Category Travel
Seoul (Day 3) – In which I get naked
Okay, so anyone who’s been following me for a while will recall Amanda’s and my first foray into public bathing. It was enormously fun, and we’ve been on the lookout for opportunities to get naked in public again ever since. Well, I say “again” but I’m pretty sure Amanda would dispute that word as applied […]
Seoul (Day 2) – Mozart! Das Musical
Amanda and I have a tradition of seeing bombastic American action films while traveling abroad (think Transformers III in Lima). I’m not sure yet if we’ll manage such a screening on this trip, but I think Mozart! das Musical — a bombastic Austrian musical — might be a near-perfect alternative. We stumbled upon this treasure while taking refuge […]
Seoul (Day 2) – Changdeok Palace and Huwon Garden
According to our guide books, Seoul has a couple of palaces that are really worth visiting. We had originally planned to devote today to visiting two of them . . . but then we spent half the morning blogging about yesterday’s activities and then having another multi-pastry breakfast at the Paris Baguette Cafe down the […]
Seoul (Day 1): Cheonggyecheon and Myongdong – modern Seoul
The old, traditional houses of Bukchon are lovely, but most of Seoul is super urban and very modern. It’s a fun, vibrant city that feels surprisingly familiar and very clean. View from the hotel balcony, looking southeast. Hotel view looking southwest. Hilltop view in Bukchon neighborhood Samsung owns this building.I feel like it should be […]
Seoul (Day 1): Insa-dong and Bukchon – strolling through Seoul’s traditional neighborhoods
Between meals on our food tour, Veronica led us through some of the historic neighborhoods of Seoul. Most of the traditional architecture in Seoul was destroyed during the wars and subsequent modernization, but here the lovely old residences have been preserved and can still be appreciated. A street lined with traditional houses in Insadong. […]
Seoul (Day 1) – Monsoon!
Amanda and I have a knack for traveling to a place during the, shall we say, less than ideal time of year. (Witness our trip through Morocco in July — 120 degree daytime highs and Ramadan.) We seem to have done it again this year by visiting South Korea during monsoon season. Cindy and other […]
Seoul (Day 1) – We basically just ate all day long
In my opinion, that there’s no better way to get to know a new city and a new culture than by spending a day eating your way through town. Palaces, temples and museums are wonderful — and don’t worry, we’ll get to those soon! — but for now, let’s see what people eat in Seoul. […]
Staving off jet lag on the first night in Seoul
As we emerged stiffly out of the plane in Seoul, we were welcomed by the tepid humidity I remembered so well from last year’s layovers on the way to and from Vietnam. I remain baffled why such a beautiful and otherwise fully modern airport would not have air conditioning! The building itself still was just […]
Getting to Seoul (and what we ate)
It’s one thing to stay up till 2am packing for a trip — what with the caffeine, the excitement, and the indecision over whether to pack all four pairs of shorts and two pairs of jeans, you declare that sleep is overrated and you’ll have plenty of time for that on the plane. It’s another […]
Vacation!
Destination: South Korea and Japan. The fun begins in T minus 5 hours. Not only do I have approximately 17 different outfits in here;I also have a full kit for climbing Mt Fuji. I bear my testimony that packing cubes are true.In the name of REI, amen. Boba Fett!Traveling the universe in a film […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 