Up at 5.30 AM ... not what we're fond of doing. Shuttle to Narita airport and off to Seoul for lunch. The flight? What can I say other than it was JAL? Excellent Japanese lunch on the flight:
Flying Fish Roe and Japanese Hornwort, Egg Thread, Pickled Ginger and Sakura Rice.
Flower Shaped Meat Dumpling
Simmered Taro Potato and Carrot
Marinated Komatsuna
Egg Omelette
Grilled Jack Mackerel
Five Coloured Pickles
Puff Pastry with Vanilla Cream
Washed down with an excellent Japanese malt beer.
The train/tube from Incheon airport took about 1 hour to get us to Jongno-sam-ga with a change at Gongdeok. Surprisingly, there are no lifts; only stairs. That was a bit of a struggle for two old crinklies. There seemed to be many down-and-outs (D-A-Os) ... maybe just oldies ... hanging about in the subway station at Jongno-sam-ga. One good thing is there is no ticket litter because you get the ticket with a refund once you put the ticket into the machine after travelling.
I got us a bit lost - went too far down the street. A friendly shopkeeper put us right and we found the Amare Hotel Jongno with little trouble. The room is all high-tech: two, yes two, computers plus WiFi, a huge plasma TV with G knows how many channels, air-con, sound system (I'll be leaving that off), monster sized spa-bath, several remote controls that switch-adjust everything except the all-singing-and-dancing loo.
The local street is very busy with food stalls as well as loads of restaurants - and loads of D-A-Os.
Looks like we'll be exploring ...
It's better to travel than arrive ... then again ...