Another bus ride on another day, this time to Seoul. We learned our lesson last time and left early to catch the bus. Our destination this time was Yongson Army Garrison in Seoul. Just outside the gate (which no one seemed to know how to get to), there is a war museum. There was a nice breeze and things were calm and quiet. I was really optimistic about the day thus far.
We slowly made our way to our destination which was the children's war museum. By way of a report, it has mini tanks and other things the kids can climb on and not be so bored with stuff adults like to see.
Down our winding path where yes the girls did stop to collect pine cones (a reference to an early post).
And we found it! Wa, wa, wa, waaaaa!!!!! Talk about a letdown. No wonder it was so quiet. It was then all the pigeons showed up looking for handouts and got REALLY close. Our dear friend Corrie Hawks who does not like pigeons taught our girls that they are disgusting creatures so the girls proceeded to chase them away which they had a grand time doing. The whole time I was thinking about how much fun they would have in Venice.
After chasing off the birds we looked up the address to one of Seoul's shopping areas and started walking. It was a 4-mile walk by what I could estimate but we were a little intimidated by subway we just started going on foot.
30-60 min later we gave up and headed back to the nearest subway stop.
Here we are at the subway waiting for the elevator. I did not want a picture here but this nice old lady loved our kids so much she wanted to take our picture with her camera. She then asked me something about an address and motioned to her husband. We were clearly not communicating in any meanful way so simply smiled and nodded yes. I can only assume she is going to share it with her family... she then offered to take our photo, which she did, though this is the only one that was not super blurry.
Here we are waiting for the train. One second before I took the pictures they were fighting over which square was theirs, and 1 second later they were fighting again. Glad they could at least pause to smile for me.
Here we are sipping on smoothies. Hazel got a blueberry which was great and Charlotte a green grape. I was skeptical over her selection but it turned out to be super good.
It took us a while to escape this underground "history and culture center" which turned out to be a modern art expo and shopping mall, but we finally made our way to the streets of Seoul.
After a short walk, we found what we came for!
Rows and rows of shops with nothing but shoes! It was amazing. Most of the shoes were leather or fashion shoes but I did find a sports shoe shop that is more my style. We looked hard for shoes for Jari and Hazel but came up short (how I am not sure). There were 2 large issues: figuring out what shoe size everyone was (for me 8.5 mens US = 41 European = ? in Korea, turns out it is 265.) Second challenge was fitting our double wide stroller down the small walk paths. If we did not stick out like a sore thumb before we did then.
Here are Jari and the kids surrounded by a group of people wanting to smile and interact with the kids. It feels like the paparazzi following us. Most of the time they ask to take pictures of the kids but on occasion I see people sneaking a photo over their drinks or meal. Zachary eats it up. Hazel tolerates it, Charlotte is annoyed by people stopping us. I think it is really funny and shows what big hearts the people here have. They really do love children.
After shopping for a bit, we ran into the sister missionaries which was fun, then on to dinner. These characters were like a beacon that pulled the girls in. Apparently, this was the place to eat.
And this must be why. I think they could smell Burger King from the 7th floor. They enjoyed their nuggets and fries while Jari and I enjoyed Thai food.
Here is Zachary waiting for the girls to finish in the bathroom
A nice view of the city
Hazel has not yet grown out of naps so she was a little crazy the whole day, but she got her nap in once we hit the bus.
And here is evidence that Charlotte still gets a blue ribbon for being such a fantastic traveler. After sitting by herself for almost an hour, the last 20 minutes of which were in the dark, she asked if I had a light so she could color. When I told her no she sat for a few more minutes then suddenly declared really loud "I have a plan! Dad, you can get your phone and open that thing where you push letters to send messages to people and use it to make a flashlight with your phone. Then I can use it to see my book so I can color!"
How could I say no?
Overall it was an exhausting day but was loads of fun. I for one cannot say how grateful I am for Jari and her wonderful attitude/willingness to have adventures like this. Every time something looked like it was not going to work, she just smiled and helped me roll with it. I'm looking forward to more adventures with her.
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