holiday in busan... a family affair

greetings from Busan! this beach city has a nice vibe. It's big, but slow. the pace here is much more manageable than Seoul, where everyone is so busy all the time. It is Chuseok, the Korean equivalent to Thanksgiving in the States. People are gathered with their families and friends enjoying feasts and relaxing with time off from work. Us included! we took an early early early  KTX train here the other day, certainly the best way to get down here to the very SE corner of the country. The trains travel crazy fast and it takes only two and a half hours to make the trip.

each morning we have had the same Busan soup for breakfast, it is only available in Busan. this particular restaurant near our place is the oldest and most famous for this particular soup. this place has been around for almost 50 years! and it's packed. they cook the broth overnight in these large vats outside, then add rice, meat and veggies... all for about three dollars! 

we are staying in Heundae, a large and pretty busy beach, but so beautiful. in the distance you can see some islands and neighboring high rises tower over the dramatic mountains. near here is Gwanganli, a smaller stretch of sand with more cafes and hangout spots. we spent an evening over there when we arrived, the water was so warm and we shot fireworks on the beach! 

nate, ira, jenya, and klim have a nice rooftop pool at their place, so we decided to check it out. the view was beautiful, but we all opted to head back to the ocean, as the water is warmer and the waves a lot more fun.

for jason's birthday a group of us had a killer dinner out of town high in the mountains. two ducks and a lot of veggies later we had a feast. the woman came and cooked at our table, a beautiful display. they used a little spicy pepper to stop the grease drainage! lovely... after we enjoyed the first two rounds of duck, wrapped in lettuce with all the banchan thrown in we ordered up some rice and seaweed to mix in the pan with the rest of the cooked duck and all that yummy duck fat. so good. 

last night after a nice dinner some of us walked along the boardwalk for a while, admiring the huge waves and strange street art they have up these days. the weather is perfect, hot in the day, enough to not want to leave the ocean, cool at night.

we still have a few days here, so there are wiffle ball games and other new adventures to tell of.... 

until then...adios!