I just came back from Seoul, South Korea and I would like to tell you about my experience.
I flew from Munich to Incheon which took about 9,5 hours.
I arrived at the Grand Hilton Hotel and took a quick nap in my gorgeous room.
In the evening I met some friends for dinner and the first thing I can recommend to try is the most well-known and beloved Bibimbap (which means mixed rice) it's usually made out of rice topped with sautéed vegetables, chilli paste, and beef or other meat, sometimes with the addition of a raw or fried egg but other than in e.g. China they usually have a vegetarian option also which is great.
The next day I started off to the Hongik University Area, I took the subway which is really easy to use. You basicially only have to search for your end stop and the machine prints out a ticket which you can return to get your $1 deposit back or you can reuse it. Although taxis are pretty cheap it seems like there is rush hour all day long so if you wanna save some time I'd rather take the subway.
Back to the Hongik Area, it's known for it's urban arts and street markets, clubs, quirky cafes & restaurants and super fashionable people walking on the street. For make-up lovers it is a paradise as they have the store Etude House on literally every corner. Another thing is Koreans love plush toys so be prepared to see Kakao Friends stores everywhere.
I had a late lunch at the Cafe called 'Again refresh' they had a nice selection of salads which is sometimes hard to find in Asia. The salmon & avoacado salad combined with a kale smoothie was delicious.
Afterwards I took the subway to the City Hall to visit the Deoksugung palace. The Deoksugung Palace is famous for it's elegant stone-wall road and looked in real life even more incredible than on the internet websites I looked up before. It's open from 9am-9pm and cost about $1 entrance fee. I spent like an hour there walking around, taking pictures and looked into every building on that palace area. There was also a light-art exhibition going on where different artist presented their light-projects in some of the palace buildings.
The 3rd day I decided to go on a hop-on Bus tour. There are 3 different sightseeing routes, one goes to Gangnam, one let you explore the surroundings and the last one is for all the famous sights of the city. The bus ticket is $12 p.P. I dedcided to go on the third one. Unfortunately it was raining all day long so I enjoyed the view from the bus. The Seoul Tower was one of my favorites .
After a nice Indian dinner I went to the University area again. It was a week day - around 9pm and there was SO much going on. I was impressed by all the street music artists, dancer and cheering girls. It was a great vibe. A lot of stores are open until 11pm which is perfect for a quick night shopping.
Before I left for my flight back to Munich the next day I decided to go for a run, besides the fact that Seoul is a very clean city there are a lot of outdoor gyms especially on running paths.
One more thing that's a must to try in Korea Green Tea ice cream - just delicious :-)
Overall it was a fantastic trip and I would always go back to visit S(e)oul. Thanks for reading my blog, if you have any questions please leave a comment.
x Vroni
