Mitchell Traveling Circus!: Seoul Tower

With Rick home from his five week Temporary Duty Assignment, we decided to visit Seoul for date night, and go up in the Seoul Tower. Seoul Tower is is a communication and observation tower located in Namsan Mountain, central Seoul, South Korea. The tower has been a symbol of Seoul since 1980 and measures 777 ft in height. I equate it to the Saint Louis Arch. You can take an elevator up to the observatory deck, and there are gift shops..etc. We had been talking about checking this out since my first visit to Korea, and now we are down to less than a month, so we decided to check the box. I was thinking if we went at night, it wouldn't be as crowded as during the day. I was completely wrong.

When we arrived at Seoul, we jumped in a taxi and asked that he take us to Seoul Tower. Our cab driver was extremely friendly, and when I commented on how good his English was, he responded, "Muchas Gracious"

What a ham. He dropped us off, and we were informed we would have to walk up the rest. The incline was ridiculous, but we finally made it to the ticket booth. We purchased our tickets, and followed the arrows. We enter the base of the Tower, and attempted to peruse the gift shops as we waited for our block of numbers to be called. I quickly noted that everyone and their sister had decided to visit the tower with their significant other. Public displays of affection is not prevalent in Korea, but I guess the Seoul Tower really brings the romance out. Nearly every couple had their arms draped over each other, giggling, and oblivious to any legitidiment tourist that was trying to maneuver around their love-fest. We found a spot close to where the numbers were announced, and waited for our number to be called.

When our number came up, the herd of folks waiting nervously at the entrance GALLOPED to get in. I though, "Holy, MOSES, there must be something REMARKABLE around that corner" This mob looked like flesh-eating zombies that just found an opening in the warehouse that the last people on Earth were huddled in. They were wide-eyed and frantic. I tugged on Rick's jacket, and we stepped forward to be swept into the mob. I peered over all the zombie heads to try to see what was around this glorious corner. We turned down the hall, and there stood.....the same crazy zombies huddled in a group, radar-locked on the elevators. The doors opened, and everyone rushed in. We counted 24 people in the elevator. I glared at all the zombies that were smashed against me for getting my hopes up that there was something awesome around that corner. We reached the top, and exited the elevator. The observation deck is pretty cool. It's round, all glass, and has landmarks noted on the glass. It also lists major cities and how far away they are. The only disappointing thing was the glass was so dirty, on the outside, you couldn't see very well, much less get a good picture. We then stood in line to take the elevator down to the plaza. Here, there are GOBS of padlocks on a fence surrounding the plaza. The tradition is for a couple to place a lock on the fence, throw away the key, and their love is locked in forever. Who doesn't want that?! We placed a lock on the fence, but as we shut the clasp, there was not any mystical music, violins, or vaccume suction sound as I expected. I mean, if you lock your love in forever, shouldn't there be a sound involved?

We left the tower to find our favorite Greek Restaurant, Santorini. We had a wonderful meal, and then braved the Subway home. It's great to have Rick home!