The Journey Begins!
Welcome to Day 1 of my travel adventure!
My flight to Charlotte took off from Daytona Beach right on schedule at 1:40. After a brief layover, I boarded a 5-hour flight to Seattle, landing at 5:30 PM local time. It took a bit longer than expected to retrieve my bag, and I finally checked into my airport hotel around 8 PM (11 PM EDT). After a quick shower I crashed into bed, reflecting on the stunning views of Rocky Mountains from 30,000 feet. Oh, and let’s just say the American Airlines inflight meal was less than impressive!
Monday, June 3
Incheon, S. Korea
After arriving in Incheon and making it to my hotel, I tried to stay awake as long as I could. Still, by 10 PM local time, I was out cold. Unfortunately, I woke up wide awake at 5 AM, so I did some reading and studied what was nearby to see. restaurant opened at 6:30, and it was a great buffet for less than $5, which was nice. By 8 AM, I was out for a long walk. Across the street from the hotel is Central Park. Based on the one in NYC, this park is surrounded by skyscrapers, too. The best way to describe it is "clean": no trash, no homeless or vagrants, and no rats. Just a beautiful, if somewhat quirky, park. At 10, I hopped on the subway (also clean and quiet) to go to Chinatown, Fairyland Village, and Jaju (Freedom) Park. It was a 40-minute ride with one transfer, costing less than $3 for the round trip. Chinatown is what you picture in your mind; it reminded me a lot of San Francisco, with very steep roads. The Fairytale Village is a cute area with lots of murals depicting everything from Snow White to The Wizard of Oz. If I were into Instagram, I'd be in heaven. I'm not. This was a lot of walking, but the weather is great, and the exercise is good for me. So, I hiked to Jaju Park, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the relationship between South Korea and the USA. It's on top of a very steep hill, and while there, I also discovered a memorial to George McArthur. By this time, I was hungry, so I went back to Chinatown and ordered lunch. It was way more food than I could eat: a big bowl of seafood and spicy noodle soup, a dish of General Tso chicken, and another bowl of with black bean sauce. All delicious, but enough for four people, along with a big beer for $21.00. Afterward, I headed back to the hotel, sat in the jacuzzi tub to relieve my back, and then sat down to write this blog entry. Tonight, I'm going to try to find a street market.













