Taking Pictures From A Bicycle Built For Two

On Wednesday, we awoke to beautiful weather for our last full day in Seoul.

Mia Sorella had one last event on her checklist and we headed straight there that morning. Yeouido ("Useless Island") Park is right on (in?) the Han River and is a prime spot for a) sightseeing and b) renting a bike.

And so it was that we ended up with two bikes -- a tandem for Mia Sorella and me, and a slightly-too-small mountain bike for Mr. Rogers.

He grabbed the biggest one he could. Honestly.

We worked our way down the sidewalk, taking pictures and enjoying the weather. Within fifteen minutes, we had reached one end and turned around.

And then ... Disaster struck.

We broke the bike.

Apparently it wasn't up for the hill.

Ten minutes later, we had a new bike and were headed the opposite direction.

Along the river...

... Past the swans ...

... beyond the National Assembly ...

... under a bridge ...

 ... or two.

After a well-spent morning, Mia Sorella took us to Itaewon ... chiefly because we hadn't yet been there.

The thing to remember about Itaewon is that it is the area most populated by foreigners. Up until this point, we had been able to count the number of non-Koreans we saw each day. Now, we weren't just surrounded by foreigners, but by foreign food and English signs.

It was a little surreal.

Mia Sorella left us there and headed for work; we wandered, doing a little shopping and finding places to take pictures.

Before too long, we were aiming back for Banghwa and the apartment.

Leading to the only pictures I took in the subway.

[A cruise ... to Mount Rushmore!!]

Including an empty-except-for-us subway car, unheard of until that time.

That night was dinner with the family of a couple of Mia Sorella's students, including the "other Ashley." Unfortunately, the kids froze up before they talked to us ... but their parents were amusing enough.

Oh, and there was more candy to be given. (Suddenly, I too am craving Pop Rocks...)

And then.

And THEN.

Came the live octopus.

[Photo stolen from Mr. Rogers ... so this is as big as it gets.]

 

[And this one's stolen from Mia Sorella.]



All right, all right. "Freshly dead" octopus. Bottom line: still moving.

Still clinging.

Surprisingly moderately tasty, particularly if you drenched it in red pepper paste or wasabi.

Now, not so tasty? Octopus heads, which the owner of the restaurant gave us as well. (She was excited about us first-timers.) Turns out steamed octopus heads taste a little weird. And they leak ink, which is just that much more disgusting.

This was almost our last food challenge ... which was good, since it was also our last full night. In 24 hours, we'd be on our way back to the States...