That was Seoul

Cold and rainy was the best way to describe Seoul today. Luckily for us we’d really covered off all the things that we wanted to do here, but we did head out to see if we could take in a few of the Art Galleries. That plan didn’t start well when we found we’d got off the metro in the wrong place, so had to retrace some of our steps. Added to that, because of the wet weather, the metro was jam-packed to capacity, which was a little unpleasant. However, we persisted and had a look at a few of the galleries, but they did have a modern art focus, which is not my favourite genre. It seemed that placing some furniture in a room and running a video loop about an artist connecting with someone or something, qualifies as art in this genre. I didn’t end up taking any photos, so I’m putting this one in from a few days ago. (It’s a little bit arty)

By this time we both had wet feet and we agreed that getting a taxi back to the hotel to dry out was the best option. A $12 taxi fare later we were back at the hotel. An afternoon snooze to aid my recovery from the ‘Man Cold’ seemed like a much better idea.

So with little else to report, I thought I could wrap up the Seoul part of the trip. My overall feeling about Seoul is that it is an amazing city that finds ways to cater to most tastes. I have found the best coffee here of any Asian city that I’ve visited. The architecture of the new office buildings in the city is innovative and modern, but it is also a city that finds ways to honour it’s long history, with the palaces just being spectacular, especially with all the Autumn colours around at the moment.

For us, while the Hotel was very nice, it’s location was at the top of a hill, which felt like climbing a mountain between the closest metro stop and here. In saying that, the location provides stunning views over the city, so you can’t have it both ways.

We highly recommend putting Seoul on you list of ‘Places to Visit’. You can probably cover off most of the main attractions in 5 or 6 days and add an extra day if you want to go to theDMZ. Personally, I thought the DMZ visit was worth doing, if only to fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge of the Korean War and to give our feet are rest.  Knowing that Seoul changed hands four times in that war and was basically destroyed, makes the modern city it is today quite amazing.

My three take aways are:

1. Time your visit … The Autumn colours are amazing, but it get’s very cold here.
2. Use the metro as much as possible. Traffic is terrible.
3. Do a food tour early in you visit as the local foods are amazing.

We’re off to Hong Kong in the morning, but couldn’t resist on more sunset photo from our room.

Until tomorrow!