Exploring the Olympic Venues and host cities

Gangneung

Our plan today was to head back to the Gangneung and explore in and around the city since we didn’t get much of a chance to do that yet. We would leave Seoul in the morning, train to Gangneung and hang out. We were treated to a lovely morning in Seoul, and it was a neat contrast to see an empty street vs. the hustle and bustle.

The first airbnb we stayed at was actually on top of a coffee shop, so we made it a point to visit again and grab a cup of coffee. Unfortunately our host we were in contact with when booking wasn’t working that day. We still ordered coffee and juice and hung out for a bit before heading to our next stop.

Jumunjin Beach

Our next stop was Jumunjin Beach. We specifically headed towards the breakwater as this was the location of a fairly iconic scene in a very popular Korean drama Called. Goblin or Guardian: The Lonely and Great God.

I’ve personally never seen this drama, but it did show up on a lot of tourist blogs and sites. Suzy also mentioned that it is a very iconic moment in the drama so it was certainly worth checking out. Upon arriving I was very happy to see how pretty this area was. While it was still winter, I can imagine that the beaches here would be a popular destination for everyone during the summer. It was pretty windy and the waves were pretty choppy but nonetheless it was a great area to explore.

We even got a pic on the iconic breakwater!

Gyeongpo Beach

After spending an hour or two in this area we taxied down the coast a little until we arrived at Gyeongpo beach. There was also an art exhibit called Fire Art Festa happening on the beach. It looks like each night they burn some of the art. Sadly we wouldn’t be able to hang out at night, but we did enjoy checking out the exhibits and the beach in general.

There is a lake on the other side of the beach and at the time of day we got there, it was an amazingly beautiful time to see the lake and the “not so setting” sun.

The Hassome

We were going to grab some Korean BBQ as an afternoon lunch/dinner but sadly due to the Lunar New Year the restaurant was closed. We wandered around the area for a little while before stumbling upon this cafe/restaurante called The Hassome. The first thing we noticed was how much reference to Coke there was inside the restaurant. We’re not sure if they were a sponsored restaurant, but certainly wasn’t something we expected.

I ended up ordering a small pasta dish which certainly hit the spot!

Olympic Plaza

Our next stop was to get on the KTX to make our way to Pyeongchang again. There was a K-Pop group that Suzy really wanted to see called B1A4, and I was looking forward to spending a bit more time in the Olympic Plaza area. We arrived in time to catch the tail end of the medal ceremony, and just in time for the show to start

Once the show was over, we wanted to check out the the Olympic cauldron, along with the Olympic store. However before we could get very far, we were treated to a very cool drone show in the sky.

Afterwards we walked up a wide pathway where we were treated to a pretty cool fireworks show.

To our left was the Olympic cauldron. The Olympics have held a special place in my heart since I worked with the Vancouver Organizing committee in 2010. So seeing iconic things like the Cauldron is dear to me. Overall I’ve been very impressed with the Pyeongchang games. Having been involved, you come to appreciate the amazing work that people put in to pull off a major event such as this. I doubt anyone involved with Pyeongchang will read this but Kudos, I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience!

After spending some time at the cauldron, we made our way to the store to do a little souvenir shopping! We then shuttled back to the train station and to Seoul!

We were going to make our way to Gunsan tomorrow and had another full day ahead of us!