minneapolis + 747 + 18 hours = seoul!!

It's Saturday, April 10th and we're here!  Our flight left at about 4pm from MSP, about a 12 hour journey to Tokyo (Narita), and from there we flew into Seoul (Incheon).  The Delta flight was great, we had BusinessElite seats (with the help of a miles upgrade).  We had those amazing "pod" seats that reclined into various positions, including flat for sleeping.  And the service was GREAT!  All that being said, it was still a looooong flight.  We had a layover in Narita, Japan:  probably the cleanest, nicest airport I've ever been in!  I don't know if all their bathrooms are like this, but we got to use the Delta Sky Club lounge while waiting for our flight, and the toilet seats were heated!!  Not even kidding!   We need that in Minnesota during January :)

Check out those bags ... not my luggage, under my eyes!  The result of a week of sleep deprivation!

Our flight arrived in Seoul at 11pm on Friday, April 9th (which would have been 9am in MSP - remember, Seoul is 14 hours ahead).  We had a driver from the agency pick us up at the airport in Seoul, and arrived at the guesthouse around midnight.   Bed mattress is super hard - but at this point, who cares.  We unpacked and crashed. 

firm mattress that felt surprisingly good after a loooooong flight

each floor of the guesthouse (4 floors) had a shared kitchen area

Saturday morning we woke up early in need of coffee and the desire to explore - plan was to go to Insa-dong, which is a neighborhood with streets/alleys of shops, art galleries, food vendors and restaurants.  We tried to get directions to the subway station from agency staff, but didn't have the best of luck.  We walked out the door of the agency and took a chance heading in one direction.  Wrong choice.  We eventually turned around and made our way back, confused since the map we were provided wasn't detailed by street.  We walked the path that the driver had taken when driving us the night before, in hopes we'd recognize something and ... voilà, we found the subway station!  In addition, we found the super cool, Hongik University area - it's an art college and there were many hip restaurants and shops and ... a STARBUCKS!!  Yay, coffee! :)

Starbucks!

After grabbing coffee and walking around the Hongik neighborhood, we took the subway to Insadong.  The subway system is great:  clean and easy to use!  Insadong was nice - we enjoyed steamed potstickers, had a korean pastry from a street vendor, made some purchases for JD (our goal is to leave Korea w/gifts for each of his first 18 birthdays).  The weather was overcast and cool - much cooler than it has been in Minnesota, and I didn't pack accordingly - was wishing I had brought a warmer jacket. 

Insa-dong

alley in Insa-dong

we bought a custom hand-carved name stamp for JD (in his Korean name) from this woman & man

street performers

How could I resist him?

But that problem was solved when we took the subway back to Hongik University area and I found a suuuuper cool jacket at a store called "Volkwagon" (thought of you, Mary Beth) ... had to get it and now I'm warm.

toasty warm in her cool new jacket!

Hongbik University area

this building was our "landmark" to help find our way back to the guesthouse

On the subway, we met an American named Ryan who is living in Seoul and teaches english at a public school.  He gave us some ideas and directions on places to see - he was very nice and couldn't help but tell us that he was very much in love with a local Korean girl whom he had moved to Korea to be near :)

Tomorrow is Sunday and, among other adventures, we plan to check out a Cherry Blossom Festival along the river ...

-S