The sun finally came out today! After a cold "American-style" breakfast buffet (think cold eggs, not cereal with cold milk), I scampered outside to bask in the sunshine. The hotel was right on the edge of a large lake, so I made a short zig-zag through a tourist area with recreated traditional-style buildings before I found the lakeside path. A gaggle of swan shaped 4-person peddle boats bobbed in the water along the shore, and farther along I spotted a HUGE swan shaped tour boat, big enough for at least 20 (or 50!) tourists to get a swan's eye view of the lake.
Next Nikki and I headed downtown in pursuit of some tombs that are situated right in the center of town, and a traditional tea shop that got good reviews in the guide book. We found the tombs no problem. It is hard to miss huge grass-covered mounds as large as a few story building smack dab in the center of town.
The tea shop was a little more of an effort, but down a narrow alley we spotted the sign for the tea shop. We walked under the rustic wooden sign, up the stairs, then peered in the unlabeled glass door. Three people were inside drinking tea, but it did not resemble anything like a tea shop. We went back down stairs, double checked the signs, and this time even spotted signs in the windows as well. We went back up, and it still did not look like a tea shop. Summoning our nerve, we knocked, and Nikki used her best Korean to find out what was going on. Well, it turns out that the guidebook was wrong. It was not a tea shop at all (but maybe an office of a tea company).
Slightly disappointed, we wandered the streets and found a cute cafe with an Italian theme and a secont story balcony. Nikki ordered kiwi juice and I got ricotta and chocolate gelato. That was the best "ice cream" I have had yet in Korea!
Nikki had to go back to the hotel for another meeting, so I jumped on bus 11 (which came immediately! yay!) to the Gyeongju National Museum. I wandered several buildings filled with artifacts from the Shilla Kingdom, including amazing crowns and incredibly large and intricate earrings that had been dug up from tombs.
I wandered back to town on foot, following a route that I now knew well, and miraculously I found Bon Juk, a restaurant I go to often for a big steaming bowl of porridge.
Another bus ride home in the dark. Another affirmation that I can still find my way back to where I started.
Next Nikki and I headed downtown in pursuit of some tombs that are situated right in the center of town, and a traditional tea shop that got good reviews in the guide book. We found the tombs no problem. It is hard to miss huge grass-covered mounds as large as a few story building smack dab in the center of town.
The tea shop was a little more of an effort, but down a narrow alley we spotted the sign for the tea shop. We walked under the rustic wooden sign, up the stairs, then peered in the unlabeled glass door. Three people were inside drinking tea, but it did not resemble anything like a tea shop. We went back down stairs, double checked the signs, and this time even spotted signs in the windows as well. We went back up, and it still did not look like a tea shop. Summoning our nerve, we knocked, and Nikki used her best Korean to find out what was going on. Well, it turns out that the guidebook was wrong. It was not a tea shop at all (but maybe an office of a tea company).
Slightly disappointed, we wandered the streets and found a cute cafe with an Italian theme and a secont story balcony. Nikki ordered kiwi juice and I got ricotta and chocolate gelato. That was the best "ice cream" I have had yet in Korea!
Nikki had to go back to the hotel for another meeting, so I jumped on bus 11 (which came immediately! yay!) to the Gyeongju National Museum. I wandered several buildings filled with artifacts from the Shilla Kingdom, including amazing crowns and incredibly large and intricate earrings that had been dug up from tombs.
I wandered back to town on foot, following a route that I now knew well, and miraculously I found Bon Juk, a restaurant I go to often for a big steaming bowl of porridge.
Another bus ride home in the dark. Another affirmation that I can still find my way back to where I started.
No comments:
Post a Comment