Deux Cremes – Dessert for Breakfast!
Our first stop today was a dessert shop called Deux Cremes just down the street from our AirBNB on Garosu-gil Road. Suzy wanted to visit this place which was visited by a popular celebrity. Since it was so close, we figured why not have Dessert for breakfast?! We each ordered a slice of cake and I got smoothie as well! It was a very stylish spot and I can imagine that it’d be super popular in the evenings!
Seoullo
Our next stop was this elevated roadway that’s been converted into a pedestrian walkway called Seoullo 7017. It reminded me of the New York City Highline, so I was curious! We arrived at the start of the walk and proceeded through it. It was really well maintained with lots of art and potted plants and trees. Being that it was winter I was surprised that there were some very colorful flowers on display, however my suspicion is that they weren’t real!
Nonetheless it was a welcome leisurely walk through an otherwise very busy Seoul. It was a beautiful day, it was a nice change of pace and i really enjoyed it!
Namedaemun Market
At the other end of the Seoullo walk was a cool street market called Namedaemun Market. It was full of food stalls and small shops. Sadly, we didn’t get to spend that much time here as we’d be meeting up with one of Suzy’s friends in another part of town. I did manage pick up some fish cake on a stick which tasted pretty good and was very satisfying!
Seoul City Fortress Wall
We met up with one of Suzy’s friends near the Hanyangdoseong Seoul City Wall. This is an ancient wall that was built to protect Seoul in the past and is a popular and scenic walk now for visitors. There was a bit of elevation along the walk, but for the most part its an easy and leisurely path. And while its cool to walk along the wall, once you get to a peak and catch the view, you get a great perspective of the city. Its a beautiful view from the top and a great place to linger and take it all in.
Part way through, we stopped off in a small coffee shop to get off our feet, chat and hide away from the cold. We spent about an hour inside before venturing back out along the wall. By the time we resumed our walk the sun had set and it offered us another great perspective of the small shops around the wall and the illuminated wall itself!
Dongdaemun Design Plaza
Our walk ended at Dongdaemun Gate where we “rejoined” the city in a very lively shopping area. Though what really caught my eye was the Dongdaemun Design Plaza. Its this large futuristic looking building that takes up an entire city block. From what I can gather its a place that celebrates design, art and culture. It wasn’t just the building, even the surrounding park space was creatively put together with a garden of lit roses. I really enjoyed this place and would definitely want to go back at some point in the future!
Korean BBQ
By this time, the three of us were starving and we were looking for a place to eat. I think Korean BBQ was on all our minds as we started searching out a place that would meet our needs. We eventually found one that offered all you can eat BBQ for little more than $10! We were all very excited and hurried over. The place was small, but true to their advertising we were able to barbeque as much as we wanted. I’d like to say that we exercised some semblance of self control… but we didn’t. By the end of the night we were all regregging our life decisions, feeling the effects of clogged arteries and had clothes that smelled like grease! BUT we were all well fed and satisfied!
We walked around a little afterwards to “shop” (or work off dinner). But the night was getting late and so we said good bye to Suzy’s friend and made our way back to our place to turn in. We would be taking a small day trip out to Suwon tomorrow for another Castle wall walk!