Namsan Mountain

From Deoksugung, we walked to Namsan Mountain.

We took the inclinator to the cable car station. This was a free ride.

 The cable car took us to Seoul Tower. Cost was W6000 for a 1-way ticket and W8000 for a roundtrip ticket. We took it up and decided to walk down.

Smoke signal station near the cable car station. This was part of an emergency communication system until 1985.

 Near Seoul Tower, there were tons of locks left by lovers and love benches that sloped in a V-shape. This was for shy lovers to come together. 

Walls of locks.

This is the geographical center of Seoul, located at the summit of Namsan Mountain.

2013 09 19

Deoksugung

The next palace on our tour was Deoksugung, also known as the Palace of Virtuous Longevity. We arrived around 9:30 am and found out there was no changing of the guards nor tours on Chuseok. Admission was free on Chuseok. We took a look at the traditional Korean pavilions and the modern Western buildings and came back to see the changing of the guards on another day. We used the ticket included in our Integrated Ticket of Palaces for W10000 for our return visit.

One of the western buildings on the grounds of the Deoksugung Palace. It used to house the National Museum of Korea.

Very colorful Changing of the Guards, held daily at 10:30 am, 2 pm & 3 pm.

2013 09 19

City Hall, Seoul

The City Hall in Seoul is an impressive structure—it’s made of glass & steel and looks like a wave. We thought the architecture in Seoul were some of the best we’ve seen in the world--even more impressive than Barcelona.

Next to the old City Hall is this outdoor area decorated with umbrellas.

New City Hall--hard to see the "wave" in a 2-D picture.

Old City Hall next to new City Hall. When the new City Hall was opened in 2012, the old City Hall became a library.

2012 09 19

Gwanghwamun Square

Gwanghwamun Square is a large public square in front of Gyeogbokgung Palace. It is close to 20,000 m2 and connects Gwanghwamun Gate and Cheonggye Square.

There is a statue of Admiral Yi Sun Sin. He's the guy who designed the turtle ships that were able to defend the Japanese at the end of the 16th century.

There is also a statue of King Sejong in the middle of the square.

2013 9 19

Tom N Toms Coffee Shop

On Chuseok, there wasn't much open. We found Tom N Toms Coffee Shop serving breakfast. They were located near Gwanghwamun Square.

Cinnamon apple bread for W5000. This was a giant slice of white bread topped with apple jam and then toasted.

2013 9 19

Tteokbokki & Sundae

We found another street stall that was selling something a little more substantial.

Tteokbokki are glutinous rice cakes cooked with spicy red pepper paste and they're everywhere. This stall also sold sundae, a vegetable, glass noodle and pork blood sausage. The combo plate was W3500. We got a cup of Odeng, a seafood broth that was quite tasty. The broth was the best part. We weren’t impressed with the tteokbokki and sundae. 

2013 9 18

Bbokki Candy

After our tofu & raw crab meal, we were still hungry and went in search of food. We had downloaded a list of must-try items and found Bbokki candy, one of the items on the list.

This is a caramel candy that is melted into a flat pancake and decorated in varied shapes. Each cost W1000. I must say that I wasn't a big fan. Although pretty to look at, the candy was too light and it wasn't satisfying.

2013 09 18