they even had any rooms open but if you are looking to go to Seoul, this would be a good place to stay. The band was called Magenta and they played a mix of rock, pop and R&B. They were a lot of fun but I wish I would have had someone to share it with. It was a little lonely there by myself. I headed back to my hotel around 11, exhausted from the long day of hiking. I packed up my suitcase, not feeling guilty about my unused workout clothes, and ordered the taxi for Sunday's ride to the airport.
Here are some general observations from Seoul:
1. There are a lot of churches. Steeples everywhere. It's a little jarring to someone used to Asian landscapes.
2. The city is dirty. There is a lot of garbage strewn about and old buildings that look like they shouldn't be standing. Very different from pristine Tokyo.
3. This is the cheapest city I've been to in a while - for local stuff at least. A lot of things in the souvenir shops were $5 or less. Taxis were pretty cheap too. Hotels though were not cheap and there's a lot of tax on the hotel bill.
4. The Korean language is really 'hard' sounding to me. It is much more abrasive to the ears as a language than Chinese or Japanese I think. The people were friendly and helpful but not aggressive. A good balance between the Japanese style and the Chinese style for me.
5. There were American brands everywhere. In grocery stores, restaurant chains, all of it - I even saw an Outback Steakhouse and a Bennigan's.
Sunday was an uneventful trip back to Tokyo. When I got home I noticed that we must have had a few big aftershocks this weekend - my fridge door was ajar and our tension-rod in the closet had fallen down. Usual signs of a little shaking - and there was a 5.9 about 50 miles away - one of the closest we've had. Sunday night I started packing for this Friday's trip to Green Bay to see the girls. HOORAY!!! Friday cannot come fast enough!
Kanpai!
Jess
19 April 2011
After the bus dropped me off in Downtown Seoul around 3pm, I had a renewed energy to explore the city. If only I had a good map...
I followed street signs to an area called Cheongye Plaza, which has a nice pedestrian area and a stream that you can walk along. This was a recently revitalized area of the city. And I got to see a K-Pop group practicing their dance for a music video.
I headed in the direction of City Hall and in order to get to N Seoul Tower, an observation tower in the middle of Namsan Park. I took a few wrong turns and saw a few extra things - including a couple of churches, museums and another palace. When I finished walking in one giant circle, I decided it might be better to just look up and head towards the tower without using the map. While going in that direction I ended up back at where the bus dropped me off. I should have left marks in the tree because I'm pretty sure I walked by that place 4 times on Saturday. I turned towards the tower and was getting closer when the buildings parted and I saw the park. It's on a mountain. No joke. So I can see the tower but the cars next to me are all going to go through a tunnel to go through the mountain and under the park. Discouraged and sweaty from hiking around all day, I decided to forget it and headed towards Seoul Station.
After walking for about 15 minutes, I checked some information maps along the way and was at a turning point - Namsan Park straight ahead or Seoul Station to the right. Or what's this? Cable Car access straight ahead. So you don't need a car to get up to the tower, eh? I can take a cable car? Alright, I'll bite. Wrong answer! I walked about another 20-30 minutes up half the mountain to get in line for the cable car. It was a steep hike and not many people were headed up that way with me - most were headed down. If only I were so lucky! I stood in line for a while and then rode the cable car up. After the landing - more stairs to the tower. Fantastic.
The tower itself was pretty average. It was a clear day but the city looks so ubiquitous from up there it was hard to get a flavor for it. Plus I was a little bitter about how long it took to get there so it really would have had to be spectacular to get me going!
I did see at the base of the mountain on the opposite side I came from the Grand Hyatt hotel. I was told by friends before going that this hotel had a great band that played every night and I should check it out. It was almost 6pm and it was right there so why not? Now, how to get there? I started walking down that side of the mountain and got to a bus stop. I could still see the Hyatt below me. Next bus in 38 minutes. Well, it's right there and all downhill, how bad can it be? Wrong answer again! I took the path to the left and probably should have gone to the right. So I was walking and the path was taking me down and away from the hotel with no where to turn off. And turning around and going back up the hill was not an appealing option. I kept going and finally at the bottom of the mountain, on the other side of the park, I grabbed a taxi and went to the Hyatt.
I was a little early for the band so I took my time exploring the hotel - had a glass of wine in the piano bar overlooking the city, shopped a bit, ate dinner and then headed to the bar. The hotel was beautiful and a little fancy, totally out of my price range had they even had any rooms open but if you are looking to go to Seoul, this would be a good place to stay. The band was called Magenta and they played a mix of rock, pop and R&B. They were a lot of fun but I wish I would have had someone to share it with. It was a little lonely there by myself. I headed back to my hotel around 11, exhausted from the long day of hiking. I packed up my suitcase, not feeling guilty about my unused workout clothes, and ordered the taxi for Sunday's ride to the airport.
Here are some general observations from Seoul:
1. There are a lot of churches. Steeples everywhere. It's a little jarring to someone used to Asian landscapes.
2. The city is dirty. There is a lot of garbage strewn about and old buildings that look like they shouldn't be standing. Very different from pristine Tokyo.
3. This is the cheapest city I've been to in a while - for local stuff at least. A lot of things in the souvenir shops were $5 or less. Taxis were pretty cheap too. Hotels though were not cheap and there's a lot of tax on the hotel bill.
4. The Korean language is really 'hard' sounding to me. It is much more abrasive to the ears as a language than Chinese or Japanese I think. The people were friendly and helpful but not aggressive. A good balance between the Japanese style and the Chinese style for me.
5. There were American brands everywhere. In grocery stores, restaurant chains, all of it - I even saw an Outback Steakhouse and a Bennigan's.
Sunday was an uneventful trip back to Tokyo. When I got home I noticed that we must have had a few big aftershocks this weekend - my fridge door was ajar and our tension-rod in the closet had fallen down. Usual signs of a little shaking - and there was a 5.9 about 50 miles away - one of the closest we've had. Sunday night I started packing for this Friday's trip to Green Bay to see the girls. HOORAY!!! Friday cannot come fast enough!
Kanpai!
Jess
5:45 AM |
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