In early May, there is a holiday in Korea called Children’s Day which means…4 DAY WEEKEND!! But also it’s a day where, you guessed it, Koreans celebrate their children. On this day there are a lot of free activities for kids as well as free admission to different places.
My Children’s Day weekend was spent in Seoul with a few friends. I was excited to go back to Seoul and spend a longer weekend there since the previous time was a pretty short journey.
After school on Wednesday we caught the four hour bus to Seoul and arrived at our Airbnb around midnight. We really lucked out with our Airbnb because the location happened to be extremely convenient to most of the places we wanted to visit. Thursday was a busy and early day for me. I woke up around 6:30 to meet my friend at Bukchon Hanok Village before it got too busy with tourists. I ended up walking about 40 minutes to get there since it was a nice morning and I wanted to wake up a bit :) It was such a cool feeling to be walking through a huge city while everyone else was sleeping; it was definitely worth the walk.
Bukchon Hanok Village is a traditional Korean neighborhood with beautiful old-fashioned houses. We’d planned to meet up for breakfast and had decided on a bagel place called The London Bagel Museum. I went directly there to check it out and was shocked to see the line that was forming even though it didn’t open for another 45 minutes! I got us a number to hold our place in line and then we explored the village while waiting to eat. When we came back to the restaurant, there was an enormous line and the number in line was over 100; we had timed it really well! For all the hype, the bagels most certainly lived up to it, although I hadn’t had a bagel in ages so that could’ve also contributed.
After breakfast we continued to wander around the village. My favorite part of the houses were the roofs; it’s such cool architecture and looks like you’ve gone back in time.
We walked toward the back of the village where my friend had found a park earlier. The park was pretty awesome; it was fairly large and we started hiking up a trail that led to a great overlook of the city! It was also right next to the Seoul City Wall which is an 18.6 km fortress wall built in the Joseon Dynasty to protect its capital city. It was an unexpected bonus to our spontaneous hiking adventure!
From there we met our other friends at Gyeongbokgung Palace, a short walking distance away. This palace is the largest of the five palaces in Seoul and was built in 1395. We picked the wrong day to visit because although we had free admission for Children’s Day, it was absolutely packed. We didn’t stay too long at the palace, but we did see the changing of the guards which was cool.
After the palace, we went to Tongin Market for lunch. This market had such a great concept: you bought at least 5,000 won ($3.97) worth of coins and then used those coins to buy various foods from the stalls in the market. This allowed you to sample different types of food and it wasn’t expensive at all! I had a blast eating here, not to mention the food was delicious.
Our afternoon was spent regrouping from our busy morning before heading to Itaewon for dinner. It was fun just walking around and people watching. Seoul is always slightly shocking for me to visit since there’s so many more foreigners there than Gwangju and Itaewon is the prime spot to see them.
One of my friends is South African so we ate at a South African restaurant in Itaewon. It was my first time eating South African food and it did not disappoint:)
We ended our first day in Seoul by walking along the Cheonggyecheon Stream, a popular stream within the city to go for a stroll. It was all lit up and very busy. It ended in a plaza of sorts where there were multiple floating lanterns along the stream in celebration of Buddha’s birthday which was also occurring that weekend. The lanterns were beautiful and once again, we timed our visit extremely well.
Friday morning was another early day. I left around 6:30 again and took two buses to get to Cheonggyesan Mountain. A friend had recommended a short hike there that had a nice view of the city and I wanted to take advantage of the numerous mountains you can find in Seoul. I think I started my hike around 7:45ish and was at the top by 9. It wasn’t too long of a hike, but like all Korean hikes, it was straight up stairs and rocks. The view at the top made it worth it! I chilled for a bit at the top before heading back down and catching my bus home. A great way to start my morning.
In the afternoon, we went to the COEX Mall for shopping and, the main reason I wanted to go, the Starfield Library. It was this huge library with floor to ceiling shelves of books, windows everywhere, and so many people sitting and reading. I was in heaven; after a while, I ditched my friends to read there while they shopped.
Friday night was spent in Hongdae where we watched some buskers, shopped, and ate at an Irish pub. Since Hongdae is one of the most popular areas of Seoul, there were tons of people and it was fun to people-watch. Overall, Friday was another great day in Seoul!
Saturday was our last day of our trip. We spent the morning gathering up our things and then we rented bikes to ride along the Han River. It was a beautiful day and the Han River trail was busy with other bikers, runners, and walkers. There were many people picnicking along the riverfront as well. It was a good way to end our trip!
Seoul is always full of things to do and this trip was jam-packed with activities. This time we were able to see more of the tourist sights which I enjoyed and I’m glad I was able to go to Seoul again.
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