Two Halves - Same Coin, part 2

Today's adventure began with breakfast: a nostalgic trip to Dunkin' Donuts right near our local bus and subway station. The selection is pretty, actually very alarming, with cheese and garlic doughnuts alongside the more traditional iced ones. Cheese doughnuts are an unusual taste, I'm sure you can guess, and not one I really got used to, but it was the experience that counted. From there it was off to the palace, or so we thought.

Due to feeling financially vulnerable, we decided to head there on foot, about 5 kilometres of Seoul's charming skyscraper forest, in an attempt to save money. It shall not be my fondest memory of the city, let me tell you. Street after street of concrete, noisy drivers, incomprehensible signs and construction works. Ooh, were there a lot of those.

Fortunately it was not the only side that Seoul had to offer, and having reached the City Hall and acquired a map or ten we finally got through to classmate Miji, who with her infinite kindness and compassion decided to show us around her city. From Meong-dong, a bustling shopping street, we headed towards the mountains in south of the city and the many monuments, museums and embassies that were situated there.

By this point we had forgotten about lunch and were feeling pretty hungry, so Miji took us to a secluded little eatery near the war memorial, a place that served almost exclusively vegetarian food. It was nice to have choice. My meal was soba noodles with 'bibim', vegetables in spicy kimchi sauce, and was exquisite. We also partook of Korean spirits before leaving, and thanks to my two years of training I was able to impress the Koreans in that department.

By this point it was getting pretty dark, so we went down to the picturesque riverside (site of nonsensical monster movie The Host) for a stroll. It was intensely cold, but the view was pretty spectacular.

It may not sound like we've had a very full day, but I can tell you now it felt like at least a week's worth of stuff. All that walking, all those monuments. And only 10,000 won spent. Result.

Thanks for reading. More again tomorrow.

*****

韓国人は優しいですね。ミジさんとソールを歩いていて、時々道を知らなくて人を聞くけど、いつもその人は優しかったです。そして、帰るあいだにパンやに行って、無料なクリームパッフをいただきました！本当に優しいですね！