//Reunited in South Korea and hanging out at Yeouido Hangang Park//
A little belated, but the month of April was an incredibly happy one. I got to spend ten whole days with one of my best friends and old roomie, Ivonne! It was so great to be able to welcome her to my little part of Asia! She saw some of my favourite places that I've gotten to know over the last four months, and we visited some new-to-me places, too.
I squeezed as much of the best of South Korea as I could into those few, precious days together!
Saturday morning I took my first ride on the KTX and met her in Seoul. It was my first time there and I was looking forward to exploring it. It was pretty fitting to start the trip off like that; we've been travelling around new cities since the beginning of our friendship on Disney Cruise Line. After (finally!) reconnecting at the train station, we found our guesthouse and then went off to conquer the subway system and find some of the last of the cherry blossom trees.
I'd read about Yeouido Park being a popular place for them, so we started there.
Thankfully, we were in luck! There were still some in bloom and it was a really nice park. Many people were out for a walk or a bike ride and there were plenty of trees and flowers. It was located close to the Han River so we were able to spend some time there too. We were surprised by another nice area closer to the river itself with open pools the kids splashed in, a sort of water park type of feel, minus any water slides.
People watching was completely fascinating. Strangers seem to sit on top of each other; they claim a spot on the grass even if it's barely a foot away from another group of peeps and bring tents just to chill in for the afternoon. The picture below doesn't really reflect that (it was more the sections of grass on my side of the photo) but I couldn't help but notice how stylish everyone was for a walk in the park. You start to observe two kinds of people here. Ones that are decked out in hiking gear for a day out, or those dressed to the nines.
Later that night we made our way to Namsan Park to visit N. Seoul Tower. Somehow we got off the path to the cable car and ended up climbing one of the top 5 tallest staircases I've ever seen instead haha. I say "top five" because I'm learning that Korea just really likes stairs. Everywhere.
//tired but happy faces//
While waiting for our turn to head up the tower, Ivonne tried her first Tornado Potato--a delicious deep-fried spiral dipped in magic. Actually, one of her friends described it as 'crack potato' because she was so addicted to them. We also browsed the love lock fence and the little gift shop where I bought magnets/postcards, my main souvenirs of choice. My only other regret (the first being, not using the cable car) was not giving in to my ice cream craving at the Cold Stone Creamery there!
At the end of the night we had hoped to take the cable car back down, but with the huge lineup and the subway closing around midnight, we hightailed it back down all those stairs and ran for our lives. We just made it and even passed the cable car building that we were originally looking for on the way down. Seoul was just rubbing it in. Next time.
By the way, the view from the top was kinda spectacular. Only problem was that it was really crowded in the observatory tower and you had to keep an eye out for rogue selfie sticks. So, in all honesty, I had more fun looking up at the tower itself and looking out at the city from the different vantage points along the hike to get there. (And had a few chuckles at the fancy girls out on their date night wearing HIGH heels, leaning heavily on their boys who obviously had to be regretting their choice. That, or, it was all a part of a clever--yet painful--plan! ;) ) We were so tired just in our plain ole sneakers, but I wouldn't change a thing.
Missing that cable car ride was a wonderfully happy mistake!
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