A Little More Seoul

Our third morning in Seoul found me still coughing. So much so that after pantomiming my symptoms to a very helpful shopkeeper in a tiny store called something like CVS (trademarking is loose here) I purchased some sort of S. Korean cold medicine. There was not a word of English on the box so I took it to our very helpful hotel desk clerk who translated the dosage for me, and if that doesn't deserve a five star rating I don't know what does.

We had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel then headed out for an area of the city called Bukchon Hanok Village. Hanok is the word for the traditional wooden houses that once covered Korea, but have now mostly been replaced with more modern architecture.

We took a taxi because we were a bit unclear as to how to enter the village. Our driver dropped us off at the end of a road and pointed vigorously, which we took to mean mean walk in that general direction, so we did and eventually landed in the right place. 

This area y'all!

So charming! Old world meets new all over this city, but maybe nowhere more so than this little neighborhood.

The steep, winding, narrow streets and beautiful design-

Gorgeous front doors and beautiful gardens peeking over the fences. People live here and there are a number of signs posted regarding quiet hours (visit before 5 PM and not on Sundays) which visitors seemed to respect.

We saw so many people dressed in the traditional Korean dress known as hanbok.  I believe it is designed to be worn as semi-formal or formal attire during festivals, celebrations, and ceremonies but we saw people everywhere we went in the dress taking lots and lots of photographs.

Hanbok is colorful and beautiful and all five palaces in Seoul waive the entry fee if you're wearing this traditional dress. You can also rent outfits around the city but as a visitor I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that, although apparently many do.

After leaving the village we browsed a shopping area known as Insadong, then made our way to Seoul's most prominent temple, Jogyesa, headquarters for Korea's main Buddhist sect.

The temple sits in the heart of the city and the design is stunning.

By this point our feet were aching so we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Well hubs got ready for dinner and I put on my pjs, drank my ?cough syrup? and went to bed.

Hubs used to travel to this part of the world fairly often so while I slept he was able to meet up with a dear Korean friend for conversation, catching up on work and family, and of course traditional barbecue (I was sorry to miss that). I was so happy this worked out as his friend had just returned home after several days out of town, then had to fight traffic to make this dinner happen.

Sunday we took the train back to our daughter's home for another week with the grandest grandboys I know. We're soaking up all the minutes, trying not to count down the days or calculate how many months old this precious newborn will be the next time we see him in person or when's the next time big brother will snuggle up beside us asking to read 'Noah and the Whale' because that kind of thinking steals the joy from today, and we definitely don't want to do that.

Life is always teaching us something, isn't it?