Seoul - A City Full of my Favorite Things!
I've been to Seoul twice. The first trip was for my college roommate's wedding. I was in my third year of residency and I had to beg for 5 days off so I could go. It's was an awesome trip on so many levels: seeing a dear friend get married, my first international business class flight, stuffing my face with all the foods I didn't know existed. This was before the world fell in love with Korea so I'm just way ahead of the curve.
My second trip was a decade later in 2023. By now I realized I was probably Korea in my past life. I LOVE all things Korean: Kpop (BTS!), Kdramas, Korean food, and Korean skin care products. Korea should be on everyone's bucket list.
It's really easy to fly into Seoul. There are many direct flights from the west coast. There are two airports in Seoul, one is mainly for international flights and the other is mainly for domestic flights. As of right now, there are no visas needed to go to Korea. A fair number of Koreans do speak English. Most signs have English on them. Most restaurants have English menus. The train system is decent. But you cannot use Google or Apple Maps in Korea, something about the country restricting satellite data. There are Korean navigation apps that you can download that work really well.
Here's what we did in Seoul:
Dongdaemun Design Plaza - it's designed by a famous architecture (don't ask me who). The building is stunning. There's cool statures and art installations around it. It's used as an exhibit space and to host events so there's always something cool to check out.
Cheonggyecheon Stream - this is a stream that runs through downtown that was restored and redesigned in 2003. They got rid of a freeway and put in a walking path along the stream. It's a really lovely place to chill in the middle of the bustling city. There's areas with seating and different trees and plants. I recognized it immediately because there was a scene in Divorce Attorney Shin where he plays the piano along the stream. 😀
Nasam Park - this is a ginormous park in the heart of the city and where the N Seoul Tower is located with cable cars to go up to the tower. It's especially popular in the spring and fall because you can see cherry blossoms and fall foliage.
N Seoul Tower - this is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Seoul. There are multiple ways to go up including cable car, bus, walk (through Nasam Park). I recommend the car cables. You still have to go up a bunch of steps after the cable car but it's the least amount of walking you can do. Besides the observation deck at the top, there's shops, cafes, games you can check out at the bottom. The views are amazing. (I couldn't find my pictures from the observation deck. You're just going to have to trust me that it's beautiful and worth the ticket to go to the top).
Changdeokgung Palace - this is one of the five grand palaces in Seoul and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We did the guided tour and it was really well done. The guide spoke perfect English and was funny. The history is very interesting. You do have to take off your shoes for inside areas. Do not wear spiritual (holey) socks.
Bukchon Hanok Village - this is a really popular area with lots of traditional houses that looks like you stepped back in time. I don't know how these poor people live here, there's so many tourists wandering around all the time. But the houses are really beautiful. Lots of tourists rent a hanbok and take photos here.
Seoul City Wall - this is part of the original defense wall in the Joseon dynasty. It's next to Nasam Park. It's a nice little hike with excellent views. If you saw Kpop Demon Hunters (and everyone saw this movie), this was in the movie where Rumi and Jinu meet and sing Free.💖
Gwangjang Market - this is one of the oldest and largest traditional markets in Seoul. It's a giant maze inside with lots of stalls that sell everything. The food stalls are in the middle. If you saw Street Foods on Netflix, this was in the Seoul episode. That lady is really famous now and there's signs next to her stall about Netflix. She was not there when I went. I wasn't too bummed. I still ate enough food for three people.
Baeknyeon Tojong Samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) is right outside Bukchon Hanok Village which is how we wandered into it. Ginseng chicken soup is the most delicious thing you can have when it's freezing outside. We had the traditional one and the one with abalone. The fried ginseng was interesting.
Kkot Bape Pida (vegetarian) is a Michelin green star restaurant meaning it has exceptional sustainable gastronomy. It's a mostly vegetarian but you can get fish. The food was really beautiful and thoughtful and fresh.
Two Two Chicken (Korean Fried Chicken) is a popular KFC chain. I love Korean fried chicken so much. This chicken was moist with the most crispy skin you can imagine. Koreans love to eat fried chicken with beer. I don't like beer. The chicken goes really well with soda too. 😆
Coffee is really popular in Korea. I see people drinking coffee all the time in Kdramas. But I'm sorry to say I don't think the coffee is good. I'm not a coffee snob at all. The coffee just doesn't taste good. But we did find a coffee shop at the end that was decent. BUT all the coffee shops we went to were really cute.
The city itself is really beautiful. There are large art installations and sculptures everywhere.
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