Merry Christmas from Seoul, Part 2

Yesterday was probably my most memorable Christmas. Well, it's up there with the year I got a gerbil, at least. After breakfasting on Christmas cake and actual coffee, Bobby and I headed downtown. We had planned to see the South Gate, the ornate former main gate to the city. When we emerged from the subway it was raining. We grabbed a hot tea (first of three that day) and an umbrella from street vendors and walked down towards the gate. It was unfortunately undergoing a major renovation. We saw a few bricks through a glass window. We turned around and headed back towards Deoksu palace, one of many in Seoul and the original seat of the Joeson dynasty. Much of the palace compound has been moved or destroyed to make room for the growing city, but we saw an ornate throne room and some residences, as well as a westernized banquet hall with chairs that the king created for his foreign guests. There was a shrine for a murdered queen and some gardens as well. Finally I had had enough of the cold rain, so we went to an art museum.

It was an underwhelming art museum—only two artists' work was displayed--so after another tea we headed back to Itaewon to have dinner. We had booked us two spots at Chef Meili's restaurant for a set Christmas dinner. At chef Meili's we found candles, Christmas music, and the cadence of English, a welcome ambience for foreigners missing home a bit. The food was amazing.

We hopped back on the subway to go downtown and see the Chrismas lights on Cheongyye Stream, a rustic stream that the mayor uncovered as part of a beautification project. When we emerged from the subway, it was snowing. As a southerner, a white Christmas is a particularly special event for me. The light show was spectacular, made more so by the falling flakes. Many Koreans we passed wished us a Merry Christmas. We stopped for a hot chocolate and went back to the hotel to watch the snow accumulate from the window. I have to add that we finally broke into the Moravian cookies that Bob and Mary Remsburg sent us over with. We were saving them for a special occasion, and it seemed like just the one.


The main ceremonial hall and some gardens













I love the woodwork on the windows. You could walk between many of these buildings without going outside.












This stone is in the middle of the walkway up to the main ceremonial hall
















Christmas lights at Cheongyye Stream