We slept late this morning, what with dehydration headaches and having had such a long weary slog the day before, we didn't rise until after 10am. We were woken several times during the night by the blaring klaxons that accompany Korean emergency alert service announcements on all 4 phones. When I bothered to put them through Google translate, what I assumed to be imminent nuclear strikes turned out to be warnings that the temp would be below 0C all day, and that citizens should be really really really careful with their footing :/.
We finally made it out of our cozy room to be met with a clear and (beautifully) freezing morning. Definitely a beanie and down jacket kinda day. Requiring caffeine and possibly also food, we headed into the main tourist street of Insadong to find a cafe for what was now a late brunch. After a few false starts, we finally decided on a cozy first floor joint run by a very friendly man who certainly knew his way around an espresso machine. Wonderful coffee and cakes were consumed with reckless abandon, and we left fuelled for the afternoon ahead.
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| Breakfast of champions - coffee and cake |
Our caffeine withdrawals sated and death from starvation forestalled, we headed towards Gyeongbokgung Palace to check out the snowy grounds and some old-buildings-and-that. As palaces go, we really enjoyed this one! It was wonderfully relaxing wandering about the grounds in the sub-zero temperatures (no really!) with mountains peaking over the palace walls in one direction and no skyscrapers in sight. We basically strolled around and checked out a tonne of traditional Korean architecture, relaxing into our temporary lives of leisure.
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| A very peaceful stroll in the heart of the megacity. |
As 2pm rolled around we made our way back to the palace's front entrance for the changing of the guard. With the colourful costumes and weird squeaky instruments, it was a really enjoyable part of the visit.
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| Changing of the palace guards. |
With the impending risk of us missing lunch altogether, We hoofed it a few blocks east to a highly recommended ginseng chicken soup restaurant Tosokchon Samgyetang. Located in a beautiful old building, this very popular, sprawling restaurant was just winding down from the lunchtime rush and we were seated immediately. We ordered 2 servings of their signature dish and it was amazing. Each stone dish contained a whole (smallish) chicken stuffed with rice and a whole ginseng root. The meat just fell off the bones and both it and the surrounding soup were consumed with gusto.
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| Ginseng chicken soup at Tosokchon Samgyetang. |
Our bellies full, we decided to take a leisurely stroll back to the hotel to prepare for our special dinner at Korea House (thanks Maya and Donncha!) to celebrate Claudia's birthday. On the way we decided to stop at a traditional Korean tea hose in Insadong simply named "Hanok Tea House". The place was old, eclectically furnished and very cosy. We ordered a selection of both teas and traditional sweets to try, ultimately deciding on citrus, grapefruit and jujube teas. Whilst the teas were interesting, and certainly an experience, I think we'll all stick to Irish Breakfast for the foreseeable future.
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| Traditional tea house in Insadong |
Finally we arrived back at the hotel and, after a freshen up, grabbed a taxi out to Korea House. Housed in a breautiful traditional building, we sat down to a traditionalk banquet - the Chungwu Jeonsik. There were so many dishes we all did very well to get through them. An amazing experience. They even brought Claudia a special birthday desert (some form of rice flour cake).
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| Chungwu Jeonsik at Korea House |
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