Adrienn, Ilona and Sebastian

After a two-year, um, sabbatical, we are back on our blog. I say "we" because hopefully this will be a more collective endeavor involving other members of our family, including the kids. As we have been on the move again, and have just left behind some dear friends, it seemed like a good time to revive the blog and keep connected. So...first stop: Korea!

The day after our arrival in Seoul, we took the TGV (called "KTX" in Korea) to Busan, where Mama (that's Curie) was born. We realized after we got here that we were in the beginning of the rainy season. It rained pretty much every day for over two weeks....and thenit stopped the day after Balint and the kids left.
Here we all are in Beomeosa (Nirvana Fish Temple), which is nestled in beautiful Mt. Geomjeong, the base of which we could reach by a local bus from our downtown hotel.

Walking up to the temple complex, we passed by a small bamboo grove, which impressed Adrienn so much that she was even willing to take a photo in front of it.

From the temple we had a beautiful hike to the peak of the mountain and saw some rebuilt segments of Geumjeong Fortress. Unfortunately the whole mountain was mist-covered and we had to imagine the spectacular view of the city below...On the way down we cooled off and drank cool spring water from the "Heart CleansingWell"

Next to the big monument in honor of the fish - our neighborhood (Gwangali) being the sashimi capital of Korea.

Busan Aquarium

I recognized the first two... but what do we have here?

After the aquarium we went to the neighborhood where Mama lived from age 0 to 6, looking for her old house. We saw some beautiful cats....

This one was transporting her kitten up the stairs.

The first of many adorable dogs we would befriend in Korea...

In the back alleys it was as though time stood still. Much remained the same as 35 years ago, just faded and crumbling.

The next day we visited the beautiful rocky coastline at Taejongdae. We happened to show up during the annual Hydrangea festival that took place every July at one of the temples.

At the water's edge were a bunch of shelters where one could feast on platters of raw octopus, eel, and a few other sea animals we didn't recognize. These "restaurants" were run by the ladies standing near the big brown tubs, which were full of fresh sea-creatures.

The non-vegetarians among us mustered up some courage and voted to order a platter. And this is what we got:

What really needs to be shown is a movie of this because the octopus parts were moving :-(. We weren't really expecting that...Mama started to lose her nerve but Ilona (our little finicky girl) just went for it. Couldn't believe our eyes...

After our little meal we climbed down the rocks to the beach. Of course everyone got soaked....but nobody cared.

Afterwards Basti got a haircut.

The hairdresser had several cute dogs, so the girls had no trouble occupying themselves while waiting for Basti's hair to be done.

We decided to drive back to Seoul, stopping at the Hahoe Folk Village along the way. There we had a calligraphy/painting done by their resident calligrapher.

Basti taking a rest in the coutyard of one of the houses.

A field of urns, ubiquitous in the countryside. These are used to store things like pepper paste, soy bean paste, kimchee.

Back in Seoul, we visited Changdeok Palace, which was conveniently right next to the house we were staying in. This is the royal library, located in the "Secret Garden" of the palace.

Adri, Basti and Papa checking out the sundial.

Basti and the non-Niagara Falls

Meet Kkomi, the dog of Halmuni's friend (more like an aunt to mama). The kids were

absolutely enamoured of her. We met her when we visited my aunt's family in Jechon, in the countryside.

Preparing the evening feast in Jechon.

On the last day that Balint and the kids were in Seoul, we finally had some time to walk around our own neighbourhood. Here we are in the hanok (traditional Korean house) that is now the Bukchon information centre, Bukchon being famous for its concentration of traditional houses.