Cheongwadae - Blue Roof/ Blue House Presidential ResidenceSituated near Insa - dong the Government Area with the Presidential Palace is a must see spot in Seoul. Therefore I was taken there by my Korean friend, Youna as one of the first attractions.
The name Cheongwadae more resembles the "roof" not the "house" as I was informed. Several buildings in the area have indeed blue roofs, as it was a sophisticated color to paint high standard buildings.
The very surroundings of the palace are guarded by the cctv police monitoring and plenty of police around, all very nice but as well ready for intermediate and brutal action on the spot if they see any sign of danger. Photos of people are forbidden to take, especially with a camera like Sony Alfa of mine. There are two or three spots marked as "This is the best place to take a photo" where just everyone uses the opportunity. One of the spots is in front of the main gate - as above shown on the photo.
It was a very hot day. Humidity reaching 80 % and temperature of my favourite 38-40 in the sun. We didn't enter any palace on that day and as well a livery parade was not the one to attend due to some renovation spoiling potentially the photographs to take.
Therefore we hit the Bugak Mount, the one in the background of the photo. Koreans believe that the best place to place the important buildings are in the naturally guarded spots as the one resembled here. This is so universal instinct of people worldwide, enough to mention medieval castles and cities always "hugged" to the safe mount or rock site.
On the Bugak Mount, or more presicely, next to the top of it, is a famous caffeteria with a nice view to Seoul and it is the top point of the trail where people are allowed to go. We had a nice peppermint and lemonade drinks. However the most favourite drink of Koreans is the rice drink in the hot days. One of the small but important things is that almost nowhere tables are provided with paper towels or tissues which is a standard in the western countries. So it is good to have that always in the handbag, otherwise we have to show off with mouth full of fat around on the way to the restroom.
Koreans are very romantic people in a way. The caffeteria itself is famous due to the drama series being shot there several years ago. Now everyone wants to experience that romantic athmosphere pictured in the movie. As soon as I know the name of it, I will place it here.
This is all for now. Next post is coming soon.
Copyright: Agnieszka Piasecka 10.09.2009
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