Namsan and Seolleongtang

On March 16, 2025 0 Comments - Korea 2025, Travel

A day spent travelling up to Namsan Tower by cable car and then having dinner at Seoul’s oldest restaurant, Imun Seolleongtang.

First stop: coffee along the old city wall near our home base. There is a strip of cute tiny coffee shops perched on the hill. You can get a good view of Seoul from here. It seems like a very popular spot for couples at sunset.

Cute takeaway coffees from Horse House coffee near Naksan Park

A woman sips her coffee at Cafe Horse House with Seoul old city wall in the background — Along the old city wall, Naksan park became one of our favourite places for a quiet walk. We spent the morning here cat spotting and drinking coffee at Cafe Horse House.

A wide view of Seoul from Namsan — Later, a trip up Namsan by cablecar let us have a bird’s eye view of Seoul. I tried a panorama picture with my camera. You can see how the city sprawls into the horizon around the mountains.

View of Seoul to the north east from Namsan — This is to the North-east. Over those mountains is North Korea.

east-north-east view of Seoul from Namsan — A little further east looking straight at the part of the city we were living in.

South-west view of Seoul from Namsan — Towards the South-west. You can see the Han river reflecting the afternoon sun.

Namsan Tower with traditional Korean roof detail and blue sky

Namsan Tower at the top of Namsan Park. We didn’t go up inside. The view from the top of the mountain was good enough. If you want to visit click here

seollongtang at Imun Seollongtang in Jongno

I have been to Korea many times and I always have the same last meal: Seolleongtang at Imun Seolleongtang. It is a favourite to strengthen body and spirit for the long road home. Read all about it

In his excellent book “Eating Korea”, Graham Holliday made a joke about Seolleongtang being the perfect meal to say “so long” 👋 to Seoul. I couldn’t agree more. I have read this book at least three times and would recommend it to anyone visiting Korea. Buy local ok?

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korea, photography

Hwanghak-dong / 황학동

On March 15, 2025 3 Comments - Korea 2025, Travel

Sounds of the Market

These sounds of Hwanghak-dong market give the pictures a little more life: look and listen

A wide view of Hwannghak-dong Market with colourful umbrellas

Hwanghak-dong is home to a permanent full time flea market. It is busy everyday with sidewalk and shop vendors selling absolutely everything. I won’t even try to list what is available. Anything you can think of…you can buy it here. It is crowded with people young and old from morning to sundown.

Crowds of people exploring Hwanghak-dong Flea Market

Perfume seller at Hwanghak-dong Market — perfume and aftershave

Miscellaneous pile of stuff spilling out of a store onto the roadway in Hwanghak-dong — clocks, blenders, clothes, rice cookers, shoes…..

Old Korean men looking through record crates on the street in Hwanghak-dong — fellow ajeossi crate diggers

Power tool seller and repairman at Hwanghak-dong — power tool specialist

Steam rising from a street stall where kwabaegi and steam buns are selling — loads of food: this is steamed buns and kwabaegi, a kind of korean doughnut twist. We almost always get toast here 토스트. It’s a white bread sandwich fried in butter, stuffed with egg and veggie scramble, ham and cheese, cane sugar and ketchup. I like ordering it because I get to say 치즈 (cheese) in Korean.

Gold jewelry on display at Hwanghak-dong Flea Market — gold jewellery

Shoe seller at Hwanghak-dong Flea Market — shoes..this looks like a bargaining standoff

brass animals and mounted rocks (scholar’s rocks?)

The Mystery of Old Photos

Personal photos that have become separated from their families are a mystery. There is always a story in the image but it is almost impossible to know what it is.

I found this loose snapshot in a basket in a store at the flea market. Because it is black and white and from the look of the cars in the background, it must be the 60’s. There is a building and statue in the background that look European. I love the kids faces (kids making funny faces in family photos is a phenomenon that knows no cultural boundaries). They look so unhappy in the moment. Maybe they have had to pose for too many photos that day or maybe it’s too hot outside to stand in the sun. The woman is most likely their mom. It is such a good photograph.

Old family photo with writing on the back in Korean

The best part is that there is writing on the back. I have trouble reading handwriting so a friend helped me to read and translate it: It says:

“This is the entrance to the Eiffel Tower where you can get off the bus from our place. The building behind is a military school. The statue behind us is far from where we are standing and the building is across a wide road.”

Korean writing on the back of a photo explaining where they are on the front

I looked up “Eiffel Tower” and “Military School” and found out that the building they are standing in front of is the Ecole Militaire in Paris. It faces the Eiffel Tower. Here is a modern picture of it including the statue she mentioned. I wonder if they were living in Paris and why? Or maybe they were just visiting. How many Koreans travelled to Europe in the 60s? I am sure it was unusual. How hard was it for a foreigner to use French buses back then?

I hope you had as much fun in Paris as I had finding your picture at the flea market. How did you get separated from your photos? Where are you now? Have I seen you on the subway sitting in the blue seats?

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Lazy day in Seoul

On March 14, 2025 0 Comments - Korea 2025, Travel

Coffee and Cats

A walk up the old city wall near Dongdaemun to feed cats was not a great success. It was a hot afternoon and they were probably asleep in the shade somewhere. Instead, we stopped at the little 3 story “Cafe Reading Cat” overlooking the west end of Seoul and sipped coffee in the sunshine. Cats are everywhere outdoors in Seoul. People who live here seem to take care of the homeless ones, bringing them food or setting up little shelters for them. If you want to see a post where we found lots of cats up here, check this one.