밥 먹었어요? (Have You Had Your Rice Today?)

For our last full day in Seoul, we started off at the UNESCO site Changdeokgung, another of Seoul's palaces.  When we got off the subway at the station, we noticed an odd smell.  It smelled JUST like Thanksgiving stuffing!  So, of course, we had to track down the smell.  It turns out it was coming from a French bakery in the subway station.  They baked some bread with onion, rosemary, and sage.  And, of course, we stopped and ate some and borrowed some wifi.

Mmmm...smells like Thanksgiving

After that little taste of goodness we joined our tour at Changdeokgung. It was a really impressive palace, and of course crammed with Korean children on school field trips and large tour groups from China. A highlight was the tour of the huge "secret garden," which was the king's private strolling grounds. More fall colors abounded.

View of the mountains over Changdeokgung

Throne room at Changdeokgung

In the secret garden at Changdeokgung

After Changdeokgung, Paul decided to make the trip back to Lotte World to ride the two coasters that had been previously closed.  While there, David explored the attached 12 story Lotte Department Store.  Lotte is a really common brand name in Korea.  They make everything from drinks to malls and even run a fast food chain called Lotteria, where David got the bulgogi beef burger for lunch!  Within 10 seconds of placing his order he was handed the tray, straw pre-inserted into his beverage.  Paul got some sweet potato maht-tang (honey glazed sweet potato pieces) after he finished at Lotte World.

Lotteria - Bulgogi Beef Burger "In-joy"

After Lotte World we went to see the tombs of some Joseon kings at Samreung Park followed by a trip to the Buddhist temple at Bongeunsa in the Gangnam neighborhood.  Gangnam is very modern and full of skyscrapers, which made the contrast with the temple all the more delightful.

Tomb at Samreung Park

Smaller temple at Bongeunsa

For another entry in a series of delicious dinners cooked in front of us, we went with Megan to the hopping Sinchon neighborhood. It's surrounded by Universities, and therefore has lots of bars and cheap restaurants. We had some fantastic Dalkgalbi (chicken, cabbage, and japchae noodles cooked at your table) and then stopped in at a bar down the street for Dongdongju (sweet rice liquor).

Gotta wear bibs so the dalkgalbi doesn't splatter on you!

Dongdongju