South Korea/China: Arrival and Day 1 in Seoul
Left LAX sometime past midnight on 17 October, arrived bright and early in Seoul, South Korea on 18 October. Something like 6:30am or otherwise-very-ridiculous.
Asiana's newer 777's are very nicely done. Personal video screens and the usual, but without the space-hogging equipment boxes underneath like the older Asiana jets we had the remainder of the trip. Every jet we had was nicer than the old United 747's with decidedly-ancient economy class sections on the last trip. *grins*
We found our airport shuttle bus to the Vabien hotel, checked in, had a quick breakfast, then met up with the Easley family, Eun-young, Daniel, Erick, and the rest of the group to begin the traditional pre-wedding tour of Seoul.
We walked past the Seoul Museum of Art on the way past one of the oldest Christian churches in Seoul, then to Deoksugung Palace, where we saw the ceremonial changing of the guard. Deoksugung seemed to be typical of Korean palaces, large but not huge grounds, several large buildings, and lots of groomed dirt paths between buildings. Gyeongbokgung Palace (?) near the Cheong Wa Dae (Blue House) is a magnificient complex, the only one (that we saw) that was reminiscent of the massive scale of other palaces I'd seen previously in China.
We made it down to Insa-dong next, where we had our first encounter with bulgolgi for lunch (wet, as opposed to the dry fashion it's usually served in the USA), to Tapgol Park and the ancient stone pagoda. We then walked back up Insa-dong, did a bit of shopping and wandered around. The National Assembly grounds were next. Leif's friend evidently has amazing connections and got us onto the grounds late in the day where we spent quite a bit of time taking pictures. On the way, we passed by the largest church in Seoul, a spot on the Han River where Leif and his friends spent some time, and a few other seemingly random places.
Dinner was at a Korean restaurant that did traditional performances along with the meal, which was entirely the small Korean rice dishes. Very tasty. We topped the night off by heading back to the south end of Insa-dong, to the top of the Jongno Tower and Top Cloud Bar. The view everyone talks about there is from the men's bathroom on the top floor, and it is impressive.
