Gyeongbuk Palace

Looking this direction, it appears that the magnificent palace is high in the mountains, but turn around, and you are surrounded by Seoul skyscrapers. It was a short walk from Gyeongbukgung to Insadong Market.

If They Don't Have It, You Don't Need It

Kitchen supply stall at Namdaemun.

Food Delivery

The photo is a little blurry, but check out the woman in red, delivering lunch, carrying it on her head. I have seen this a lot at Namdaemun Market. Food delivery is cheap and ultra green. It arrives in real dishes, and the delivery person comes back to get the dishes. One of the many wonders of Namdaemun.

Wintery Seoul

Today we got a reminder of what winter feels like. A cold rain turned to snow at midday. Holly is demonstrating the cool umbrella bags you see everywhere. Slide your umbrella in the top of this contraption, slide it out the side, and your wet umbrella is in a long bag so stores and businesses do not have to mess with your drips. By 4:00 today, the sun was out.

For My BananaGirl

We are at Dunkin' Donuts again this morning. It is right next to our hotel (which is no surprise since it seems like there is one on every corner in Seoul). It isn't that we love doughnuts; we love wifi. I'm usually an egg sandwich gal, but today had to get a banana treat in honor of Mary. We are fueled up now and off to Dongdaemun Market. Meeting up with the big group later today.

Last Hanji Shopping (Sad!)

We hit three final paper stores today, then told Holly to cut us off... We couldn't carry any more paper. We have some amazing purchases. It will make going home easier because we have USING all this paper to look forward to. (And we did decide to pick up some plain white paper at Namdaemun Market tomorrow, so we do not need to go into withdrawal quite yet.)

Best. Meal. Ever.

After our Dongdaemun flop, we headed to Insadong to finish our hanji paper shopping. We had passed this chicken restaurant the day before, and wondered if it would serve the delicious Korean ginseng chicken soup. This was totally different, but one of the best things we have ever eaten. It was a braised chicken with a slightly sweet sauce, potatoes, and a few other veggies. The sign outside said this dish comes from the Andong area. I googled "Andong chicken," and did come up with a few hits that look promising. So good.