Mr and Mrs Van: Our first trip in 2011

We have just started our New Year with minimum sleep and many many miles. We witnessed the year changing in Munich, cosy from our hotel window, toasted with water (someone has to work) and feasting on amazing German room service. Yes, we know...
Following that, we sprinted to South Korea, for a tour of Seoul City.

Beautiful and cold is how you can summarize our 24 hours spending in there with maximum results.
The city tourist board offers a nice ‘hop on hop off ’ city tour bus service with a schedule that is easy to work out even if you don’t know a jota of Korean…
First stop, Changdeokgung Palace. A Unesco World Cultural Heritage Site (Mr Van's speciality), the palace was built in 1484 as a residence for three dowager queens. Destroyed by fire during the Japanese Invasion, it was rebuilt in 1616. One more fire destroyed the buildings in 1830, but it was rebuilt 4 years later. During the Japanese occupation, changes to the palace designation were done (like a zoo and a botanical garden on the premises), however it was all restored to the original state in 1986. Impressive and very well preserved, considering all the rebuilding they did..
Walking from Changdeokgung through Bukchon, the traditional Korean Village with small houses and even smaller doors, antique, tea shops, guest houses. All in all, it really felt like we were in a small city within the very busy city that is Seoul.
Further down, you will find Gyeongbokgung Palace, the official palace of the Choseon dynasty, with fine architecture and background view of the mountains. Guard’s changing ceremony every hour, but we could not wait for it, and as the cold pushed us into one of the coffee shops in Gwanghawamun area, a Belgian hot chocolate was served to us. Smiling faces!
Shopping is as crazy in Seoul as it is in any other respectable Asia capital. Markets, shops, teenagers with crazy outfits, short skirts in really cold weather and the trade and bargain atmosphere. We passed through Namdaemun Market and arrived into the recommended shopping district, Myeongdong for the sole purpose of finding Caviar Nutrition Mask Sheets for Mrs Van. Koreans are well known for their collagen nutrition hydration face masks, individually packed and rumoured to be "life/face changing" plus, you gotta love the name: 'Skin Food, since 1957' - food your skin can eat!
Food you can eat in the biblical sense are the traditional western popular Korean barbecue bulgogi, where the table and the seats are arranged around a small barbecue. Marinated meats - chicken, beef or fish are presented raw to the customer that you can then grill to your liking.
Bibimbap is a mix of vegetables and beef served with steamed rice and red pepper paste sauce, gochujang. They are all presented in separate dishes and are to be mixed together by the person who eats them. Last one did not go down that well down with Mr Van so on his flight back (business class for once) he couldn’t really indulge in the perfect service that was offered….

We enjoyed our short stay in South Korea, and we recommend it as a summer escape.