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Published: April 26th 2011
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My Australian friend wanted to go to Seoul for her birthday, so a group of 8 of us went up for Easter weekend. We took a KTX train from Daegu and it took about 2.5 hours. We could also have taken the slower train, but it’s almost the same price if we book a family seat (for 4) on the KTX, so we just did that. A friend’s boyfriend also flew in so we met him at the hostel.
One person booked our hostel about a month ago and she wanted it to be in the popular Hongdae (Hongik University) area. However, as I discovered the day we were leaving, she had actually booked it in the Hangsung University area. Whoops. Actually, it turned out to be a great hostel and I would defo stay there again (Open Guesthouse if you’re interested). We got to the hostel Friday night, dropped our bags off, and went for bibimpap for dinner. This is basically rice mixed with vegetables and then you can add extra egg or meat if you want. It’s probably my favorite Korean food so far.
Then we attempted to get makkeoli. This is usually called unfiltered rice wine,
but really it tastes like slightly sparkling creamy fruit punch (with sherbet in it). It comes plain or fruit-flavored. We know the places to go in Daegu, but had some difficulty in Seoul. The first place we found, they actually didn’t have it so we tried a different drink (dongdongju?), which was NOT what we were looking for. Finally we found a place, but they had only plain makkeoli. It was a bit upsetting but it just made me realize how nice it is to be so familiar with Daegu.
On Saturday, most of the group went sightseeing together. Unfortunately it took a while to get everyone moving, but eventually we met my friend Miae (from Juniata!). We went to see Gyeongbukgong Palace. The whole area around it is touristy and really nice. I expected Seoul to be a really busy industrialized place with only tall buildings, but there was a lot of history all around us, which I liked. Also, there was a lot of greenery, which was really nice. As we were about to leave the palace, a ceremony began. I think it was the changing of the guard. It was neat and very photographable. I wish
Changgyeong Palace
We passed this one on the way to the other palace.
we had taken a tour, though, because I don’t know much about it. Then we went to Myeongdong to go shopping. It is one of the most famous shopping streets in Korea. It was very crowded, but not as crowded as I had expected.
After shopping, we went back to the hostel to get ready for the birthday celebrations. We met others, including Miae and 2 Korean friends, in Hongdae. Both of her friends had lived abroad, so it was nice to meet some cool Koreans. But too bad—they live in Incheon, far from me. We went to Korean barbeque for dinner (bulgogi). Then we went to some bars and clubs and took a taxi back to the hostel.
Sunday was another slow day in that we didn’t leave the hostel until about noon. We had the plan to go to the train station, leave our bags in lockers and buy train tickets back to Daegu, and then eat lunch and sightsee some more. However, when we got to the station, all the lockers were full. So we spent about 1.5 hours searching for open lockers in neighboring metro stations (there were 9 of us and one had
come from England with a huge bag). Finally everyone got bags in lockers and then we bought train tickets.
Then we journeyed to a Mexican place someone had researched before coming to Seoul. We accidentally went to the further-away location because we didn’t know there was more than one. Even though it was an arduous journey, it was well worth it. We were starving and smelling tacos and burritos was sooo nice. Of course eating them was even better! (Dos Tacos-mmm). By then some of us had to go back to catch our train. So, in the end, our day essentially revolved around eating Mexican food. Next time I go to Seoul, hopefully it will be with a smaller group so we can use our time more wisely.
Overall, it was a good trip. However, I had bad luck in that I somehow left my mp3 player on the train, and I think it’s gone forever. It actually wasn’t very good anyways so it’s a good opportunity to buy a new one. This was my first weekend away from Daegu and coming back to Daegu was like coming home. Being in Seoul made me recognize how much I
like Daegu’s size. For example, we only have 2 subway lines here—it’s really simple compared to Seoul’s 9 subway lines. I did like Seoul but I’m glad I live in Daegu.
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