Traveling Applejax

After our rainy evening in, we got up to explore more of the city. Our first stop was Paik’s Bakery on the corner for some breakfast. I discovered what may be my all-time favorite breakfast pastry: Korean sweet red bean buns or danpatbbang 단팥빵. These beat croissants, empanadas, arepas, pastels de nata, crepes—I’m obsessed. I’ve had one almost everyday since.

After breakfast, we headed to Gyeongbokgung, one of the royal palaces of yesteryear. Our luck continued from Buddha’s birthday because there was free admission for the day. We saw a changing of the guard ceremony reenactment, in which the best parts were the huge drum (says Jackie) and the flowy flags (says Mike). Afterwards, we explored the extensive palace grounds, watching other tourists in their rented hanbok (traditional Korean dress) engage in elaborate photo shoots.

Next stop: the Korean Folk Museum—free, with our free admission to the palace. It had the kinds of exhibits that you might expect, featuring clothing, art, housewares, etc.; however, our favorite exhibit was all about cats in Korean culture.

Bukchon hanok village is a neighborhood in Seoul featuring traditional Korean homes (hanok), so we went there next. After a delicious lunch, we walked the streets, so overrun with tourists that local residents have hundreds of signs reminding us that people live there.

Next, we explored a busy mall, known for its dramatic bookstore. We ate some goodies and headed back to our Airbnb for a rest.

That evening, we finally got word that our bikes had made it to Seoul and would be delivered to us around 11:00 PM. Since we didn’t want to rush to assemble them and leave in the morning, we extended our stay in Seoul for one more day.

That last day was Mike’s birthday, so we celebrated with a delicious Korean BBQ meal. Before that, we reassembled our bikes, got some supplies for our ride, and explored another market (Namdaemun).

The next day, we headed off on our Korean bike adventure…