Numerous Weihnachtsmärkte in Berlin

There are about  70 Christmas markets in Berlin, some are on specific days, others are too far to travel to but the rest I think we have visited (or it feels like I have). There were a couple that charged to go in, so we didnt. 

They weren’t as good as Nuremberg last year, as most of them I just had a few crafts huts and the rest was food, which they didn’t even let you taste first.

We did find one good market at Schloss Charlottenburg, the palace is from 17th Century, we didn’t actually go in, as that would cost money, but we did walk round the grounds and the garden, in the rain. However, the Christmas market was in the front courtyard. It has lots of stalls and they even gave away a few tasters, the schnapps was rather strong, the cake enjoyable and the cheese - well Linda had several bits! Linda liked the craft stalls there and even bought a few items.

We had landed on Thursday having caught the 7am flight and it was pretty smooth but as the plane was full we had to wait a while for the luggage.  This time we were staying in East Berlin at the Hampton Inn Alexanderplatz and so we dropped our bags off and went for a wander. 

There were a few Christmas markets near the hotel so I quickly walked round them and ticked them off the list. We then had a wander into Berlin Mitte past the Humbolt University and onto Unter den Linten.  Bebelplatz is where the books were burned in 1933, and there is a display, the empty library. It is empty book shelves reminding us of the books lost, although it would be more difficult to do today with Kindles and the Cloud. We saw a Digital Eastery, which was a Microsoft Cafe, so we stopped for a coffee. It was then down to the Brandenburg Tor for a few pictures.  There is a Starbucks opposite but no time for coffee - Christmas markets to visit.

From there we dropped down to Potsdam Platz where there was another Christmas market, so we had a look around that one and then popped along to Checkpoint Charlie, via a market. There is not much of the Berlin Wall left, not surprising as you can buy it on postcards, letter racks, decorations and even on its own - no wonder they have had to knock it down.

We then found another Christmas market - but shock, horror, it cost one Euro to get in, they should be paying me to come in. We walked past that one! However, as Linda was disappointed I did find another one on the way back to the hotel. In the evening we had dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant, I had a lovely mango chicken stir fry with rice, Linda had burger and chips! I did offer to take Linda to some more markets, but she was tired. We managed to walk over 13 miles on Thursday!

On Friday we decided to buy a day travel card for the transport system, if Linda thought that meant less walking she was going to be disappointed. The weather was wet and dreary but we caught the train to Spandau and  ‘to cut a long story short’ we came saw the market and left. ‘True’, Spandau was where Rudolph Hess was kept in prison until he died, although the prison was then destroyed. The streets were not painted with ‘gold’ but water and slightly slippery. There was some Christmas music, but not that which you would here at a ballet!

We caught the train to Chatlottenburg and visited the aforementioned Christmas market. We then had a race again the bus to the train station, which we won, although Linda would have preferred just waiting for the bus. We caught the train to the Zoologischer Gardens and what’s there - well a sports shop, but also another two Christmas markets. There was one by the Kaiser Wilhelm church and we looked round it and as we were hungry had a bratwurst.

It was then a walk around the shopping district and as we were slightly wet we did stop for a coffee. They we walked back towards the Tiergarten through another Christmas market before catching the bus to the Reichstag. It was still raining, disappointing as the forecast had been for just clouds, but we walked along the road till we reached Friedrichstraße and yet another Christmas market, Linda is so lucky!

Fortunately it was by the train station so we could catch a train back to Alexanderplatz and our hotel. Fortunately for Linda there is a Christmas market by the train station, so in case she got withdrawal symptoms we walked round that one too.

The good news is the day travel card was great and it saved us one mile, as we only walked 12 today! 

On Saturday we had a leisurely morning and read the paper over breakfast. It is a very good feast here, cooked breakfast, yuppie breakfast (Museli Bircher), waffles, pancakes, cake and even fruit. There is plenty of coffee, although Linda has to bring her own tea bags as she is not partial to Earl Grey or Darjeeling.

We left the hotel around midday and decided to catch the tram which stops outside the hotel. The trams took us to the Hauptbanhoff, not that we particularly wanted to go there, but its where the tram stopped. We had a look around, Linda took some photos of the Christmas tree and there was even a small Christmas market for her to look at. Having left there we walked down to the Reichstag and had a look round the outside. 

Although we had a day ticket, I had set a target of a minimum of 10 miles as well, so we decided (or I did) to walk through the Tiergarten to West Berlin. It was once a royal hunting ground for wild animals, but we didn’t see any. It has 15 miles of footpaths, but we only managed a couple. We walked past the Siegessaule (Victory Column)  towards the Zoo. Once we had walked through the forest paths we end up at an antique market near the Charlotten Gates. Linda had a look around before we walked south towards the Kurfürstendamm boulevard and some shops, we did stop for a coffee on the way. We popped in a couple of shops but didn’t buy anything.

We then caught the U Bahn to Neukolln where there was another Christmas market. This was one run by  non-profit organisations. We had a walk round but it was very busy and you couldn’t really see much. There was nothing we really wanted to buy. We then walked back via Woolworths to the U Bahn station.

The train took us back to Alexanderplatz and we had a look round the shops. There is a C&A here (remember them!) and Primark. It was very busy so we didn’t stay long and went for another walk (our miles were down), we walked around to the Berliner Dom, it look very picturesque in the dark. 

The market was lit up and very busy so we avoided that on our walk back to the hotel, we got back around 8pm, and fortunately for Linda we had covered 11 miles, so we don’t need to go out again!

Not bad 36 miles in 3 days.....

On Sunday we had breakfast, a little walk and then it was time to get the tram and bus to the airport.

You can see some photos here (hopefully the link works :) )

Faith like a mustard seed

Jesus speaks about you only need faith as small as a mustard seed to move mountains (Matthew 17:20) and this trip to Chicagoland, Indiana and Ohio has been learning about people who had faith in their ability to succeed.

On Monday I flew from Terminal 5 to Chicago with British Airways, a comfortable and pleasant flight. I looked out of the window and saw the clouds, the sea, the snow covered mountains and plains of Canada before we descended into Chicago. I thought this is probably the view God has every day as he looks down on his creation. Even Chicago looked strange, there were tall buildings downtown but then everything else looked flat.  

 

Having queued through immigration and then picked up my hire car I found the hotel for the overnight stay. It was a Hampton Inn by Hilton, whose founder was a practicing Catholic Christian and his autobiography included a chapter on prayer.

On Tuesday I had a five hour drive to Dayton, Oho. However, as I couldn’t sleep I was awake at 4am (10am UK time) so was able to Facetime Linda before having breakfast and packing the car. It was busy leaving Chicago and there were several toll roads, it cost about $5 to depart the city. Then it was the open road, cruise control, country music and relax. I covered about 184 miles before stopping for a Starbucks, just past Indianapolis (just missed President Trump as he was going there at the weekend). Just outside Dayton I stopped at a Walmart to buy some groceries and then found the Airbnb. It was a character cottage in the owners garden, it was great. There was plenty of room, WI-FI, a balcony to sit on and a coffee machine.

It was a nice day so I decided to go for a run, I checked on the map and there was a nice route, However, it was further then it looked on the map and my 3 mile run turned into 5 miles, with the last one up hill.

Orville and Wilbur Wright were born in Indiana, but later moved to Ohio. Their father was a Bishop in the United Brethren of Christ. They were determined to build an aeroplane. People though they were mad, but they tried and tried again. The first flight lasted 9.5 second and covered 272 feet (1903) by flight 46 they were covering just over 20 miles in 33 minutes and 17 seconds. This is a very small distance compared to flights today. They had faith in their ability and used Huffman Prairie Flying Field to practice on. The plane had to be catapulted into the air. On Wednesday I visited the ‘first airport’ and their shed and catapult are still there.

Interesting that Wilbur said in 1901 to his brother that man would not fly for 50 years.

The National Museum of the United States Airforce is at Drayton and great news it was free entry, bad news the coffee was terrible.  It is the oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world and has more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display. There was an interesting section on the Korean war and the Memphis Belle was there. You could enter the various Air force One planes, that have used by various presidents since the fifties. It was an stimulating visit and I wandered around. Interesting that Wilbur said in 1901 to his brother that man would not fly for 50 years as I saw plenty of evidence, he was wrong, but then if you have faith you can move mountains. People were sceptical about his work and there was more interest from France than America, although Orville said, ‘no flying machine will ever fly from New York to Paris’, sometimes even their faith was challenged.  Although the machine they invented for pleasure were soon turned into a machines to cause harm, death and distress. Some of the planes used in the 1^stWorld war had massive wing spans, you wonder how they ever took off and stayed up. There was also the plane there 'Bockscar' which dropped the first atomic bomb.

Dayton has a river that runs through and several trails, so it seemed a good idea to have a run along them, although it must be breeding season as I had to avoid several huge ducks and geese who were giving me stern looks. The area around here is quite rural, once you are out of the town it is very big farms and wooden houses quite like America is portrayed in many TV programs or Little House on the Prairie.

As the Wright Brothers said ‘they were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests to investigate whatever aroused curiosity.

On Thursday I was driving to Fort Wayne, a couple of hundred miles north, but back towards Chicago. I stopped at Wapakoneta on the way, as the Armstrong Air and Space Museum is here. He was another man who had faith in what he wanted to do, he wanted to walk on the moon. We all know the quote ‘one small step for man, one great leap for mankind.’ The museum was really interesting, much better than the air force one. It was small, but I was thinking how much aviation had developed from the field at Huffmans Prairie to walking on the moon. Both were dangerous occupations; more people have died in NASA training than in Space. Thirty years ago, when Armstrong was landing the ‘Eagle device’ on the moon, he was left with 10 seconds of fuel, of course being the first man there, no-one had started a fuel station business (not even a Starbucks!). They landed on the moon and then were meant to have a five hour nap. It took three days to get to the moon. However, having just landed on the moon the last thing you would want to do is kip, I would want to get out and have a look around and they were the same. The devices that they used to do some experiments look like they were made on Blue Peter out of cereal boxes and sticky back plastic.

They had faith and walked on the moon, the Wright Brothers thought Paris was a challenge, they hadn’t even dreamed of the moon. However, their initial seed of faith did move mountains long beyond their lifetime.

It was an interesting drive from Wapakoneta to Fort Wayne, single track roads through farm land, very few cars on the road, just set cruise control, Google Maps and relax – well apart from when going through Amish country as you need to be alert for their open top buggy’s.  I was staying at an Airbnb in Fort Wayne, which was several rooms above a garage, another great find. I was here for a concert and thought I would have a run to see how far it was away and if I took my rucksack I could buy some food at the same time. This was a good idea until it rained and did it rain. I got back drenched and had to dry out my shoes and the rucksack. The food was fortunately ok. 

Fort Wayne is named after General ‘Mad’ Anthony Wayne who ordered it to be built in 1794, it has changed a bit since then. It does get confusing with all the different time zones, Ohio and most of Indiana are in Eastern but Chicago is in central. I have to keep checking which one I am in.

On Friday I went to Girbill which is a Swiss Amish community. It was an interesting place, the general stores looked like something from the 1800, the people travelled around in open top buggies, the ladies wearing their bonnets. The houses looked the same as anywhere else, apart from there are no wires going to them, they don’t have electricity as they seek to live a simple farming life. Their Christian way of living is more important than communicating it in word, their faith is their lifestyle. 

I did some shopping in the afternoon, which consisted of looking around shops and finding tops Linda might like, I then would text her a picture, she would want to know what material they were made of, so I then used Facetime from the store to see if she liked them and answer all her questions. The advantages of  Modern technology!

In the evening I walked to the Coliseum for the Country Concert staring Alan Jackson. There were a couple of warm up acts, but he sang for around seventy five minutes. He is from Georgia but moved to Nashville to ‘Chase the Neon Rainbow’ but ‘here in the real world’it took over four years to get a hit and onto the proper music scene. He had faith that he would succeed although ‘the older I get’  the more successful he has become. It was a great atmosphere, singing along to the songs and then just the walk home. The Americans aren’t great on having pavements and where they do, they forget to put any lights in.

On Saturday it was an early start for the four hour drive back to Chicago.  Martin Luther King Jr lived here for a time and President Obama still does, although he hasn’t invited me for tea. It was an easy drive until I reached the outskirts of Chicago when a blizzard started and continued all day. It was cold and snowy everywhere, it made driving challenging, although due to snow ploughs the main roads are all right. It started about 10am snowing and was still going strong 12 hours later. Willow Creek Community Church does a Saturday evening service, and as it was only 2 miles from the hotel I decided to go. I was intending to have a little run there, but not possible in the snow.

It was an interesting experience. Church is probably the wrong way to describe it, it is a venue like the O2 (although slightly smaller). I had to remember where I parked the car, the auditorium was large, escalators to the higher levels, a book shop and coffee shop (no free coffee here!).

 

I found the prayer room (which was about as big as our church hall) and it was a peaceful place, comfortable chairs, pictures on the wall to focus on and you could leave notes on the prayer wall. I sat upstairs and the service was good, some great worship (learnt some new songs) and then an inspiring message by a guest speaker a professional Christian comedian.

No-one spoke to me or greeted me. I just sat on my own, and the place appeared pretty empty. This may be because it was a Saturday night and there is a blizzard and snow everywhere - didn’t expect that at the end of April! The service lasted just over an hour, which was surprising for a mega church.

The service finished and I left to find the car and clear it of snow.  It felt like I had just been to see a show, there was no fellowship or interaction with people.

Some of that might have been down to the weather, but no notice sheet (you have to check the app!) and no coffee afterward. I am glad I went, but actually I could have watched on the app and saved myself the icy trek.

However, a great experience. Again it started as a small mustard seed and has grown into a tall tree with branches spreading all over the world. It was a challenging drive back to the hotel. I then walked to the local subway in the blizzard to get some food. I didn’t see anyone else walking– can’t imagine why. 

On Sunday I went to a different church within walking distance. The sun is now out, and the snow is starting to melt.  Waterfront Community Church in on an industrial estate and there is no ‘waterfront’ so an interesting name. It is like having a church in Progress Road and calling it ‘Seafront views’. However, it was friendly church, as you arrived there was coffee, donuts, savouries, sandwiches and cakes. I did have a coffee but felt uncomfortable with taking a plate full of food into the service, before it starts (others didn’t). It was laid back causal type of church, they had a children’s work called Bay Cove. 

The message was good and shows how great our God is as it fitted in with the whole theme of my trip – faith. It started with the Apple commercial from 1984 – the days before Iphones, Ipads etc – when Apple was just a small mustard seed, that would grow into a tree that changed the world. Jobs said ‘ a new normal needs to begin’ and by planting mustard seeds we change the old normal to the new.  The reading from Romans 1 tied in with some studying I have been doing on that chapter and Ephesians 4 in preparation for preaching.   The preacher used the illustration of taking the sledgehammer to the old normal for the new to break through. While the message of the gospel doesn’t change the way, we deliver it has to change with the times, and become the new normal. 

It was then back to the hotel, to pack the bags and so some reading before going to the airport in the afternoon for the evening flight home and should arrive in UK mid morning.

There are some photo's here

상어 가족 doo doo doo.....

한국에오신것을환영합니다.- or Welcome to South Korea as the sign said in English. It was quite fortunate we had arrived as we did start in the wrong boarding queue at the airport and could have ended up in Berlin - not quite the same.

Seoul is the home of 상어가족  doo doo doo…. Anyway

The currency is the Won and there are 1500 Won to a £1. 

Monday

Our flight was at 12.55 on Monday, its a bit confusing with all the days as South Korea is nine hours ahead, so we arrived the next day, without going to bed. Seats 1A and 1B were ours, right at the front of the plane. They were very comfortable although it was a strange flight. It was classed as a night flight as we were flying into the night, although our body clocks said it was only the afternoon. The cabin lights were dimmed and it was very quiet. I had to keep getting up and walking around a circuit so I could get the minimum steps in on the watch, before I changed the time. 

We watched a few movies, had a sleep and then arrived in Incheon airport at 0830 on Tuesday. Immigration was reasonably quick and the luggage arrived quickly. We decided to get the Limousine bus to our Hotel Grand Ambassador. It’s not a limousine but a deluxe bus and there were only three people on it.  The bus took about two hours to get to the hotel as the traffic was heavy as its the capital. We could have caught the train, which is quicker but decided we were too tired to carry all the luggage, try to work out the subway and then walk to the hotel.

As part of our deal we have a room on the Executive Floor. This means we had our own lounge and a separate checkin. There is tea and coffee (proper Nespresso) on tap and some cakes. Our room was ready, so after some refreshments we settled down, Linda had some shut eye while I unpacked the cases. I then had a rest for a couple of hours. It’s brilliant you can control items like curtains, TV and heating with an app, so I played for a while, only downside it doesn’t control the Nespresso machine. 

The room has a sofa and a nice big desk for me to work on and a great view from the 16th floor. There is also a swimming pool and fitness room at the hotel.

It was now just after five so we thought were would go for a walk, but it was ‘happy hour’ in the lounge so more food and drink. It seemed pointless going out to eat, when it was free in the hotel, so we helped ourselves. Linda even started on the Baileys…. 

We definitely needed a walk now, so we had a chat with the concierge who gave us some directions to the night markets, open to 5am! It is challenging here as all the signs are in Korean, with some road signs in English. Unfortunately, Google Maps is very limited, so I have to use an actual paper map!

The temperature is the same as England, but has been very foggy today. We had a walk around the area, very interesting. Everyone is friendly and helpful. I even was asked to take a group photo for some locals, always willing to help out. There are a lot of fashion design places in the area we went, people coming with suitcases to buy clothes, which I presume they sell at different locations.

By now we were so tired so we walked back to the hotel and had an early night.

Wednesday

On Wednesday we woke up at 5am and couldn’t get back to sleep. We had a drink and then read for a while, until the lounge opened at 6.30am for breakfast. There was chef there to do any eggs we wanted. We had a leisurely breakfast and then got ready to go out. It was a leisurely day today, nothing strenuous, just get our bearings (or so I told Linda!).

We got the shuttle bus to Myeongdong area and had a wander around, there was meant to be a Cathedral there but we couldn’t find it. ‘Dong’

 just means administrative district. We did find the Tourist information Bureau and picked up a few leaflets. We then had a wander around the area, there are lots of shops and side alleys with shops. They sell everything you can think of. 

There was a Lottie store, which I think is a M&S equivalent but we didn’t go in, as there was a queue. Our next stop was the city gate and we did a few photos here. The Deoksugung palace is opposite the City Hall so we popped in there for a walk round, it was only 67p entry fee. It has been there since about 1593 and the Jose Dynastry. There was not a lot to see, apart from some old buildings. However it was very peaceful. After all that walking - where better to go than Starbucks. We need a coffee and a rest, you can have any type of tea here, plum, lemon etc but not English so Linda is having to drink coffee.

There is an underground shopping centre that stretches around 4km from City Hall to the Dongdamun area, following the Euliji-ro. Linda thought it was only a few shops, but it was several miles and she got to look at them all, she did say why didn’t we take the train, but as I pointed out she would have missed the shops.

There a numerous back alleys with little shops in that you can wander along, I made the mistake of finding the craft area, so Linda was in and out of the shops, looking a ribbon, at lace, leather and bought a few things.  We found the Kwang-Jang market, which is just food and lots of it, people sit down and its cooked in front of you. 

 

We wandered along more alleyways and found a toy area, full of Baby Shark items, umbrella’s, sea weed, pencil cases - really interesting!  After the excitement of looking at all the Baby Shark items, Linda needed a sit down, so we found a coffee shop, not a Starbucks and had a drink. Coffee is quite expensive here as everyone drinks tea. It was then a short walk back to the hotel. We had covered 11 miles in total, an easy day then.

Linda needed a rest so I went for a 5k run, it was not easy as Seoul is very hilly and the smog makes breathing difficult. This is probably why we haven’t seen anyone else running at all in Seoul, but I am sure there are locations they run around.

In the evening we sat in the lounge and had some food, we were going to go out again, but decided to stay in and read.

Thursday

Thursday, I was awake at 4am again, but Linda stayed asleep. I did some work on church policies around health and safety, risk assessments and safeguarding, but even that didn’t send me back to sleep. Around half six I went into the lounge area as there was coffee and breakfast. I did some reading and then Linda appeared around 8.30am. We had breakfast and then got ready to go out. We took the hotel shuttle to Insadong which is where all the old antique shops are. We had a walk around and popped in on the Unhyeongung Royal Residencies - which are a lot of old buildings, another relic of the Joseon empire. Linda took a few photos while I waited.

After this we walked a bit further north and came to the Changdeogung palace, this one you

had to pay to go in. There is a secret garden, which you can also visit on payment of the required fee, but then if everyone goes in, it is hardly secret! It was built in the 14th century and is an Unesco world heritage site - how exciting. It looked like all the other palaces, full of wooden buildings, most closed up with signs saying do not enter. However, Linda found plenty to photograph.

The weather is better today, the mist has lifted and its quite warm. After the exciting walk around the Palace and the grounds we went to the Buckhon Hanok Village, this is a traditional area, where they live in wooden houses (called Hanok)that dates back to the Joseon era. There are lots of shops here and we did stop for a coffee. 

After this we did some more walking and went to see the Gyeongbokung Palace, this was established in 1395 as the main palace. We went into the grounds, but by this time we were ‘all palaced’ out and so didn’t go inside, just took some pictures from the outside. They all look the same to me anyway. 

We then walked back down the Main Street, past a few statues and the American Embassy. There were a lot of police officers guarding the embassy, but I did notice a potential security flaw. The police park their buses by the wall and therefore someone could jump on top of their bus, over the wall. As I can’t speak Korean I couldn’t tell them.

As we arrived at Deoksugung palace, it was time for the changing of the guard. It had been cancelled last time due to the mist and red dust from China. It was more theatrical than a proper changing of the guard. However, it was entertaining to watch. We then decided (or I decided) we could walk down to the main railway station to see where we needed to get the airport train, it was a bit further than anticipated. We had a quick look round and identified the main areas, lots of steps to run up, or if you are Linda escalators to use.

We stopped for another coffee as Linda was thirsty. They do not do English tea here except at the hotel. We had bought our travel cards to get a train back to the Myeongdong and had a look around the shops, including North Face. We were going to get the shuttle bus back to the hotel, but it didn’t turn up or we were in the wrong place, so we decided to walk back. We finally arrived back just after 5, we had done 11 miles today and were tired.

We were hungry and the nice assistants found us some biscuits to have with our coffee. Just after six we decided to have dinner and then we rested in our room for the evening.

Friday

Little Rocket man - here we come. Friday was tour day, off to see the border and Rocket man territory. It was an early 6am start (although I was awake checking the football score). We had breakfast and then the coach arrived at 7.15am. It had several pick-ups to do around the town before we set off for the Demilitarised Zone area. It was about an hours drive from Seoul. 

Our first stop was Freedom bridge, where evidently all the soldiers that were exchanged after the 1953 conflict went across. I think some were still waiting to cross by the queue for the loos (according to Linda). We had 30 minutes here before we got back on the coach. The next stop was Dorasan Station, where there is one train a day to Seoul. The hope is the railroad will run through North Korea into Mongolia, Russia and then Europe. South Korea is quite cut off from the rest of the world, because of the border with the north, you have to either fly or go by sea to China or Japan.

The station was very clean (and no loo queues - so Linda was happy). After this we went to

the Dora observatory, from here you can look over and see North Korea - I did look for Little Rocket Man but couldn’t see him. It doesn’t look any different from South Korea. We stayed here for a while, before leaving for our last stop, the third tunnel. This was a tunnel which started in the north, part of several tunnels the North Koreans were going to use to invade the South.

This one has been preserved for tourists. You are not allowed to take photos. You walk 400 metres down a slope going underground (great going down, but challenging coming up) and then walk along the tunnel for a while, but the roof is low so you have to wear a yellow helmet. I did bang my head a couple of times and having to bend my neck for a 10 minute walk was hard. You get to the end and the tunnel is blocked so you turn around and walk back. 

It was interesting - but I could have walked a few hundred yards with my neck and back bent and it would have been the same, I didn’t need to go all the way to the end.

After, this it was back on the coach and the trip back to Seoul. We arrived back around 1.40pm and decided it was time to have a coffee, so we went to ‘You are here’ cafe, so Linda knew this time where she was! After this we had a wander around the shops before catching the bus back to near the hotel. We had some help from an old lady about where to put our card and how to stop the bus and open the doors, but now we know so we came back to the hotel and rested in the executive lounge.

Saturday

Saturday was Gangnam style, although Linda looked at me blankly when I mentioned it. I was up early again, although improvement as it was only 5am this time. Linda had a longer sleep and then after breakfast we were out and using the underground trains towards Gangnam. It took about 25 minutes to get there and Linda was still none the wiser, I had to show her the Youtube video and explain who PSY were. We had a look around the square, before going to the Samsung D’light building. On entry you had wristband and then went through an experience trying different things out, it was fun, evidentially I am an ‘Utopia architect’, Linda was an ‘unique explorer’ - although she’s only an explorer where I lead, otherwise she would get lost. I also tried out visual reality, it was quite scary as you go on a rollercoaster and the chair moves as well - I didn’t like it!

After having a look around the store we stopped for coffee, before starting a little walk, Linda was soon complaining it was very hilly, but only on the way up. We have a 10 mile target today, after yesterdays easy day so need to put some effort in. We walked to the Seoul Seolleung Royal Tomb and Jeongneung Royal Tomb which is another UNESCO World Heritage site.  This was the burial site of the King Seongjong and his Mrs.  They were of the Joseon dynasty and the tombs have been there since the 15th Century. The Kings tomb is surrounded by sculptures of sheep and tigers and they are guardians of the deceased king. There is also a statue of a military officer bearing a sword. In front of the tomb is an outstanding sight called 'Mangjuseok,' which is a pair of stones designed to guide the spirit of the king to his tomb. The Queen doesn’t have anything fancy, just some stone sculptures to keep her company. It cost about 75p to get in.

 

After this we did some more walking, but I was kind and allowed Linda a 15 minute break to have a cup of tea - we even sat in the shop rather than a take away. Although it was difficult ordering as they didn’t speak English and I can’t speak Korean. Our next stop was the Bongeunsa Temple, which has been there for 1200 years, and it has the largest Buddha statue in Korea there. It was very interesting……

We then wandered through the Korean equivalent of Lakeside, but it was very crowded and busy, so we didn’t stay long. Linda saw some Japanese cakes she liked, so she tried them out. We then got the underground back to the hotel. The metro has wi-fi on it, the Koreans are fixated with their phones, walking along eyes glued to them, not looking where they are going. Most of them have Samsung, but I will be sticking to | 공식사이트‎

After our visit to the border yesterday - it looks like ‘little Rocket man’ is going to be testing some rockets, according to the news - we only were there a few hours!

In the evening we had a wander around the area north of the hotel, the stalls were all different this time. We had a gentle walk, I had been to the gym and run 5k so a total of 15 miles today.

Sunday

The hotel is busier at the weekends, so you have two sittings for breakfast on Sunday. We decided to take the earlier one so we could go out. We had a nice breakfast at 7.30am and then relaxed till just after 9. I had found the Youngnak Presbyterian church which had an English service at 10. We walked to the bus stop and then got the bus to the centre. We found the church complex which was rather on the large size and then had to ask directions to the right church, otherwise we would have been at the Korean one. 

There was a choir and the songs weren’t very modern. The Pastor Isaac Chang spoke on

Acts and the apostle Paul. His message was that we should focus on what is important the gospel message rather than things like dress, worship songs etc. We need to focus on the indisputable facts, like the resurrection as opposed to the disputable facts. The same message that I have been sharing at Eastwood for the last few months - let’s talk about Jesus rather than getting bogged down in the rules of the pharisees.

The service lasted an hour and then we went for a coffee. This time we went to a different coffee shop ‘A twosome place’ but the coffee wasn’t very good. We then had a walk around Myeongdong area before catching a metro to the War Memorial of Korea. There were a lot of tanks, some aircraft and other military vehicles to see. Inside the exhibition was all about the Korean War (1950-53). It was interesting, although slightly repetitive as the guide had told us about most of it on our trip the other day.

Next was a little walk to the electronics mall, some of the shops weren’t open but we had a

look round anyway. It appears the curved screens are the new thing here. We then caught the metro back to the centre of town and after stopping for a coffee and cake went to the Namsangol Hanok Village, which was like a traditional village you could walk around. However, I am glad it was free to go in, I wouldn’t have paid!

As we needed to get our 10 miles under our belt we went for a little walk, we visited our last tourist site, the Jongmyo Shrine, which was a place of worship for the Joseon Kings. Ancestral rituals in accordance with Confucian religion are still performed here today. However, unless it is Saturday you cannot go it without a guided tour, it wasn’t Saturday and unfortunately we had just missed the last tour, although it might have been fortunate, as peaking through the gate, it didn’t look much different from several other palaces and Hanok villages we had seen!.

One our way back we walked through Kwang Jang Market and had a look at the stalls, the food area was very busy and some of it looked appetising to me, especially the fish, but Linda was not so keen. We wandered back to the hotel and made sure we hit the 10 mile marker before we got back.

Monday

Monday is a strange day in Seoul as all the shops are open but any palaces or public

buildings are closed. However, as we have visited all the relevant places this doesn’t affect us!  We decided to go to visit the shops and caught the shuttle bus to downtown. We had a wander around a couple of shops looking at prices and it was hard thirsty work so we had to stop for a coffee. After this we went back to have a look at Lottie which is the main departmental store, all nine floors of shops. We didn’t do all the floors, just a couple.  We then caught the metro to Kwang Jang Market as Linda wanted to look at the ribbon, lace and material again. She was ages in the shops and bought a few things. As it was our last day here, we decided to eat out Korean style, just choose a table in the middle of the market and try the local delicacies.  We had Gimbap (which was sort of rice and vegetables wrapped in seaweed and Japchae (which were noodles). I can see how they are very thin in South Korea, its very difficult eating with chopsticks, most of it falls off and takes ages to eat. Fortunately, after a while they gave us a fork, perhaps we were taking up valuable table space.

We then had a walk round the other markets, stopped for a further drink, before going back to Myeong-Dong to get a few bits we had seen earlier in the morning. We then caught the shuttle bus back to the hotel.  In the evening we went for a short walk, as we needed to get up to 10 miles for the day - so in six days we have walked around 66 miles.

Tuesday

It was an early start to catch the bus back to the airport, then check in and find the lounge and the flight home. Our flight leaves at 11am and arrives around 2pm on the same day. South Korea is a great place, very clean, everyone is polite and friendly.

There are some photos here.