TRAVELING SOLO TO SEOUL!

So, this past beautiful Saturday morning, I set out to explore Seoul! After hurriedly buying my ticket not knowing exactly where I was going to end up, I raced up the steps to catch the subway just in the nick of time! No cell phone or internet service. Just me, a foreigner in a new land, and my adventuresome spirit thrown in to a culture that I am still learning and on to a subway system that I was determined to figure out.

 

After studying the subway map a bit, making several subway transfers, and passing time with lots of "people watching" during the time it took me to get to Seoul, I finally arrived at the Itaewon station. My first stop was the tourist center to get some city information. There are so many wonderful things to do in Itaewon! Then, after talking with some helpful ambassador people on the street to get a restaurant recommendation, I had a wonderful lunch at La Bocca, a really nice Italian restaurant on the World Food Street, and a bit more of people watching. There are so many more Americans in this town than I have seen in the other cities. Hearing so many people speaking English was a welcome change and kind of made me feel not so far away. Originally, my intentions were to see the Seoul Central Mosque, the Leeum, Samsung Art Museum, shop a bit, and just explore this beautiful city. That will have to be my next trip. I did, however, find a quaint little nail shop to get a manicure and enjoyed a nice stroll to the flea market where I ended up purchasing a painting from one of the local women. She was so excited that I was admiring her painting, she came up to me and told me it was the first painting she had ever done and she was so happy that someone was interested in her painting. I think I really made her day! So of course, I bought it from her, and it's hanging in my apartment as an "original, first edition" masterpiece. Ha!