Mountaintops and Riverwalks South Korea Style

Since we were only spending a few days in Seoul we wanted to be sure and see the highlights. People watching, browsing local markets, and coffee in a local cafe are always on the agenda when we travel, but I also want to see some of the sites a city is known for. I'm a big fan of the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides which are easy to use and have pullout maps of cities and subway systems.

If you have a short window of time to spend in a large city the DK Eyewitness Top 10 guides are especially good at steering you toward the 'don't miss' stuff. When you're using an underground metro system it makes sense to plan your day a bit so you don't waste time criss crossing the city unnecessarily and we used the Top10 Seoul guide to help plan our days.

We had beautiful weather the three days we were in the city. One thing you need to know about S. Korea is the air quality is not always good for outdoor activities. There are days you're advised to stay indoors and we do, which might explain the abundance of cafes and coffee shops here. We've had several poor air quality days since arriving, but the weekend we spent in Seoul was gorgeous.

Friday we slept in because that darn cold-ugh! then grabbed coffee and pastry at a nearby bakery. Actually hubs had coffee and I had the famous Korean milk tea which was scrumptious! This bakery offered the tea warm or cold, but the girl behind the counter told me cold is the way to go.

She was right-so good!

After breakfast we walked up the hill to get on the 'tram' that would take us to the cable car that
would take us to the elevator that would take us to the top of Seoul Tower.  If you read here you know how I feel about cable cars but when in Rome...

Seoul Tower sits atop Namson, a peak in the mountains that make up Korea. There are fabulous views from the tower observation deck and several dining and shopping options at the base and up top both. There's also apparently a Teddy Bear museum but we missed that.

When you get off the cable car, but before you enter the elevator taking you into the tower itself you see trees and fences and railings covered with padlocks.  Couples buy a lock and attach it to one of the 'trees' then throw away the key, symbolizing eternal love. It's a colorful sight for sure.

Way back when, during the Joeson era, Koreans used smoke signals to communicate, and Namsan was at the center of a network of chimneys used to signal warnings.

Depending on the threat anywhere from one to five beacons would be lit and then copied on successive mountains all the way up the coast to the Chinese border.

The communication and observation tower was built in 1971, stands 774 feet high, and has spectacular views from the top.

After leaving the tower we went back to our hotel for a small siesta then rode the metro to the well known Gwangjang Market, one of the oldest and largest traditional markets in South Korea, to see what we could see.

Fish. Lots of fish. And people dining on everything from live squid to blood sausage and pig intestines. We stuck with less adventurous fare and sampled the mung bean pancake (Bindaetteok) and seaweed rolls (Mayak Kimbap).

The market was bustling and filled with locals on their way home from work on a Friday night, a fun place to explore.

After we left the market we walked along the Cheonggyecheon Stream to see the Lantern Festival.

This is a two week festival beginning on the first Friday in November each year and definitely worth seeing if you're in the city during its run.

The theme this year is "Your Seoul, Light Through Dream" and features Korean characters from Korean folk tales and stories-

Fairy tales from around the world-

and more-

It's beautiful and the walk along the stream really is so dreamy.

A magical way to end the day.

Makin' A List, Checkin' It Twice

I woke up this morning with a list running through my head, which is pretty typical for me on a Monday. I know some people dread Monday mornings, but I love them. A brand new week lies in front of me, I feel energized to accomplish great things, and I wake up happy to face my coffee and my  calendar.

Course by end of day Wednesday I'm usually forced to look reality in the eye and admit to myself all those to-dos are not gonna get done. But hey! Thursday's practically the weekend, which means another Monday morning is right around the corner.  

Is anyone else a little bit fascinated by the concept of time, or is that just me?

Speaking of lists, and yes I was because Mondays in my house are full of lists-things to do today, a weekly menu plan, groceries, and my favorite-a list filled with all the things I'm going to do before Friday gets here. There is something supremely satisfying about drawing a line through an item on a to do list.  Not nearly as satisfying when done electronically btw, which is why I still have scraps of actual paper scattered across my kitchen counter.

One thing on my list today is 'blog'. I'm reduced to writing write on a list beside return the Redbox rental and pick up a hook for a picture that needs hanging, because if it's on my to-do list it feels legitimate and not frivolous. Is blogging frivolous?

Where in the world is this post going?  How 'bout I recap the weekend which contained a happy surprise in the form of this-

Daughter1 booked a train ticket home to surprise me for my birthday. That's our attempt at a 'selfie' in front of Rita's Italian Ice. I'd dragged her along on a million errands on Friday including the dry cleaners, the pharmacy, the vet, and the supermarket, so Rita's was the least I could do to say thanks. Errands are so much more fun with a daughter in tow.

Friday night hubs made a fire in our outdoor firepit, and we grilled salmon, and then had leftover birthday cake. Hubs knows it's not officially my birthday without this cake-dark chocolate filled with a delicate raspberry mousse, and then the piece de resistance-a rich chocolate ganache topping.

It is every bit as delicious as it sounds. We had a piece on my birthday, and as I was cutting it he said, 'Let's not eat it all, we should save some for Daughter1'. Seriously? Did he really think the two of us could eat an entire cake in a single day?

We couldn't, could we?

Saturday morning we woke up to fall temperatures so hubs re-lit the fire and we had our coffee outdoors, which makes my list of top ten favorite things to do on a weekend.  I rousted Daughter1 out of bed early so she could get in on the fun too.

She didn't mind.
She's used to us.

Later in the day we went over to the ski resort in a nearby town to check out their Oktoberfest celebration.

Vegetarians look away.

We had some fantabulous barbecue, grilled sausage, potato pancakes, and of course that traditional German dessert-cotton candy. What can I say...my girl loves her cotton candy.

Is she too cute for words, or what?

We listened to a little oompah music and then took the requisite ride up the mountain to check out the view. Y'all know this is not my favorite thing, and you can tell by the crazy hair that it was windy. Why is it always windy when I have to ride a cart up a mountain?

There are loads of mountain bike trails cut into the mountain, and we saw lots of bikers out enjoying the pretty weather. The views are gorgeous from up top, plus we had to get a closer look at the zipline course.  Hubs and daughter1 were making plans to come back and do that, and of course hubs started giving me his usual pep talk that runs along the lines of 'You could do that' and 'You'd love it!'.

I gave it a solid maybe.

Daughter1 and I watched Pitch Perfect on Saturday night.  I'd never seen it and thought it was cute, plus I liked the music. Hubs watched too, and by 'watched' I mean he napped on the couch.

We didn't have to trek to the train until Sunday night which was nice. Daughter1 helped me with our Christmas card (whoohoo-it's still September!), and she set up an Ipod speaker we got for Christmas last year that I could not for the life of me figure out how to work.  When I say set up I mean she turned it on.  Really, it was pretty much that simple, except somehow blue tooth is involved and when I hear the words blue tooth I stop listening.

We grilled turkey burgers for dinner, and I'm just gonna go ahead and admit I'm not really a fan.  I want to like them because I know they're better for you than beef, but there is something about ground turkey that gives me the heebie jeebies.  I love roast turkey and turkey sandwiches and turkey soup, but ground turkey?  Shiver.

I always doctor them up to add flavor, and yesterday we marinated the burgers in a soy-ginger-citrus concoction and then topped them with grilled pineapple.  I loved the grilled pineapple, and the burgers didn't taste bad, there's just something about the texture I don't love.  Where's the beef?

Okay, those to-dos are not going to cross themselves off, so I need to get busy.  It's Monday, and Mondays are made for productivity.

Or a good book and a nap on the patio in the afternoon sun.  Maybe I need to put that on my list!

Another Pleasant Valley 'Monday'

I was sitting here drinking my coffee wondering how to make sense of all my weekend words when hubs yelled from the kitchen that a bear was having breakfast in our rubbish bin.

Let me tell you, nothing focuses a person quite like a bear in the driveway.  

Actually, hubs would say in my case the opposite is true and I lose all focus when a bear is nearby.   Whatever. Normally he leaves for work at o'dark thirty and I'm the one wheeling the bin all the way down our very long driveway and I'm the one making the long walk all the way back up the driveway.

Thankfully hubs had an out of the office event today so he was still at home when the excitement happened. You might laugh,  but we drove the car to the end of the driveway to repack the bin.  After Smokey mozied on up into the next door neighbor's yard (yes, they often mozy) we lost sight of him.  Having the means to make a quick getaway seemed wise...what if he comes back for that  steak bone he dropped?

So anyway, the weekend...it was nice.  Autumn officially made her grand entrance on Saturday but it wasn't until Sunday the weather got with the program.  It was gray and humid on Saturday so we lounged in our pjs and then went out to lunch.  Hubs had a gift card to spend at Dick's Sporting Goods so we popped in there too.  Does anyone else feel motivated to work out harder and more often when they see all the cute work out clothes available now?

After we ate and shopped we went to the movies and saw The Words with Bradley Cooper, Dennis Quaid and Jeremy Irons.  Here' my .02-

the ending-huh?
Bradley Cooper's People magazine title is well deserved.

That's all.

Sunday afternoon we headed to a nearby Oktoberfest celebration.  What a gorgeous day...blue skies and the perfect temperature!

I'm not a beer drinker but I do love the music and the atmosphere and pretending we're in Munich instead of North Jersey.

And latkes with applesauce, let's not forget that.

Hubs wore his authentic German hat and brought his authentic German stein and we planted ourselves at a table in the sun and enjoyed the day.  Various people came and went from this table and we made friends with all of them.

The first couple who sat down beside us were world travelers and have already emailed me their write up of a trip across France from north to south and another from south to north. I never turn down a good travel tip. Another couple joined us and I was dying to ask the man if people told him he looked like Steven Tyler, but wasn't sure if he'd take that as a compliment or not. Would you take that as a compliment?  I intended it that way-he had the boyish good looks but I don't think he had the crazy or probably the vocal chords either.

These folks were at the table behind us and I needed a picture of this gentleman's hat. He told us the fur piece on top cost $6000.

Hmmm...is that true or is that the Spaten talking?  Either way, it was fabulous!   I think this one is badger, but I'm pretty sure if I could catch one of the groundhogs in our yard hubs could have something similar for free.   

Later in the afternoon another couple joined our table along with their adorable little girl.  My hubs and the other hubs hit it off like long lost friends and guess what?  We're going to their daughter's 1st birthday party next weekend.  

It sounds a little crazy, but as it turns out they live not too far from us.   Maybe it was the magical fall feeling in the air, but when you're friendly people are usually friendly back.  

Our Oktoberfest was held on the grounds of a local ski resort so at the end of the day we all took advantage of the free gondola ride and rode to the top of the mountain together. I was going to take pictures but I forgot this gondola was for skiers and had no seats.

Why is it always so windy on these things?

It's been well established on my blog here, here, and here how I feel about this sort of thing, and no way was I taking my hand off the rail. Hubs kept trying to use logic on me, saying things like in France I was thousands of feet higher, but you know what? When you're up in the air, you're up in the air and it doesn't matter if you're 1500 feet or 15,000 feet, you're still not on the ground. Right?

He finally wrestled the camera from around my clenched fist and snapped some photos.

It's not the Alps, but still beautiful in its own way.