Korea 2013: day 2

Day 2: explore Seoul

Started the morning in the common room of the hostel, fried some eggs (mine had a double yolk, must be good luck!), had some coffee and talked to the 2 friendly girls at the front desk. We decided we'd hit 2 palaces today so off to the subway we go!

The first palace was Changdeokgung we went on the Secret Garden tour. There were still a few cherry blossoms on the trees but we also caught a "rain" storm of falling leaves. Picture more of a special grounds area for royals than like an area filled with exotic flowers. There are many gazebos and path ways, a very private and peaceful area.
Picture below.

Lunch time! Rachel spotted this porridge place (dishes explained in English) so we thought that would be best!  I had the vegetable cheese porridge, perfect for a rainy day! Again though, so much food! But everyone in the restaurant was ordering their own bowls so we just went with it. The porridge came with side dishes, like Kim chi, a side of beef and something else like kimchi...after I ate it, discovered it was squid. Oops. Picture below.

We then went to deoksugung, which is the most urban palace, in the heart of the city. Temple structures stand with electronic billboards in the background. we had hoped to see the changing of the guard ceremony, but due to the rain they canceled it. So we decided to start shopping. We went to Insa-dong, which is lined with shops. Every other shop has got to be a skin shop, which explains why Koreans have such perfect skin! And you better believe we stopped at several of them (I am wearing a honey face mask right now as I type this!).

The rainy weather was starting to wear on us, not to mention all the walking. So it was time for a break, we headed back to the hotel where we stopped at a GS25 (maybe similar to a CVS back home) and bought a ton of snacks to try. We sampled them all but decided we better figure out dinner before we gorge on corn chips and caramel corn!

The guy at the front desk did some research and thought we'd really like Tara Jumak, a makgeolli pub (traditional rice wine). It was an experience! The chairs were decorated special for us (as if we couldn't stand out even more)! And the menu was 100% Korean. But the owner was Finnish and could communicate with us. I got an onion fried Pancake, along with all the sides, good stuff!