Seoul was a pleasant surprise! Given the fact that I'm slightly obsessed with their multiple step skincare routine, I was excited to make the journey to the Mecca of skincare! We stayed in Gangnam, mainly because of PSY and had no idea about location, so we took a 1 hour bus ride to our hotel. Being extremely tired and cranky, we stayed in for the night. The next day was dedicated to visiting North Korea. Prior to our trip to the DMZ, we went to the Korean War museum. It was one of my favorite museums! My grandfather served in the war, and it just made me think a lot about him and where I'm at today. It was a great time to reflect on things that I was never really aware of. Visiting North Korea was an interesting experience; that's the only way I can describe it. It was interesting to have a South Korean give the tour and to hear the choice of words on the situation; like a family torn between ideology. You could feel the brotherly love between all the barriers; It was a special experience.
In between the shops and the street food, I was able to meander through the skincare shops. Alastair said it was like walking through a CVS but he still let me enjoy walking around the shops to look at every product. I'm big into taking care of my skin! Since I only have a carry-on and can't buy tubs full of products, I managed to pick up quite a few masks with some interesting ingredients like snail mucin. It's actually quite good for your skin! After lots of shopping and the temperature dropping, we headed back to our hotel.
Our last day in Seoul, we spent walking around some historical sites, museums, and neighborhoods with traditional houses. It was fun to see Koreans in their traditional attire taking pictures with the sites in the background. There were many shops where foreigners could dress in traditional clothes, but we decided not to. We also went to the Google office; another one to add to Alastair's collection!
We found our way to Deongdong, another shopping area. It was a major disappointment, despite all the rave tourists had claimed. We liked Meyongdong way better. I wanted to find some cute clothes for Emre, but was shocked at the prices! $65 for a pair of leather oxfords. Yikes! No thanks! I just couldn't tell between what was knock-off and not. Also, I don't have that kind of cash to splash!
I have to mention more about the food in Seoul, because I love food! While Alastair claims that the best food we ate during the trip was the sushi in Tokyo (dead wrong), my recognition has to go to the Korean barbecue in Seoul. This restaurant was on our way to the hotel, which we always passed, and decided to spend our last full meal over there. We sat traditionally on the floor in this wooden private room with another table. It was rather difficult because our legs were so tired, but we managed. We ordered our different meats, they turned on our "grill" and brought out plates and plates of side dishes. Lots of seasoned vegetables, kimchi, sauces, tofu soup, and rice. They helped to cook our meat cause we had no idea what to do, and then they taught us how to make a wrap out of it all; a Korean burrito! It was so delicious, all the flavors, it can't be beat! Sushi just consists of white rice, raw fish, a bit of wasabi, and soy sauce. Korean barbecue: grilled and seasoned pork, dipped in seasoned salt, sauce, kimchi, seasoned sprouts and veggies, chili paste, ginger, all wrapped in a leaf of lettuce. And a bit of white rice to cleanse the palate. I mean, come on! Korean barbecue all the way!
Another honorable mention was this place called Street Churros. While researching Seoul, I read somewhere that they make more churros than in Spain, where churros originate. So we grabbed some churros and ordered a few drinks. The churros were alright, but the drinks were the best part! Alastair ordered this hot berry drink and I ordered a sparkling lemonade. They were both equally divine! I don't care too much for presentation, but the look of the drink was adorable! We wanted more the next day, unfortunately it was too far to get it again.
We had to leave in the early afternoon, so all we had time for was to head over to a Starbucks for breakfast. Fun fact, Seoul has more Starbucks shops than anywhere in the world! Since it was Thanksgiving, I ate a chocolate cake for breakfast. I had to, it was Thanksgiving!
I thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Seoul. It's not on the top of everyone's travel list, but it's definitely worth visiting! The food's great, fashion is huge, skincare is phenomenal, and North Korea is a tour away! Overall, we had a great time!