Trip to and arrival in Seoul, Korea

We are ready to leave for the airport in Seattle to fly first to San Francisco on Delta Airlines and then on to Seoul, Korea, on Singapore Airlines.  We thought that we did not have enough time in San Francisco to go out of security to fetch our luggage and then back through security.  So we opted to travel as you see it, just a carry-on bag and a small underseat bag.  Well, it turned out that the airport does not have common terminals so we went through security anyway. 

We cannot say enough about this airline.  We had meals served, snacks often and if a Coke or coffee was wanted it came immediately.  We had entertainment screens with more options that one could ever want.  The flight attendants were courteous to a fault.  It made the eleven hour flight as nice as could be wanted.

Our first view of Korea.  The lines were short and it went well.

One of the flight attendants posed with Sue at the baggage claim.  The whole crew is remarkably fit and beautiful.

This fellow was waiting for us at the airport to take us to the motel.  He had to wait an hour and a half for us to clear security and customs.  He was very patient.

 We went into the streets around the hotel the next morning after a good nights sleep.  Fortunately, it was time for all to go to bed.  As you will see, there is not much English on signs and directions.  The map works well.

 We saw lots of student-aged persons enter this restaurant.  For us, if we were interested, only a picture to hint at the menu.  This reminded Al of his time in the Navy when his ship was in Japan. 

If you look carefully, you will see "School Food" in the window of the restaurant.  Perhaps this is what Michelle Obama has in mind?

This is Insadong street with the hotel looming in the background.  Suddenly it began to rain and we ducked into a small convenience store.  A worker put out a display of umbrellas and they sold fast.  We have one furnished in our motel room but we had to walk back when the rain ceased for a while.

These eleventh graders stopped us for part of a school project.  They had to get the signatures of foreign tourists and a bit about them.  They asked us if we were Americans and said that my hat gave us away.

We found that the Korean Tourist Agency had volunteer guides available and so we met Mr. D.H. Kim.  So we went out into the evening for some adventures.

He took us to a "traditional" Korean dinner.  It was very good and was heavy on vegetables, mushrooms, noodles and some fish.

We walked into a Buddhist compound where a service was underway.  We stood at the door and took this photo without flash.

We walked to Hanok village where these traditional homes are located.  As we walked, the streets were empty.  Quite different that the Insadong area.