Our first trip to Seoul, part 2
Day Four:
So after so much bopping around at shopping malls, I decided we should do something educational. I opted for the National Museum of Korea. This place is huge! In retrospect, I probably could have chosen a more interesting place for the boys. I, however, had a great time. The boys and I managed to tour the entire first floor of exhibits on the history of Korea before children dying from boredom became an issue. Too bad, because I think the other floors may have been a little more attractive for kids (art and pottery exhibits I think). There were a couple gift shops and they looked beautiful, I look forward to browsing there when I don't have quite so much assistance from small boys. I had heard there was a children's wing to the museum, so we attempted to visit it next. Unfortunately they only allow a limited number of visitors at a time and they had already given out all the available tickets. So back to the hotel we went.
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| This is the entry way/plaza between the two parts of the museum. |
Far past their bedtime, the little boys obligingly clung to the back of the stroller for the ride home. Until we stopped in our tracks. We were enveloped in a heavenly cloud of warm, snicker-doodle scented air. Trance-like, I ducked into a tiny cookie shop. I eventually stopped trying to inhale all the air in the shop and emerged with a box of expensive cookies. Sadly, the cookies were not as amazing as I was hoping, but I'm still impressed with the marketing tactic of venting their oven out onto the sidewalk. We also stopped at a Mediterranean bakery and I tried Turkish Delight for the first time. Confession: I said "I" because I didn't share.
Day Five:
The three boys and I took a tour to a Korean Folk Village. Our group took a bus there, and arrived early afternoon. I was the only one in our group who brought children to keep me amused, so the boys considerately tried to keep everyone entertained. Being a village designed to exhibit how people lived many years ago, there were no paved sidewalks. Pushing the stroller through the spring mud was a bit of a workout. We started off with an exhibit by traditional Korean dancers and drummers called Pungmul. The drumming was very loud and the boys were amazed to see the dancers leaping around swirling the ribbons on their hats wildly. The tour continued around the village, and ended with some time in the gift shops. Again, they looked very interesting, but a little difficult to navigate with a double stroller. On the way home the bus stopped at a jewelry store near the American Embassy. This store featured jewelry made from amethysts which are mined here in Korea. Boys #1 and #2 told me I could buy whatever I wanted and were quite charming to the sales ladies.
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| One of my favorite things. See that cylindrical basket in the upper right hand corner? I think our tour guide called it a "wicker wife". She explained that in the summers everyone would get too hot and smelly and it was too hot to cuddle with one's spouse. So the man of the house would cuddle with this cool, comfortable basket instead. |
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| Turning the millstone was their favorite part. |
Later that afternoon we attempted to go to another children's cafe. We ended up taking two taxis, my dear husband took boy #1 and I took boys #2 and #3. My cab took us to the correct address but it turned out to not be a kids cafe after all. In fact, the business wasn't even open! However, I couldn't seem to communicate to the cab driver that I wanted to be take somewhere else and he remained stationary. Exasperated I finally just got out of the cab (I'd just like to take a moment to point out that almost every other cab driver I've had has been kind and helpful). I had recognized some of the area we had driven through and figured I'd just walk back that way. Turns out my husbands cab couldn't even find the address and had dropped him off in Itaewon. So I piled the little boys onto the stroller and started back the way we had come. Apparently I must have underestimated just how many narrow, mountainous alleys the taxi had driven through after leaving the area I was familiar with! I soon found myself lost in a maze of very steep, very narrow alleys that wound their way around expensive homes that were almost completely hidden by high walls. To add to the excitement, it was almost dusk, we were hungry, and expensive cars with foreign flags were frequently speeding by me. I kept heading down hill and alley led to alley led to alley and I began to despair that I'd ever find a real street again, let alone a familiar one. I kept in contact with my husband, but as I couldn't find any landmarks (yay, another house with a 10 foot high cement wall around it), neither he nor a taxi could find me. Finally, as I am about to burst into tears, I spot a row of tall buildings. Civilization! I knew it was there! Just on the other side of those buildings is traffic! I can hear it! So, I should go there. Unfortunately all of these buildings are touching each other. What that means is I'm faced with a solid wall of buildings keeping me from where I want to be. I walk on. Finally I spy a gap! My spirits soared only to crash and burn. Between me and the passageway between the buildings was the steepest alley I have ever seen (and I have done some pretty impressive hills with this stroller at this point). This hill was so steep I would have been afraid of walking down it by myself, let alone exhausted with 80 lbs of stroller/children dragging me down it. Hearing a noise, I glanced over to my right and realized I was not alone. I was being watched. By a large German shepherd. Decision made. Keeping one eye on the dog and one on the treacherous slope, we began our decent. Making boy #2 walk with me so there was less weight on the stroller seemed like a good idea until half way down when we discovered the alley was covered with broken glass. Too late, press on! Miraculously we arrived safely at the bottom! And behold! There was the street! Amazingly, we had popped out right in front of the Thai restaurant we had eaten at the night before! Thank you Lord! A tearful phone call and a few minutes later I was safely eating in a cozy Korean restaurant with my dear husband and all my children safe and sound. I slept well that night.
Day Six:
"Yes, the zoo is easy to get to by train!" said the girl at the tourist desk. I guess she had never made the trip with a stroller. Incorrect signage and out of service lifts did not stop me though. I finally found my way to the correct train! And made it to the zoo! The zoo was great, well worth my efforts. We went to the Seoul Grand Park Zoo. The entrance fee for me and the three boys was about $3.00! There was a fair amount of walking involved as (like many things here) the zoo was built on hills. Almost all of the signage was in English and Hangul, so it was easy to find where to go. We spent at least 5 hours hiking around and still didn't see all the animals! I spotted one other English speaker there and my boys were almost a zoo exhibit themselves! They had their pictures taken a lot and one nice couple even offered to arrange marriages between their very young daughters and boys #2 and #3. Some very tired boys and I hiked back to the train where we met my dear husband and ate dinner purchased from street vendors.
Day Seven:
Something educational again! We visited the War Memorial of Korea. The boys of course wanted to start outside with the static displays of military equipment. The museum has many fantastic pieces outside and boys #1 and #2 enjoyed climbing all over them. I was pleased to discover that almost all of the signage was both in Hangul and English. Inside I think we covered about 75% of the museum before my little troopers gave out, although they had a great time while we were there. Unfortunately we missed most of the displays on the Korean war, so we're planning on going back again. The displays we saw were beautifully done and almost everything was available in English.
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| Being pirates. Yes, they brought swords to the museum with them. |
Afterwards we met my dear husband and took the train back home. Not too bad for my first trip to Seoul!
