I really love it when we have flights with overnight layovers. It gives me and my travel companions an opportunity to visit places without having to pay for additional flights. The only expense is accommodation and transportation to and from the airport. In the past couple of years, we had overnight layovers in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Riga, Latvia. On our way back from Japan, we had an overnight layover in Seoul, South Korea. We landed around 7:00 PM in the evening and flew out the next day at 3:40 PM. Upon arrival, we took a taxi to the Hotel FirstStay in the heart of the city. It was a perfect hotel, a great location, comfortable beds, hot showers, and for me, a reasonable price ($120 for 5 people).
The hotel is situated between the Namdaemun Market and Myeong-dong (“bright tunnel – neighborhood” in English) the most famous tourist and shopping districts of the city. I convinced Owen and Oliver to go with me for a craft beer and chicken in the cafe/bar/restaurant district located just outside our hotel lobby. I discovered the popular Korean alcoholic beverage Soju, a distilled, clear drink from rice or other grain with an alcohol content of around 15%. I liked the Andong Lager I tried. Andong is a city in northern South Korea that is famous for Soju. My sons are adults now and it is so pleasurable for me to go out with them and have conversations. They are developing into fine young men and it makes me think of the cycle of life. The food was so-so and we were tired from travel and headed back to the hotel early.
This was my third visit to Seoul and my fourth visit to South Korea. The last time I came with my family was in July of 2016 and you can see how much the kids have changed since. I remember it being a hot day and we climbed the park overlooking the city to the Seoul Tower. I came a couple of times as the head of school in Japan as we were part of an athletics conference with schools in Korea. Seoul is the capital of South Korea and a mega metropolitan city of over 26 million people. My big impression this time is that it felt more Western and Chinese than Osaka. The hustle and bustle of Sejong Street reminded me of New York.
I got up early as usual and went for a walk. I was fortunate to catch the changing of the guard ceremony at the Gyeongbokgung Palace. This was the palace of the Joseon Dynasty that ruled the Korean peninsula from 1392 to 1897. It looks like the Forbidden City in Beijing and reinforces my impression that Koreans are more like Chinese than Japanese culturally. It makes sense that they share a border with China and although I have not read extensively on Korean history, China must have had a large impact on the Koreans. It is nice that they were not assimilated into the Han Chinese nation-state. The Japanese systematically dismantled the palace but in the 1960s until today, it has been restored. The Palace is huge and appropriately portrays the power of the Joseon Dynasty. It is worth seeing the ceremony which takes place four times a day. I saw the 10:00 AM performance.
In front of the Seoul Financial Center, there was a display thanking the US military for its efforts in the Korean War (1950 – 1953). A policeman asked me if I was an American and thanked me personally. My father didn’t serve in the Korean War but was stationed in Stuttgart, West Germany from 1954-1955. I am glad that South Korea and the USA are strong allies.
Several activist groups were also promoting political causes on Seoul Square alongside Sejong Street, some I never heard of. The first was a sign asking for “fairness” and using “common sense” in the investigation of Korean First Lady Kim Keon-Hee. She is under investigation of taking kickbacks and not paying taxes. She also embellished her relationship with NYU’s Stern Business School on her resume. Two pro-Israeli banners were encouraging the destruction of Hamas and another stand was a memorial for victims of the COVID-19 epidemic. There was also a wall of photos of the 159 people who were killed in the Halloween Crowd Crush in 2022. I like seeing free speech in action!
Nadia and I explored the Namdaemun Market before the taxi came to take us to the airport. It is a huge, sprawling market with stalls lining the streets. It has been a market since 1414 so a lot has gone on there. We bought some knock-off hoodies for the kids and I had a delicious soup, Korean noodle empanada, and of course, bibimbap.
We snapped a few photos on the plane as this might be the last time all five of us fly together! We have had so many good times traveling together over the past 16 years (from the birth of Ocean until yesterday). Hopefully, we can have more opportunities to travel together.
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