A day in My World

Welcome to my little corner of the world in Seoul.  I've decided that today I am going to take you on an adventure.  You will be joining me as I venture out to Namsam Park.  It is beautiful out, a high of 18 degrees Celsius, the flowers are beginning to bloom, all making it a perfect day to visit my favorite nature area.  Let's go!  Are you ready?

  

Just walking down the street, we can already see the amazing trees in bloom!

 We start off by taking the bus.  It's either a 20 minute walk, or a 5 minute bus ride to get to the subway station, and as I am eager to get to the park, we are going to take the bus!  (They're not as scary as I once thought.)

A few stops later, we arrive at the subway station!  We are taking line 4 today, riding it for about 30 minutes, and will be getting off at Myeongdong.  

Wow, 28 minutes fly by super fast here! ;)

Now we're at Myeongdong, one of the big shopping districts in Seoul. But no shopping for us today!

We take off, heading away from Myeongdong and towards the large intersection.  It's an area my Mom says reminded her of New York.  What do you think?

I love this building most personally.  The architecture is a style I have always found to be quite beautiful honestly.  Though sadly this type is virtually non-existent in Korea, as their architecture styling leaves much to be desired.

We walk around the corner, up the hill, and towards the park.  Are you excited?!  You should be!  (This is the view facing /away/ from Namsan Park, the path we just walked up)

Now there is a cable car we could take, but where is the fun in that?  We are here for the nature walk, and the line is super long, so today we will pass. 

 Making our way to the trail head, we see more trees and flowers in bloom.  I love this weather, and my feet are itching to get going!

Here's the sign for the park.  How's your Hangul/Braille?

I get walking and immediately spot a cute little dog I know my friend S would love!  This is for you girly!

There is a giant walkway where only people can go (a nice rarity in Seoul, where scooters and even cars sometimes are allowed on the sidewalks), and lovely bushes lining the side.  I also immediately spot a small pond off to the side- you have to enjoy the little things, right?

Though I don't know what these little flowers are, but I love them!  Yellow is my favorite color.  :)

No more gentle rolling walkways, now we're going to climb up these stairs.  There are stairs, stairs, and more stairs!  Are you ready?  Here we go!

But wait!  Before we even start, I see a little bug struggling on a step.  I pick him up and move him to the side so he doesn't get stepped on.  He's barely the size of my pinky nail!  Bugs are supposed to be fuzzy right?  Can't help but wonder what he is...

We reach the first rest area, and just as is the Korean style, there are "work out" machines here to use!  Haha!  And azaleas! These flowers remind me of home, as we have a few of these flowering bushes back in Fl on our property. 

We will be going up there!  Have you caught your breathe?  We're about to begin the hard part of the walk, with about a 20-30 minute straight stair climb.  Come on!  :D

The hike is worth it though, with amazing views of the city along the way:

And the old fortress wall lines our walk too.  Something I always thought was so neat to see!  (I plan to hike the trail along the old fortress wall before I leave.  Maybe that's what I'll do next weekend.)

Peaking through the trees are some of Seoul's large buildings reflecting the setting sun.  I love the way they look, I couldn't help but find it beautiful.  What do you think?

We're getting close to the top now.  The cable car is near by!

Just before reaching the open area of N. Seoul Tower, there is a nice sized look out for us to enjoy.  It is far less crowded than at the tower, and offers a really great advantage of the city!

We finally made it!  We are at N. Seoul Tower!  A major hub for tourists, it offers one of the best views of the city.

 Now N. Seoul Tower is also famous for one other thing: Love Locks.  And boy!  Does N. Seoul Tower have love locks! 

The sides of the entire area are simply COVERED in love locks!  It's a bit crazy, and very ridiculous at times.  I didn't stay long, as the crowds bugged me and I wanted to get back to nature.  But it was a nice stop over on our little hike through the park.  :)
Everybody say "kimchi"! ㅋㅋㅋ (<- Korean for lol)

 We continue on our way down the hill.  Yay for no more stairs!

 Again we find our walk is running parallel to the old fortress wall.  Love it!  ^.^

Isn't the walk beautiful?

After a short time, there is a nice overlook.  I ask a cute Korean couple to take my photo.  Loved the sun setting in the background!

Just a bit down the road is a gate with a dirt trail.  Let's take it and see where it goes!

Look at this!  Reclined chairs in the middle of the forest!  Haha!  Only in Korea!

 Hey!  I found the trail again!

 The sun is beginning to really go down, and it is simply beautiful, don't you think?

 Walking along, I saw this tree, and just fell in love.  Stunning!

Oh my word!  There is no one on the path!  No people!  Do you have any idea how RARE it is to not be surrounded by people in Seoul!  I was really really excited!

See!

 Can you get over how beautiful the trees are in bloom?  I can't!

And look at the way this path curves, with both the yellow flowers and white blossoming trees!

 I was one happy girl!  ^.^

 Now, be careful getting close to the trees, don't step on their cute little purple flowers!

 Look at these beautiful giant ones too!  Oh wow!  How I love the large, silky white petals!

 Down the path is a large grove of trees.  Just look at this, an entire area full!  It makes me want to sit and lay there all evening.

 The sun is going down though, so we should begin making out way of the park.  Say goodbye for now.

Take a look at a better map of the park.  This is some of where we walked today.  :)  Mostly the east side, as I like that area more.

Across the street, we are able to look out over Seoul.  We can see the city coming to life at night.  It's rather magical, don't you think?

 The lights and colors of a city in the evening are some of my favorite in the color spectrum, and no other time of day shows them off so elegantly.

Making our way down the road towards Noksapyeoung, we see a bar called "The Library".  I think this would be my kind of bar!  Haha!

Tonight I am feeling noodles, so we will stop at one of my favorite places for dinner.  A little restaurant called Bao.  I think everyone should be capable of enjoying a meal by themself, don't you?  There's something fundamentally important about being comfortable alone.

After dinner we head back to the station.  It's time to make our way home- I have some work for grad school I need to get done, and it's beginning to get late.  We came all the way from the other side of the tower, which is lit up a vibrant shade of blue in this photo.  Man, we walked far today!

Inside Noksapeyoung Station, I always love to look up.  The design here is really neat and fun to look at.  (The two grey things you see that go in to the middle are escalators from the bottom view.)

And time to head home now.  We're in for a longer ride this time, but that's okay.  I have the book I'm reading right now, and won't lie when I say I'm thoroughly enjoying it!  

Just remember: 

If you follow your feet,

you will always end up right where you belong.

 <3

I hope you enjoyed this trip with me today, and were able to really feel everything I felt.  This was a day in my world, living here in Seoul, South Korea.

Until next time,

All my love,

Rita