Day 14: Seoul Olympic Park
After finishing with Lotte World, I headed for my next destination which was Olympic Park. My visit to Olympic Park was inspired entirely from the recommendation by my Lonely Planet book. The book designated it as one of the top picks for the Gangnam and Jamsil area.
I was still at Jamsil Station which has 2 subway lines (Green Line 2 and Pink Line 8) running through it and needed to get from Line 2 to Line 8 so that I could take the Line 8 train one stop over to Mongchontoseong. Even though Jamsil Station is listed as a transfer point for the two lines on the map, if my memory serves me correctly, I discovered they were actually a looooooong walk apart. Sometimes the lines that converged at some subway stations like at Jongno 3-ga were relative close to each other so you didn’t have to walk very far to transfer between the lines. Other times, it was almost deceiving how they were located on the same spot on the subway map because of how far apart they actually were in real life. The long walk at Jamsil between the lines was broken up by various vendors along the way.
I got to the park just after 1PM and picked up a brochure for the park from one of the booths just outside the station and at the entrance to the park. The entrance to park was lined with totem poles all the way to the World Peace Gate structure.
The underside “wings” of the gate were painted with colourful depiction of dragons. It was a grand structure, albeit a little peculiar in shape I found. Perhaps it was a sign of things to come as I later discovered all sorts of peculiar looking things scattered throughout the park.
Beyond the gates was the Seoul Peace Declaration flame and a bunch of facilities including a convenience store that I was much in need of visiting. I went in and emerged from the store with a World Cone ice cream cone in hand, my aunts favourite and the one she got me started on after having only had the Bravo Cone prior. Just outside the store, I found several families sitting around having cup ramen. One of the things I found interesting in Korea is that some convenience stores will sell cup ramen and provide the hot water to cook it and also a place to sit and eat it too.
The weather was really warm and the sun seemed to be at it’s peak so the World Cone pretty much disappeared within seconds into my mouth. The center of Olympic Park use to be a fortress I believe thus much of it is still surrounded by a moat today. I walked along the waters and then crossed the bridge to the other side but not before watching a couple of ducks slowly passing by leaving a large wake behind them. They looked like they were a couple.^^
I passed by the Olympic Museum and since I had been indoors all morning, I decided to stay outside and walk around the park instead.
It’s a pretty large park and to cover it requires a lot of walking, especially uphill if you plan to walk to the center of it where it peaks. Lonely Planet recommended the best way to see the park is by bike and I would have to agree with them. Bikes are forbidden from entering the center of the park up the hill so the only way to see that part is on foot like I did. Biking around the perimeter and along the moat would still afford an excellent view of the park however. It seemed like the inner parts of the park were mostly utilized by the locals for walking as I found myself amongst more of them and less with tourists. I found myself caught out in the sun for a lot of the time along the walking paths so I have to mention that while there were periodic benches located underneath some trees here and there, much of the park is out in the open and affords little shade. While you are on the paths, the neighbouring grassy fields are roped off so you are contained to staying on the path. I found myself sweating and baking to the point that I wasn’t really enjoying the view of the park anymore and was more concerned with finding some shade and relief from the sun.
I walked my way across the park and descended back down along the eastside of the hill and then headed back southwest from where I came. I was passed by many cyclists riding solo and 2-man bicycles in addition a tourist trolley. In hindsight, had I known that there was a tourist trolley available, I probably would have taken that instead of trying to walk the lengths of the park instead. The trolleys were stationed to the east of the Peace Gate so if you enter the park through there, head east and you will probably find them.
As a I mentioned before, there were many peculiar things I saw and what I mean by that is there were eccentric pieces of art scattered throughout the park. There didn’t seem to be any connection to the Olympics nor the history of the site so it was something that certainly drew my attention and gave me this eerie surreal kind of feeling. Here are a couple of them.
Passing the south part of the park were open grassy fields containing many of the statues and families out having a picnic and tossing a ball around
While Olympic Park was certainly a beautiful park to visit, I felt like it was a little disadvantaged by not being surrounded more by the natural elevation and terrain of Seoul such as the many mountains in the city. In that respect, it reminded me much like the parks in Toronto. It’s mostly a flat and open style park and still leaves you exposed to the surrounding city. I think as a resident of Seoul, this would be a place that I would like to visit to have a picnic or go for a walk or bike ride with someone but as a tourist travelling alone, I don’t think I would have placed it at the top of the things to see in Gangnam and Jamsil. I think this park would be a whole lot more fun visiting with someone and by bicycle. Here are some clips I took at the park.
When I got back to Dongnimmun Station, I ran into my mom and aunt were who chilling out on a bench in the neighbouring Seodaemun Independence Park which I walked through everyday to get to the subway station.
It was nice to see my mom out and about and walking a lot more seeing that her knee was getting better every day. I chilled out with them for a while watching a group of rollerbladers practicing their tricks and got some drinks from the nearby convenience store.
When we all got back to my aunts place, another one of my aunts who came by frequently to visit brought her daughter (my cousin) along to visit. She was a little older than I was and ran a piano academy for children in Seoul. I think we must have met 25 years ago when I first visited Seoul but I didn’t have any recollection of her nor did she of me seeing that we were really little at the time. Though this was our first meeting, I had actually given her a few things already earlier in my trip through my aunt. I bought a doll for her from Canada as a present as she collects dolls and also gave her the two stuffed animals that I had failed to give to the children of the parents who ran the ddeok store in Icheon. She thanked me for the presents and mentioned that she brought the stuff animals to her academy which were a hit with the kids. It was a little awkward at first speaking with her since my Korean wasn’t as good back then but we soon discovered that we had some common interests like listening to classical piano music (kind of obvious it being her job) and watching movies. She had just seen the animated movie “마루밑 아리에티” (The Borrowers) and totally recommended it. Have you seen it?
I was still at Jamsil Station which has 2 subway lines (Green Line 2 and Pink Line 8) running through it and needed to get from Line 2 to Line 8 so that I could take the Line 8 train one stop over to Mongchontoseong. Even though Jamsil Station is listed as a transfer point for the two lines on the map, if my memory serves me correctly, I discovered they were actually a looooooong walk apart. Sometimes the lines that converged at some subway stations like at Jongno 3-ga were relative close to each other so you didn’t have to walk very far to transfer between the lines. Other times, it was almost deceiving how they were located on the same spot on the subway map because of how far apart they actually were in real life. The long walk at Jamsil between the lines was broken up by various vendors along the way.
I got to the park just after 1PM and picked up a brochure for the park from one of the booths just outside the station and at the entrance to the park. The entrance to park was lined with totem poles all the way to the World Peace Gate structure.
Beyond the gates was the Seoul Peace Declaration flame and a bunch of facilities including a convenience store that I was much in need of visiting. I went in and emerged from the store with a World Cone ice cream cone in hand, my aunts favourite and the one she got me started on after having only had the Bravo Cone prior. Just outside the store, I found several families sitting around having cup ramen. One of the things I found interesting in Korea is that some convenience stores will sell cup ramen and provide the hot water to cook it and also a place to sit and eat it too.
The weather was really warm and the sun seemed to be at it’s peak so the World Cone pretty much disappeared within seconds into my mouth. The center of Olympic Park use to be a fortress I believe thus much of it is still surrounded by a moat today. I walked along the waters and then crossed the bridge to the other side but not before watching a couple of ducks slowly passing by leaving a large wake behind them. They looked like they were a couple.^^
It’s a pretty large park and to cover it requires a lot of walking, especially uphill if you plan to walk to the center of it where it peaks. Lonely Planet recommended the best way to see the park is by bike and I would have to agree with them. Bikes are forbidden from entering the center of the park up the hill so the only way to see that part is on foot like I did. Biking around the perimeter and along the moat would still afford an excellent view of the park however. It seemed like the inner parts of the park were mostly utilized by the locals for walking as I found myself amongst more of them and less with tourists. I found myself caught out in the sun for a lot of the time along the walking paths so I have to mention that while there were periodic benches located underneath some trees here and there, much of the park is out in the open and affords little shade. While you are on the paths, the neighbouring grassy fields are roped off so you are contained to staying on the path. I found myself sweating and baking to the point that I wasn’t really enjoying the view of the park anymore and was more concerned with finding some shade and relief from the sun.
I walked my way across the park and descended back down along the eastside of the hill and then headed back southwest from where I came. I was passed by many cyclists riding solo and 2-man bicycles in addition a tourist trolley. In hindsight, had I known that there was a tourist trolley available, I probably would have taken that instead of trying to walk the lengths of the park instead. The trolleys were stationed to the east of the Peace Gate so if you enter the park through there, head east and you will probably find them.
As a I mentioned before, there were many peculiar things I saw and what I mean by that is there were eccentric pieces of art scattered throughout the park. There didn’t seem to be any connection to the Olympics nor the history of the site so it was something that certainly drew my attention and gave me this eerie surreal kind of feeling. Here are a couple of them.
While Olympic Park was certainly a beautiful park to visit, I felt like it was a little disadvantaged by not being surrounded more by the natural elevation and terrain of Seoul such as the many mountains in the city. In that respect, it reminded me much like the parks in Toronto. It’s mostly a flat and open style park and still leaves you exposed to the surrounding city. I think as a resident of Seoul, this would be a place that I would like to visit to have a picnic or go for a walk or bike ride with someone but as a tourist travelling alone, I don’t think I would have placed it at the top of the things to see in Gangnam and Jamsil. I think this park would be a whole lot more fun visiting with someone and by bicycle. Here are some clips I took at the park.
When I got back to Dongnimmun Station, I ran into my mom and aunt were who chilling out on a bench in the neighbouring Seodaemun Independence Park which I walked through everyday to get to the subway station.
It was nice to see my mom out and about and walking a lot more seeing that her knee was getting better every day. I chilled out with them for a while watching a group of rollerbladers practicing their tricks and got some drinks from the nearby convenience store.
When we all got back to my aunts place, another one of my aunts who came by frequently to visit brought her daughter (my cousin) along to visit. She was a little older than I was and ran a piano academy for children in Seoul. I think we must have met 25 years ago when I first visited Seoul but I didn’t have any recollection of her nor did she of me seeing that we were really little at the time. Though this was our first meeting, I had actually given her a few things already earlier in my trip through my aunt. I bought a doll for her from Canada as a present as she collects dolls and also gave her the two stuffed animals that I had failed to give to the children of the parents who ran the ddeok store in Icheon. She thanked me for the presents and mentioned that she brought the stuff animals to her academy which were a hit with the kids. It was a little awkward at first speaking with her since my Korean wasn’t as good back then but we soon discovered that we had some common interests like listening to classical piano music (kind of obvious it being her job) and watching movies. She had just seen the animated movie “마루밑 아리에티” (The Borrowers) and totally recommended it. Have you seen it?
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