The people that got us through

Tonight we are writing from downtown Seoul, South Korea. One of the perks of paying through the nose for plane tickets to fly with Asiana is a free hotel room when you have a super long layover. I am figuring that 26 hours counts as super long.

When we arrived at the airport we asked the nice airline lady and she directed us to the correct spot. We had to pass through immigration to enter Korea. The cool part about that is they stamped our passports. Neat!

Once through immigration we found the Asiana desk and there was a nice little man waiting for us. They had arranged a hotel, dinner, breakfast and lunch for us. Then we had 2 options to get into town. a) wait for the hotel shuttle that arrived at 7:30 (it was 5:30) or b) pay for the "airport limousine" aka. the bus and the hotel would reimburse us. We took option b.

The bus ride in was fascinating. Korea is a beautiful country. The people are so friendly. I will say that I have never felt so white in my life. Despite being one of 4 white people in the area we don't get stared at like we did in Russia.

We enjoyed our complimentary dinner at the hotel restaurant and then set off on a little walk. Our hotel is located in the fashion and shopping district. It is crowded to say the least. Absolutely fascinating. I thought New York was busy. This place puts the big apple to shame!! From our window we can hear some shop hawking its wares over a loud speaker. I did have the opportunity to snap a few photos.

Upon our little walk about we discovered the best part of the day. Starbucks. Actually we had passed 2 on the way to the hotel, but this one was right in front of us. Of course it has been over 9 days since we had been so we had to stop. We did find mugs for our Brother-in-law and ordered a coffee. I had to settle for a latte since they did not have 1/2 n 1/2. I also may be up all night since Koreans evidently don't believe in decaf.

This happens to be a nice little side trip. A bonus if you will. Now we have to prepare to sleep on a rock hard bed and endure the Sunday that never ends. Wish us well.