Day 29 -- Songbukdong and Ikseondong

After class, I met up with Mom and Dad in my old neighborhood, Songbukdong. We ate gimbap before walking up past my old house to Gilsangsa Temple. There was a beautiful room with pink lotus flower lanterns covering the ceiling and an altar with golden statues of Buddha where people were praying. The area also had beautiful trees and water features, making it a very peaceful and contemplative environment.




We hiked uphill to the Stone Art Museum next. We were tired from the walk, so when we got there our first stop was the museum cafe where we rested and got some drinks. We then walked through the current exhibition, which featured an artist who painted cartoonish portraits of women and animals wearing massive sunglasses. The backgrounds, borders, and shades of the sunglasses contained various art history references, and although we felt like the works were a bit commercial, the artist definitely was talented and had a unique style!



After the exhibition, we went outside to the permanent collection of traditional Korean stone art. The vast majority were figures that served a variety of purposes, from headstone markers to protectors of villages. There were hundreds of statues alongside various paths in the outdoor area, and all of them were surrounded by trees with a beautiful view of Seoul in the background.




After the museum, we took the bus back to the subway station. Right in front of the subway station, I saw my host dad, and we super briefly chatted. I was really glad Mom and Dad got to meet him, even for a short period of time.

We took the subway to Ikseondong next. We went back to the super aesthetically pleasing cafe Cheongsudang Bakery that I went to a couple weeks ago, and this time we ordered a pumpkin drink, a black sesame fromage cake, and a set of the traditional Korean cookie yakwa (one was covered in black sesame, one was covered in pistachio, one had a matcha treat on top, and another had a sweet cooked egg on top). Everything was delicious and we were very happy with our selection!




We walked around Ikseondong briefly before going back to Mom and Dad’s hotel. Dad and I ate some triange gimbap we bought at a convenience store, and the three of us talked about our plans for the next few days before I finally went back to Ewha.

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