Chris and I decided to take one more trip before he left for his next tour and with his 30th birthday coming up on a 3-day weekend we thought this was the perfect time to take a trip to Seoul. We left on Friday after work and spent three days in Seoul sightseeing, shopping, and eating delicious food. I decided to do this blog post in a different way... I divided it into three sections: friends, sights, and food! Here's what we did this weekend...
1. Friends
On our first day in Seoul our friends, Nate and Valerie and their daughter Aliza, came down from Osan to spend the day with us. Nate and Chris went to the Academy together and we haven't seen them since their wedding in 2006. We not only had a great time exploring the markets together but also chatting and catching up. We can't wait to see them again... they are already planning a weekend trip down to Sasebo!
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| Visiting in a tea and coffee shop |
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Eating dinner at a delicious Thai place
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2.
Sights
On Saturday we shopped with Nate, Valerie, and Aliza at one of the biggest markets in Seoul called "Namdaemun." It was huge and totally crowded.
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| The entrance to the market |
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| Look at the crowds! |
We woke up early on Sunday to catch the bus to take us to the DMZ. I had no clue what this place was, so just in case you are like me, let me explain: This is the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. The zone is 160 miles long and 2.5 miles wide. It is the most heavily militarized border in the world.
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| "Bridge of No Return," where the POW's from both sides were exchanged. |
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| This is as close to North Korea as we could get... you could look into the binoculars to see North Korea. |
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| Of course, Chris had to take a look! |
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| At dinner with the view of the city behind us. |
Then we ended the night by going to see the fun play, Nanta (which is Korean for "cooking"). It is described as being part "Benihana, part Jackie Chan, part Marx Brothers, and part Stomp." It was amazing! It was a fun show about four chefs preparing food for a wedding banquet. During the show they would play percussion, have food fights, chop ingredients, and dance. We loved it!
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| The set of Nanta |
3.
Food
Of course since Chris and I consider ourselves to be "foodies-in-training" we had a show pictures of the delicious food we "experienced" in Seoul. From the market place vendors, to the fancy dinner at Seoul Tower it was all so yummy!
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| These delicious buns were filled with spices and meat.. yum! |
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| We don't exactly know what all these parts consisted of, but Chris loved it! |
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| These pancakes were honey filled... a fun snack at the market! |
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| Chris being brave and sampling the silk worms. People were buying these by the cupfuls! |
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| A close-up of the silk worms |
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| Our yummy pineapple fried rice at the Thai place |
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| Our last breakfast... Carmel and Cinnamon toast. Look at that whipped cream! |
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| This was one of our favorite finds in Seoul... Cinnamon Tea. We drank it wherever we saw it! |
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| One of my favorite foods in Japan is Bibimbap, but since it originated in Korea, the Japanese put their own spin on it, so I had to try the original in Korea. It is rice, vegetables, and an egg served in a steaming hot stone bowl. SO good! |
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| Chris' Korean meal... Korean Spare Ribs with vegetables. |
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| Prawn ravioli at the Seoul Tower |
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| Salmon and creme fraiche appetizer at the Seoul Tower |
We definitely had a busy 3-day weekend, but it was well worth it! It is always so exciting for us to experience a new country and culture!
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