Yesterday I ventured out to Yeouido park for the cherry blossom festival. It was quite interesting. Seoul has nearly 13 million inhabitants, and at times is seemed like the majority of them joined me at Yeouido. The blossoms were already a couple of days past peak, but they were still beautiful of course. The setting was not as pretty as the tidal basin in DC, but it still reminded me of springtime back home.

Another thing that was different was that out of the thousands of people that were there, I saw maybe two foriegners. It was a strange feeling as I have grown accustomed to seeing western faces in the crowd in Itaewon. No one bothered me of course, although it seemed like I was being stared at sometimes (or maybe I’m just a little paranoid). Anyway, it was a good day to be out and walking about. Plenty warm, although a little overcast. Last night we had a big thunderstorm. Loudest thunder I’ve heard in quite sometime, it woke me from a deep sleep. I was disoriented at first, and thought it was an explosion. Didn’t know if the NORKs had decided on a pre-emptive strike or what, so I was relieved when I saw the next flash of lightning.

Alright, here’s some photos from the day:

As I said it was crowded (not unlike DC at cherry blossom time). I don’t do well in crowds, so I moved off this sidewalk after a very short time.

I liked the contrast of the gaenalee flowers with the cherry blossoms.

I had to escape the crowded sidewalk, and found this little park-like area. It was nice to see regular Koreans enjoying a Sunday afternoon.

I sat on a bench for awhile and saw this cute little girl running around. When she finally stopped for a minute I snuck taking this picture. Made me think of my little granddaughter Gracyn who is going to be born in about 3 weeks.

Moving on, I encountered this Magnolia tree (called monjoun here). Again, a few days past peak blooms, but still quite impressive.

I spent a few minutes listening to some Korean music. I was pretty far from the stage and in the midst of a large crowd, so I moved on pretty quick. I don’t like crowds generally, and it was just so strange to be the only person who looked and talked like me. Still, I was able to see over everyone’s head, so that was an advantage.

I believe this is the ROK National Assembly building. I thought it looked pretty cool from this perspective.

So, I moseyed on down to the riverside. Bought a couple of boiled eggs, a bag of chips, and a soft drink and sat by the river to enjoy my snack.

I bought the eggs because I at least recognized what they were. If I am not mistaken, this local delicacy is silkworms. Yum! (not).

So I walked along the river for quite awhile, then crossed the bridge and headed home. It was a good day all in all. Certainly better than sitting at a bar….