Cold-Stair-Fish Day

So, last night we took a "Nap" from 5:00 pm to oh lets say some where around 6:30, Amber says 5:30 am we will call it 6 even. I was as as you could imagine staving when we woke up. It has been a long time since i missed a meal much less dinner.

We cleaned up had a quick snack and hopped the train for the Noryangjin Fisheries Wholes Sale Market. It has been open 24 hours a day for 76 years and running. It was unreal, everything from Krill to Sharks and everything in between. I saw a whole Monk Fish that was around 15 pounds for 30000 Won (about 27 bucks) which would buy you a pound or two at home. This picture is the first row of 7 and they are an equal distance in the other direction as well. I bet there are secrets from the sea waiting to be discovered in this place, it was really something awesome and underplayed by the tour books

We left the market due to well...smell it was pretty impressive and it was 37 degrees outside, a hot summer day and I bet that place has a smell that could truly bring people to their knees.

Anyway we got back on the train and accidently rode it to the end of the line; no kidding they turned the lights out and everything! during their end of the shift sweep they found amber and i, we had been talking about the adventures that were still to come and missed the transfer station. Through no fault of our Korean skills they backed the train up and let us out.

We found our way to the Seoul Tower in Namsan Park named for you guessed it Namsan Mountain (if you guessed that good for you) any way the tower is on top of the mountain it was a decent sized mountain, keeping in mind i am from The Great State of Oklahoma and have an aversion to hills. We climbed (walked) up the glorious Namsan mountain and it brought back memories of the time i thought i was going to have to be rescue helicoptered out of the Grand Canyon. What can i say i am a cardio challenged big guy, who likes adventure some things are at odds from time to time. I ate some "Rich Nuts" a nice Korean chocolate nut snack and pressed on to the summit or the tourist center if you want to be picky.

At the top we met this Japanese man who was pretty funny and like to yell at me "in a nice way of course. He took a picture of Amber and i with the traditional guards before we rode the elevator to the top of the tower and checked out how big this city really is.

Here we are 150 meters up and with a great view we hug out for a while and then headed of to hike down (my favorite part) where we went to see a old traditional village. It was about what you would think touristy and cheesy but a need to see for some. We headed back into the city and looked around and found some cool little markets and searched for a place to go inside and get warm.

We went into this place in a little alley that was packed with people who seemed to know some thing, and they did we found a cool little place with tea and heated floors which was really nice since we were pretty frozen after out hike down the mountain. We tried to order and I think they gave us everything on the menu and laughed and had fun taking to us even after it was clear that we had no clue what they were saying. it was a great day and now we are back at the room resting and determined not to go to sleep at 5:30 again.

(Back to Amber) I'm not sure if Luke made it clear how cold it is here. 32 degrees with a nice breeze at about 20 miles and hour. It is freezing. I have on a tank top, wool long sleeve tee shirt, polar fleece half zip, North Face fleece heavy jacket, scarf, hat, gloves, and smart wool heavy socks. I wish I had on tights, ear muffs and better gloves. It's really really cold. But it is a beautiful sunny day, so that is nice. :)

The heated floors are amazing. I love going into restaurants and sitting on heated floors! It is so incredibly nice. The floors in our hotel room are heated too! I wish we had installed them in our house. Also the seats on the metro are heated. Very nice. Although it is hard to get a seat on the metro.

I'm open for suggestions of your favorite place in Seoul!