Seoul Day 3 - Lunch at Flora by Chef Cho Woo Hyun

Between touring Changdeokgung Palace and Insadong, I came to Flora by Chef Cho Woo Hyun for lunch. Conveniently situated at the hilly neighbourhood of Samcheongdong, it was a great place to have a quiet and relaxed lunch.

Chelsea Market & Café at the Podium

While at the Podium, one restaurant immediately piqued our interest. This is the Chelsea Market & Café located on the ground floor. With both an al fresco and indoor dining space, the restaurant caters to various types of diners.

interiors

Seoul Day 3 - Experiencing the Seoul Lantern Festival 2012 at Cheonggyecheon

Earlier that day, I heard from my walking tour guide about the Seoul Lantern Festival. She said that it would be a nice experience for me to drop by the Cheonggyecheon area for this event.

I welcomed this suggestion and went there after having a hearty dinner. Since this was near Insadong, I simply walked over to the place. While on my way, I imagined the festival installations to be purely made of traditional themed lanterns. However, once I got there, I was pleasantly surprised. There were so many larger than life lantern installations – most of them depicting cultural or historical themes of Korea.  

Seoul Lantern Festival 2012

Seoul Day 3 - Finding hidden treasures at Insadong

Continuing the day with another cultural site, I went to visit Insadong in the afternoon. As I am staying at the Samcheongdong area, I reached my destination in only 15 minutes – simply by walking. No sweat to it!

map of Insadong
courtesy of http://english.visitkorea.or.kr

Seoul Day 3 – Discovering history at Changdeokgung Palace

The morning of my third day here at Seoul was reserved for a tour of the Changdeokgung Palace. As I wanted to get to know more about Korea’s history and culture, I signed-up for a walking tour of the place.  The registration was done online through this site: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr prior to my visit. Just fill out a form and you will get a confirmation e-mail afterwards. The best thing about this service is that it is absolutely free!

a close encounter with the throne hall