We actually got a decent sleep our first night considering the time change. So after breakfast we bundled up in our max winter gear and set out to sightsee!
There’s so much to see in Seoul. We started with the classic tourist stuff today, Gyeongbokgung Palace and Bukchon Hanoi Village. Our hotel is pretty central so we walked over, about 25 minutes. It’s a pedestrian-friendly core plus the city is all decked out for the holidays.
Got the combination pass for five royal palaces, only 10 CAD! About half the visitors were wearing hanbok, the traditional Korean clothing. Admission is free if you’re wearing hanbok. It adds to the atmosphere of the palace.
Gyeongbokgung Palace is like a huge open-air museum. It was first established in 1395 and then destroyed and rebuilt a couple times over the centuries. It took us about 90 minutes to see everything, at which point we couldn’t do palace anymore.
We stopped for lunch at Oreno Ramen, a highly-rated restaurant on Naver. It was on a small winding street full of cafes and cool little restaurants.
Turned out to be a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant! We had to wait about 15 minutes in line. The restaurant staff brought out hand warmer packets (equivalent of HotShots) for folks in line, although we were seated before they warmed up.
The ramen was excellent, a good start to eating on this trip!
After lunch we wandered up to Bukchon Hanok Village. It’s a residential area that’s become touristed because of the traditional style of houses. There’s a couple popular spots for pics which capture the houses and the Seoul Tower in the background.
That was it for our day. Got back to our hotel around 3pm. We have an early flight out to Okinawa tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment