Pottery Shopping

 One of the things about living in a different country is finding

all the popular items the different areas are known for.

Just like when we lived in Germany, I am always up for a bus trip

to do a little shopping.

This time it was to look at pottery, similar to when I took

a girls trip to Poland, I had no clue that I needed pottery.

The first stop was to a store that sold beautiful blue and white dishes and

 it was at this point I knew I was going to be in trouble 

and that I was going to need to pace myself!

Then we visited a store known for purple pottery and I found so many things I wanted.

I had no clue that I loved the color purple so much!

Other than the purple store this one was my favorite. It was more like an art 

gallery and a lot of his items are bought to be resold in different stores.

I found a lot of 

unique and beautiful pieces, but I just was not sure what I do with them.

Happy pots are very popular here and I want to grab a few, because I think

they will make great halloween decorations, but this store selling them, 

didn't make them, so it had a lot of mark up. I will have to take

a different trip to buy happy pots.

Just like in Europe the body is often used as art and displayed everywhere.

Pieces like this were seen in almost every store.

The trip was nicely done. The bus stopped at a rest area about halfway to our first stop 

and we could grab a snack or use the restroom. 

Some of the stops only had one store and other stops had a few, but all the shops were in the same town. 

Here are a few of the snacks I saw along the way. If you want a box of

random snacks from here just let me know.

The plan was if we had enough time we would stop at a pork cutlet restaurant

on the way home, but my friend doesn't eat meat, and knew it would have nothing for me either,

so at the last location we decided to find food. The last  stop reminded me more of the strip you see 

outside a popular beach. It was a one stop place for the tourists, so we found food and stopped

at the 7/11.

See that nice bowl of food, I did not order it!

My friend ordered food with the help of an app and a very nice man, but I think 

they thought we were both vegetarian and wanted food. 

As my friend was eating her bowl the owner can over a vigorously mixed her food. 

We were both in shock! We did manage to get him not to mix mine. 

We also tried to get mine to go so she could eat it later, but unfortunately something

was lost in translation and my bowl went into the trash!

I had heard rumors the buses used for trips like this are karaoke buses,

 and sure enough it was true!

The party lights came on and the karaoke started!

And just like Germany the wine was flowing! 

It did make the drive home go a lot faster.

Here are just two of the items that I got.

I can not wait to go back again a get a few more items. 

It was a great day trip spent hanging out with friends and 

shopping. I can not wait for the next adventure!

Trains, Subways, Tigers, and a Confession!

The kids had a random Friday out of school and Greg had to work, so I decided to

head to Seoul and check out the zoo. The Diva opted to sleep in

and spend the day hanging out with her boyfriend and friends.

Our journey to the zoo was an adventure all in itself.

I got a taxi from a different location and the driver didn't know

where the train station was and I was not a fan of following her GPS.

It took us an extra 10 minutes and double the rate, but we did arrive at the train station.

The only positive part was she dropped us off at the parking garage we could not find the last time we went to the train station.

I didn't buy tickets ahead of time because I didn't know who was going and I was waiting

to see what the weather was going to be like.

So we ended up in the standing car, and it only has a handful of seats, and it's first come

first serve, so we had to stand.  After about two stops we found a little area

and sweet boy got to sit on the floor.

Don't freak out folks! The trains are so clean and lots of people sit on the floor. 

We arrived in Seoul and made our way to the subway only to see our car was boarding!

Now here's my confession.....

1. I have never rode the subway or know anything about them.

2. I had never taken a train till Germany or used a taxi.

3. Buses are something we just did for the first time on our first trip to Seoul,

so still very new to me. 

Once you factor that in with the fact :

4. I have ZERO and I do mean ZERO sense of direction!

Folks I can get lost in a cardboard box, but if I have done it once 

and want to do it again, I have a rock star memory!

I figured our transpiration luck had changed when I saw our car at the platform,

but after riding for a while and being at what should have been our stop, but even

with the language barrier  I could tell it was not our stop. It was then I realized we were going 

in the wrong direction.

His face says it all!

He is not a fan when things don't go according to the plan.

We jumped off the subway and made our way outside the station and my plan

was to find a taxi! I was over it and wanted to get to the zoo.

We found a taxi and got in only to be told NO!

The taxi would not take us to the zoo. I was shocked! I really should not be,

because at 2 different events we have been told to leave the restaurant, but not because

it was closing or they needed our table, but just go! 

It was like ok, your time is over, so bye-bye!

Back to the subway we went. With the help of a nice man I realized line 4 runs on 

the left and right side of the station, so we found the correct line 4 and headed to the zoo.

What should have only taken 27 minutes was now going to take us 1 hour and  20 minutes.

One child was a little stressed and one child took a nap!

(yes, I had to use the picture again!)

We  finally arrived at Seoul Grand Park

and made our way to the Seoul Zoo.

I was not expecting Seoul Grand Park to be so large

and offer so many different things to do.

One of our first stops was for food! 

It had taken much longer then expected to get there and it was 

already lunch time.

I was not sure what I ordered but one looked like a bunch of different fried potatoes and 

the other was just fried food.

Don't let the face fool you, he really liked it.

It was rice wrapped in seaweed and fried. 

 

After the boys had lunch and I got coffee, it was off to explore the zoo.

The zoo was a great sized and offered a few different paths to

take. We seemed to jump around a lot.

The zoo was beautiful! 

It was at this point that I lost my camera!

This one is taking photography in school

and is loving it. 

He took over taking photos of the animals.

This one then took my phone for a few selfies and 

a picture of a horse.

The boys needed a little snack before we started 

our journey home.

We got chicken and what seemed to be a double fried

corn dog, but the breading is different.

Sweet Boy was not a fan of the breading, so

he just had the hotdog.

With that we headed back to catch the subway back to train station.

The zoo was beautiful and we will be going back to explore it again along with the Seoul Grand Park.

The zoo had plenty of places to eat and the prices were

normal. The zoo price was a lot cheaper than the zoos in the states. 

It even had a CU and 7/11 inside the zoo if you wanted to grab a snack.

We got back to the train station and got tickets home and once again the only 

seats were in the standing car, but we arrived about 20 minutes before the train was scheduled 

to depart and it is the start of the train route, so we walked in to an almost empty car and 

found some seats. 

Going forward I would get my tickets to Seoul ahead of time for on my way there, but for a day trip

I would not worry about buying my tickets home ahead of time. Just make sure to show up about 15 minutes early.

Not knowing how the subway system worked did cause a delay, but all in all I was proud of myself

for taking the boys and just figuring it out.

A long time ago when I was trying to figure out traveling solo with

multiple kids, as very wise lady (Mrs. Nada) told me 

it was all about the adventure.  

That is now kind of my motto when traveling with the kids, it's all about adventure!

We may get lost, something may get lost in translation, the weather may not go our way,

but it will work itself out in the end and it's all about the adventure.

I am pretty sure someone will be telling this story in 20 years about how

I got us lost on the subway in Seoul!

But I will have to remind them that we did, in fact, make it to the zoo

and have a great day.