Korea - October 6th - 12th

This October Kevin and I traveled to Korea for his grandfather's 88th birthday party. His parents, brother, sister and brother-in-law were also traveling to Korea for the party and family vacation. We left Baltimorethemorning of the 6th and arrived in Seoul the evening of the 7th. It was a 26 hour travel "day." I don't think you can call it a travel day once you travel for more than 24 hours! We got to our hotel around 10:00 PM and was in bed shortly thereafter. The morning andafternoon of the 8th was our only time alone in Seoul. We decided to go somewhere we hadn't been before and with limited time I thought going to N Seoul Tower would be a good adventure. It was close to the hotel so we could walk there and I hadn't been there before. The weather was a bit cloudy but we thought going to the top of the tower would still afford us a good overview of Seoul. The tower is located in Namsan Park, on top of a hill, just south of downtown Seoul. You get the full 360 degree view of the city. It's amazing to see the amount of high rise buildings and how far into the distance they go! We spent the afternoon at the hotel and walking down the Cheonggyecheon, a restored stream in downtown Seoul. It was a nice relaxing way of spending the afternoon. Then it was off with Dave & Eurie to a family dinner with the Hyun side of the family. We walked to their new apartment and was able to meet the family again and share a meal.

The next day, Saturday, we took the KTX train down to Busan to meet up with the rest of the family and to visit the grandparents. Had a family meal at their house and spent time with the family. Sunday was the day of the party and we started early with Mom and I going to the spa in the morning to get clean and body scrub. A quick breakfast at the hotel then off to the salon for the ladies to get their hair done. The party was at Todai and we arrived early to take some family photos, but not everyone was on time. So we waited for a while and finally got everyone together for a group shot. The party included family and friends and turned out nicely. In the evening we walked through Dongnae Market and had dinner there.

Monday was a slow day spent with the family. Went to lunch at Todai, walked through the Centum City department store (supposedly the largest department store in the world, it really looked like a mall), visited Samchoon and his new wife and baby and walked along Gwangalli Beach. Had dinner near the hotel and an early night to bed.

Tuesday we were all on our way to Japan for our tour of Hokkaido!