ten-ele-ven

I think this may just be my last post for the April 2012 trip to Seoul. Then I am going to do some housekeeping on this blog, starting with indexing all my travel posts on a separate page. I have no clue how long this is going to take. I will probably be an old woman by the time this is all done.

I am not a Catholic but I spent a part of my childhood in a Catholic church – two years in a Catholic kindergarten and I followed my Catholic neighbours to mass on Saturdays.  Growing up, I have always liked visiting cathedrals on my trips to look at the architecture – the dramatic curved ceilings, the mesmerizing patterns on the ceiling and the gorgeous stained glass paintings.

I visited numerous cathedrals on my trip aroud England more than 10 years ago. People ask me – “Don’t you ever get sick of looking at drafty cathedrals? See one, and you see them all ‘cos they all look the same.” Nope.

Whenever I step into a cathedral, a huge sense of peace and calmness washes over me almost immediately. I feel that I am in a different world the minute I push open the doors and step into the worship hall. It’s a lovely feeling, really, which makes me wonder why I don’t visit a cathedral more often at home.

When we were in Seoul over Easter, we attended Easter Sunday morning mass at Myeongdong Cathedral. This is the second time I am attending mass in the cathedral. As the mass was conducted in Korean, I had no idea what was going on. But it was fine with me. I liked the experience of attending mass. There is something comforting in the Catholic ritual, watching the ceremony taking place at the altar, listening to the organ play and choir sing, hearing the priest and worshippers reciting the epistles, knowing that Catholics around the world will all go through the same ritual on Easter Sunday.

There was a fair held at the grounds of the cathedral, with stalls selling beautifully designed Easter eggs creatively wrapped in wrapping, cloth pouches, porcelain bowls and cute cages. I couldn’t resist buying one for a friend even though I wasn’t sure I could transport it back home in one piece.

On one very cold evening, we visited the nearly completed Floating Island complex on Hangang River. It is located on the southern end of the Banpo Bridge, that is, the side that is closer to Gangnam.

The Floating Island complex is huge.  It has three separate structures, housing a cultural centre housing a convention hall, restaurants and facilities for water and sporting events.

At night, the exterior of the complex is brightly lit up with multi-coloured light shows powered by solar panels. The view of the illuminated complex is very stunning against the night sky.

We were frozen stiff walking around the complex. Every part of my body hurt from the whipping cold wind. We tried to shield ourselves from the cold by hiding behind the pillars but it was impossible to do so because the complex is so open.

I would have liked to take photos of this complex from the Hangang River Park located directly opposite the complex.  But it was way too cold to do so and we were not dressed warm enough.

During warmer temperatures, it will be lovely to chill out on the bank of the Hangang with a can of beer, some chips, and admire the lightshows of the Floating River.

Since reading about and seeing photos of the Haneul Sky Park in Korean travel blogs some time back, I have always wanted to visit the park.  The first time I tried to visit the park was a couple of years ago.  I took the subway to the World Cup Stadium, spent a couple of hours trying to find the park and failed to do so.

This time, we made our way to the park successfully because we took a taxi.  That day was probably the warmest day in our entire trip and the temperature was just about right for a day in the park.  We spent the entire afternoon wandering around the park.  It was soooo good to be amongst nature.  Too bad it was still a winter scenery with bare trees and brown grass.  The park must be stunning in spring and autumn.

^ Shame that it was a foggy day. Otherwise, we would have seen great views of the city from the park.

^ And their wonderful public toilets. This one came in a wood exterior and had piped-in classical music.