Hello Katrice, Good-bye Seoul

As I write this blog post, It's nearly mid-November and I am trying to play catch up! This weekend in Seoul with Katrice was SO special that I hate not to document it properly, but it is what it is and thankfully I can cut & paste from Facebook. It's a weekend I will not forget. We were just weeks away from moving, graduation had just passed and retirement was days away. My default was to say no, but I'm so glad my heart said yes!  

Last weekend I took Macy and her bestie, Bella, into Seoul to meet up with my Australian friend Katrice, from my Jakarta days, and her son Byron, who were visiting from Singapore. Love how small our world really is!

Macy rocked navigating us all around Seoul on public transportation like a little tour guide! We were only in the city together for 30 hours and we hit all these spots- Myeongdong, Gwangjang night food market, Itaewon, Bukchon Hanok Village, Insadong, Ikseon Hanok Village, Hyehwa Theater District,

Ihwa Mural Village and an urban night hike up to Naksan Park!

Even after exploring for 2 years here, half of our itinerary was still new to me. While I’m sad to leave this great city of Seoul very soon, I sure enjoyed showing it all off to Katrice & Byron while they were here with us this weekend!

Time spent with Katrice is so calming- and fun!

These pictures are NOT in order. Oh well. 

Macy and Byron went to school together in Jakarta, but were not necessarily friends. She was a little curious about how this visit would be....

It turned out to be fantastic! After a few minutes of awkwardness, they all got along great. And Macy came home with a big crush... hehehe.

Macy, Bella & I hiked the entire Seoul City Wall together last year. Seeing it now at night was such a treat!

The lights displayed on Seoul tower signify the air quality and change from green, yellow, red- we got lucky with green lights = healthy air quality!

We made it up all the stairs!

Wouldnt be a Korean hike without some stairs!

With each corner were truned, market or neighborhood we visited, Katrice was quickly falling in love with Seoul.

Ihwa Mural Village

Sunset on our night hike up to Naksan Mountain

We learned a ton about Korea’s most prestigious university, Seoul National University

If I had to wear a helmet, this would be the one-

Random bathroom art-

We found a great rooftop stop for some
refreshments and Katrice captured this shot of all the Hanok (house) black tiled rooftops down below in the Ikseon Hanok Village. (Katrice captured ALL these wonderful photos- plus 103 more!)

Seriously! These 3 had such a blast together-

I love all the rooftop craftsmenship-

Blue rooftops signify wealth-

I could have watched these 2 all day-

Bukchon Hanok Village is full of historic homes and picturesque perfect alleyways like this

Katrice captures it all so well! Even the sweet potato shop owner-

Byron was handy to have around as a sherpa for all our bags!

Are you ever too old to play Heads Up?

5 Guys in Korea sells beer. Katrice just assumed I'd get the American beer- oops!

We took the kids for a walk through on Sat night in the popular party district of Itaewon and they were begging us to leave & go to bed!

The Cheonggyecheon Stream flows through the heart of Seoul for over 6 miles.

The kids bolted across the street and we got stuck-

Looking at these flowers was so sweet to me to think of what is yet to come for all those little tiny buds-

Blue skies and beautiful flowers!

I could never get sick of the view from the Dragon Hill Lodge-

Big giant Tate bag by the trash-

I was thrilled to find a wine shop we'd been to last month and take Katrice back-

Love adventuring with these 2! Bus, train, subway- Macy gets us around beautifully!