Seoul

Tuesday, 9th April.

We took a morning high-speed train to Seoul – fast and efficient, if not quite as gleaming as the Japanese equivalent. As the country is mountainous the track runs  through many tunnels. A feature of the towns and cities we passed was densely-packed and rather bleak-looking apartment buildings. In fact, Seoul, with a population roughly equivalent to London’s, covers an area one third the size (605 sq km against 1700 sq km). Seoul itself is very shiny and modern and with a terrific energy. Lots of traffic, busy side-streets, efficient subway system.

We left our bags at the hotel and visited the Imperial Palace at Gyeongbokgung, an impressive series of buildings and plazas, recently restored after being destroyed by the Japanese in the last World War (for the second time – which might explain the continuing emnity between the two countries, though there have been, apparently, recent improvements in relations). The girls – along with many others – rented beautiful hangboks, the traditional dress, for the occasion which had a festive feel:

Wednesday, 10th April

Catherine did an early run along the banks of the restored and revived Cheonggyecheon river, with its convenient stepping-stones that we revisited later on our way to the famous indoor market, the largest in the country, with the addition of two species of Egret on the way:

Some striking examples of open-air sculpture:

 

Thursday, 11th April

Excellent seafood supper, where the octopus was presented whole then unceremoniously snipped with scissors into small – rather rubbery – chunks.

Friday, 12th April

Cable car to the foot of the tower, then an elevator to the very top. Spectacular, if slightly hazy views of the vast city.

One of the items on Satch’s list was Korean chicken, and we found an ideal spot in a first floor restaurant which even had a cat café on the next floor:

Saturday, 13th April

The flight back was uneventful though endlessly long and uncomfortable. A bonus at Heathrow was that the announced baggage reclaim delay did not materialise and we got to the Elizabeth Line relatively quickly, where we said our good-byes at the end of an utterly memorable 3 weeks.