Ice bar

The last day was spent shopping some more in Shillim and the COEX mall. In the evening we finally had Korean beef BBQ for dinner, an absolute must for any Korea visit. In the evening we ended up in the sub zero ice bar in Hongdae. Another one of those places I have always wanted to see, but would never have expected in Seoul: a bar entirely made of ice. Walls, decoration, glasses, everything - and minus five degrees inside. Sadly, we were so late that we soon turned out to be the last and only customers. At least this gave us plenty of room for pictures :)

Seoul and more

We spent the next day visiting the demilitarized zone, trying on traditional clothing in Insadong, a quick stop at the SNU and clubbing in the NB club in Gangnam. Another led us to explore the Deoksugung palace, stroll along the Cheonggyecheon stream, look for traditional souveniers in Insadong, have stuffed chicken for dinner, drink Dongdongju in our little traditional bar in Nok-Du and spend the night in the Cocoon club in Hongdae. Yet another day we were lucky enough to visit Samcheongdong with Jerang and her sister Lydia. Thanks to our knowledgable tour guides we got to have a great lunch and a very traditional Korean desert: sweet & warm bean soup. Way better than it sounds. Sadly, we had to part eventually to get the last tour through Biwon (the secret garden). On the way back home we got the chance to witness a Buddhist prayer service in the Jogyesa temple.

Rafting

Something I always wanted to do, but never got around to it, I finally did here in Korea as a group trip: rafting. It was as awesome as one could have wanted. Two days of heavy rain had paid off by raising the water level significantly making the trip quite a bit more exciting than it might have been otherwise. Either way the surrounding nature was absolutely gorgeous. Other than rafting trips the place also offered freshly harvested chilis. Upon returning to Seoul, we toured Namdaemun, Myeong-dong and ended up in building 63 for another drink with a glorius view of the city at night.

Katrin's visit

The next day, the next highlight: Katrin came by to visit Seoul for a week. Sadly, her arrival was accompanied by the heaviest rainfall I had seen in Korea so far - including my last visit and any conferences. It rained when I got up, poured on the way to the airport and did not stop for two days straight. The little creek running past Nok-Du had turned into a raging river on the evening of the first day. So we were forced to tour Seoul indoors. This meant COEX mall and Samsung tower on the first day and Lotte World on the second. Finally, in the afternoon of the second day the skies cleared a bit and we were able to enjoy an amazing view of Seoul from the Gyrodrop tower, before plummeting toward the bottom at a speed that took your breath away. In the evening we walked around Dongdaemun and ended up in Doota for some very late night and early morning shopping.