Seoul 2019: A long walk in the rain

A rainstorm was passing through Seoul on my final full day in the city. In spite of the on-and-off rain, I felt like taking a long walk in the morning, perhaps to burn off all the calories I had consumed the previous night while eating street food in Myeong-dong. Looking at the map of the city I realized that I had never spent any time by the Han River—the main river that runs through Seoul—so I figured I’d go down there.

I took the subway to the World Cup Stadium and started my walk there. A group of people were posing for a photo on the steps of the stadium and on the fields near the stadium a team of guys were practicing their soccer skills. I walked south from the stadium, passing through a park and crossing over a highway to reach the Han River.

It was cool, grey, and sometimes rainy that day, but that wasn’t stopping a couple guys from windsurfing on the river. I’ve seen windsurfing in other parts of the world and didn’t realize it was a thing in Korea.

I moved east along the river and eventually stumbled upon a naval museum called Seoul Battleship Park. A pair of retired warships and a submarine are on display there.

At Yanghwa Bridge I crossed towards the south side but I made a small detour onto an island in the river. Apparently this island used to be home to a water purification plant but it was converted into a public park.

After some more walking I wound up at the National Assembly Building. This is South Korea’s capital building and it’s home to the nation’s parliament. A bunch of protestors were standing around near the front gate. Since I’m not familiar with Korean politics I don’t know what they were protesting about, but not long after I arrived I saw a squad of cops with riot shields show up so I figured it was time to move on.

I moved southeast from the National Assembly Building and passed through a park with an old C-47 airplane on display. By then I had been on my feet for a few hours and I was ready to get out of the rain. I located the nearest metro station and started a long ride back up to northern Seoul. With the rain still coming down I decided it was time for some indoor activities.