AdventuresAbroad: Travel Review of Sorts

Just in case you ever consider a trip to Seoul, South Korea, I would like to offer my review after spending 5 busy days in this city. For those of you geographically challenged, Seoul is the capital of South Korea.   Korea is a peninsula divided along the 38th parallel following the Korean War where in fact a peace treaty was never signed. Hence the DMZ (Demilitarized zone). If you have read or seen anything at all about the conditions or lack of in North Korea, you will be amazed even more at the South Korean economy and way of life. The sheer amount of goods brought in and sold in this country is amazing, considering its proximity to North Korea. BTW, another random fact is that North Korean leader, Kim Jon Il, is known to be born just outside Khabarovsk, Russia. Click here for more info. There is a well known street named after this man.   Not sure that is something about which to boast...
In an effort to not bore those of you who are not planning a visit to Seoul, here are ten things I learned from our visit to Korea.
1) Don't bring 4 young children to a bustling Asian city and expect to have a peaceful vacation.
2) Do make sure you visit the Aquarium during the morning hours if for no other reason than to watch the parade of seemingly endless kindergarten classes in matching attire and backpacks.
3) If you want to delight your young boys (and older ones), send them to the War Memorial of Korea for the day. So much more than a memorial and will implant history in their minds for years to come!
4) The public bathrooms in Korea are surprisingly clean, even in the subways. And we visited a great deal of them!
5)  It is helpful to know a few basic phrases when traveling to a foreign country like please and thank you and "Help! My child is lost!".  (You would think I would know this from living abroad!)
6)  If you are a young girl and not of Asian descent, expect to be asked to have your picture taken with strangers multiple times.
7) Mexican food in Korea is really good!
8)  Figuring out how to navigate the subway system is a feat in itself and somehow rewarding.
9)  Sight seeing with children in a foreign country is less about the sights and much more about the getting there.
10) McDonalds in Korea tastes much better than in America. To all my health conscious friends, I didn't even feel bad about it! They don't have fast food in Far East Russia.

And though we only had our camera with us the last day, here are a few photos.