Em's birthday in Seoul

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We started our trip up to Seoul at 4.50am on my birthday. Cold, knackered but excited, we head to Gupo station to catch our KTX train which leaves at 6.30. We sleep on the train and 3 hours later we wake up in Seoul and are amazed to see snow. The north is so much colder then the south and we both realised that some serious shopping needed to be done to warm ourselves up. Andy had to go of to a teaching course from 10am-4pm so I am left to celebrate my 24th birthday all on my own.

I manage to navigate my way from Seoul to a recommended love motel, 'Samsung motel' in the area of Insadong which reminded us of Soho but less hectic. Its narrow alleyways are packed with art galleries, traditional tea shops, and small restaurants. The love motel was small but clean and as the name would suggest was packed with Samsung products; TV, DVD player, computer, bed linen! I stumble upon a very cool art arcade which is hosting an Andy Warhol exhibition. I then find myself in a beautiful Italian restaurant eating quite possibly the nicest risotto I have even eaten and that really is saying something considering I have been to Italy. It really was amazing, so full and happy I hail a taxi and go to Dongdaemun market to do some serious shopping. Why is it when you have money to spend you never see anything you like? After 3 hours of taking in the sights and getting slightly pissed of with how hectic the market was and how every aisle looked the same (apparently it’s the biggest in Asia) I stumble upon a small stall selling the most unusual shoes/boots and trainers. The young trendy Korean stall holders were really fun and after a bit of gentle persuading on both parts I bought a pair of leather shoes and boots for around £30. Feeling very chuffed with myself I then jumped on a train to go and meet Andy after his intense course, picking up a new shirt for him on the way.

In the evening we take in the sights around Insandong but we were so knackered after our early rise we didn’t party too hard. We did take a wrong turn and ended up in an alley way that seemed to go on for miles with no sign of life, just neon lights and a thin low lying layer of smog which was very spooky. The evening finished up with a nice but expensive curry and then bed at around midnight.

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Photos

Seoul
ive got soul but im not....