Seoul has felt like that one adventure that I have been excited and also terrified to experience since we moved to South Korea. The necessary use of public transportation in a country where I don’t speak the language and can only read SOME of their alphabet feels just a LITTLE daunting (and by “a little,” I mean a LOT). So we eased ourselves into Seoul adventuring by taking a day trip, instead of trying to do an entire weekend. But now that we’ve had a SMALL taste of Seoul, I cannot wait until we make it back!
Seoul Grand Park Zoo + Seoul Lantern Festival
We’d heard that Seoul boasts a pretty cool zoo, so we decided to start there. We weren’t totally sure what to expect, but I can’t say we had very high expectations. We showed up a couple hours later than planned, so we only had about four hours at the zoo before they closed. I figured it would be plenty of time to see everything. But I was DEFINITELY wrong.
At first it seemed like we wouldn’t see many animals because of the temperature (it was SO COLD), but then a nice man showed us where we could go to find the indoor habitats for the large animals like the giraffes, zebras, elephants, rhinos, etc. Of course it wasn’t quite as cool to see them in small rooms as it would have been to see them outside roaming around – but the total cost for our entire family to get into the zoo was only ₩16,000 (about $13), so we knew it would be worth it to head back sometime in the spring. Regardless of where we saw the larger animals, we all enjoyed seeing them (and warming up inside too). In the end, we saw more animals than I thought we would. The tigers were amazing – they were wrestling and growling loudly – and the baboons were going crazy running around their enclosure.
After our day at the zoo, we headed further into Seoul to the Seoul Lantern Festival. We’d wanted to go to one of the many lantern festivals around South Korea, and this one seemed like the most accessible – even if it was in Seoul. Most people advised us not to try to drive in Seoul, but since we hadn’t figured out the public transportation system yet, we thought that, just for this time, driving would be the easier option. Normally we wouldn’t dare drive and park in Seoul, but we knew of a bookstore right across from the lantern festival that had a parking garage that takes cash, so we knew we’d be able to park without getting stuck.
It took us about an hour and a half to go about 3 kilometers in Seoul – which will surprise exactly no one who has any experience with Seoul. Still, just being in the city was incredible and we didn’t hate it (except for H who was VERY ready to get out of her car seat and screamed most of the time). We were, however, relieved when we finally found the parking garage and could get out of the car. The lantern festival was everything we could have imagined. It was packed with people, but the lanterns were incredible. The festival was held in Gwanghwamun Square which has a large statue in honor of Yi Sun-sin – Korea’s most famous naval hero. It isn’t the only memorial to him in the area – remember
our trip to Hyeonchungsa Shrine in Asan? – and the kids LOVED seeing the giant Turtle Ship lantern since we had just learned about them a few weeks before.
Once we’d had enough of the cold, we went to find some dinner and the kids got very excited to find a KFC. I was a little embarrassed to be the Americans eating at KFC while in Seoul, but I also didn’t want to have any fights with the kids over food, so we figured it would be a good choice. As it turns out, it was the BEST choice. Look, I love KFC as much as the next person, so when I tell you that KFC in Seoul was INCREDIBLE, you’re just going to have to trust me. Because Korea honestly has the best fried chicken I’ve ever had, so you bet they took their secrets and made KFC even better.
The Seoul Lantern Festival was the perfect way for us to end 2022 and we are so grateful that we got to experience it and get our first taste of Seoul. I’m still blown away by the experiences that we are having with our kids – there have been many many trials through it all so far, but the blessings and amazing things have outweighed the struggles by a lot.
’til next time…
Ash
