Kenneth E. Harker
2008 Korea - Insadong

In Seoul, we stayed in a boutique hotel in the Insadong neighborhood, the Hotel Sun Bee. Located on a smaller street next to a Korea Exchange Bank building and the headquarters of the Korean McDonald's franchise, it was a very good value for the money. The main street in the neighborhood is Insadong-gil, which is an old, narrow cobblestone street filled with restaurants and small retail shops. Some of the shops were filled with tourist items, but many had fine ceramics, calligraphy, and artwork. One of our best meals was a dinner of manduguk jeongsik and beer at the Sadong Myeonok restaurant, tucked away in one of the side alleys off the main street.

These photos are copyright © 2008 Kenneth E. Harker. All rights reserved.

	This sculpture of a calligraphy brush was located at the intersection of Insadong-gil and Yulgongno.
	The brush sculpture had a water feature that was designed to invoke the impression of wet ink on the stone base. Just out of frame to the left was a Crown Bakery where we bought several breakfasts.
	Insadong-gil at night. While the road was not strictly pedestrian-only, not many cars chose to try to drive through the crowds. Those that did could proceed only at a snail's pace. Although we saw some foreigners, the vast majority of tourists at Insadong were Koreans.
	Public art sculpture of a woman reading a book on a bench was tucked into the corner between two buildings on Insadong-gil.
	Giant inflatable beer, advertising a bar or restaurant on one of the many, many small alleys that crossed or branched off of Insadong-gil.
	The Gruel Shop was a breakfast restaurant on the alley between our hotel and Insadong-gil. A rice porridge or gruel is a comon breakfast food in northeast Asia. In Korea, it is called juk.