Touring Seoul and the Lantern Festival

Danny and I really like going to Seould because there is so much to do. Recently we went to the Seoul Lantern Festival which was amazing. Handmade paper lanterns were all over a river that goes through Seoul and we wanted to see what it was all about.

The lanterns were really amazing and really intricate. Below is a latern that depicts an old folk story told in Korea.

This is a lantern showing Koreans traditional wedding clothes. They look so happy on their special day! ; )

And do I have to explain this lantern? Basically this latern represents FREEDOM! Go Mrka! (That is Danny's way of spelling America :)

There were lanterns everywhere and it was really beautiful!

Our friend JP came with Danny and I and explained some of the stories that the lanterns represented. This lantern of a tiger smoking a pipe had the most interesting story I thought. So in America we usually start stories, "Once upon a time..." but our friend JP told us that in Korea they start stories, "A long time ago, when tigers smoked pipes...". Isn't that interesting? There are certain things about your culture that you don't really think about till another culture does things differently so maybe now I will start my stories the Korean way to spice up my bedtime stories! ; )

That weekend we also walked around Insadong which is becoming of of my favorite places in Seoul. Insadong is the artsy, souvenir, and boutique sort of place in Seoul. It's fun to walk around and look at all of the art and there is also plenty more to see.

I had put a picture of this guy walking around. He is playing a traditional Korean symbol that Danny has renamed "the death symbol" basically if you traded this guy out with a 4 year old child banging on a pan, the child would probably sound better. The noise is sooo loud and sooo horrible but somehow Koreans think it makes beautiful music. They really need to rethink their traditional music because let's just say it's not going to get to the top of the music charts.

In winter, you can buy these delicious treats on the street called ho-tduck. They are amazing pancake type things filled with cinnamon and sugar and fried to perfection. Make sure if you are in Korea that you eat one because they are magic.

I loved this scen when we walked by. This is just a perfect picture of old Korean men. They are so cute and they often wear fidora or golf hats. I may be creepy, according to Danny, but I just have fallen in love with watching Korean babies and old men... that does sound a little creepy as I typed it out. ANYWAYS, old Korean men just have a classiness that has been lost in America. I only hope that Danny has a cane and a cute hat one day just like these guys. Good times and Seoul!