We were rudely awakened at 8am by the sound of construction outside our window… Actually technically we’d been up half the night already with Katrine’s bad throat… still, undisduaded, and after a quick rant at reception we were off exploring Seoul.

Our first stop was brunch at a nearby cafe, selected purely based on proximity and the fact that it seemed to be full of locals (always a good sign). It didn’t dissappoint. To make things sinple, the owner directed proceedings and we were treated to an excellent pork rib stew/soup affair, qwr124 which we later found out was called hangover broth. It was delicious and cheap and a great start to the culinary side of our adventures.

We decided to spend our first day at the main palace and after a very efficient metro ride…

At this point I feel compelled to dedicate a paragraph to the metro system… Efficient, punctual, frequent, clean… And that’s before you get to the really good part… The people, in particular the queueing and the conformity without which this excellent system woukd be nothing more than a good idea…. No massed huddle, ala Norway here… The system of queing to enter the trains assigns would-be passengers marked positions along the platform in front of the train entrance doors, two by two, leaving a disembarkation funnel in the centre to allow exiting passengers to exit. While waiting for the metro/train passengers walk the length of the ‘platform’ to the next available/least crowded entry point, thereby distributing themselves evenly and in an orderly fashion and preventing bottle necks… It’s a thing of beauty… All topped off by the lovely ditty that plays to herald the arrival of the next train:

Very cool.

Anyhoo… The palace was also very cool. Actually everything was cool… About minus 5 to be exact. We explored the adjacent museum learning about the Jeson dynasty before joining a free tour of the palace grounds with our very exuberant ‘let’s go’ tour guide.

We rounded off the day with a wander around the local market where all manner of weird and wonderful wares were being offered for sale… The highlight was of course the street food, which was awesome.

Katrine was first out of the gate, nabbing herself a nugatti pancake… Not sure that qualifies as Korean street food though.