Hongdae Free Market

Last Saturday, waking up from a dark night of the soul and feeling very much like pulling up the covers, laying in bed all day and quietly weeping about the pointlessness of life, I instead dragged my sorry self out of bed, whipped up some hot cakes (yum!) and headed out to Hongdae.  I've been wanting to check out the Hongdae Free Market (a little market for handmade goodies that runs every Saturday and possibly Sunday) since arriving in Seoul, but it's my husband's idea of hell so I haven't quite been able to get there.  But this Saturday my poor husband had to go off on a work trip, hence I got to visit the market in Hongdae.

Hongdae on a Saturday is heaving!  If you are looking for a peaceful escape from the city, this is not the place to come.  It was hot and oh so sticky and crowded.  But it was also wonderful to see all the cute little handmade things.  The attention to detail that you see in traditional Korean crafts came through loud and strong in the work of the artisans at the market, and I picked up a few little treasures (more on that tomorrow!).  Plus it's always nice to see crafters at work, and to meet the people who make the stuff.  So despite the crowds and the heat and the sweat I'm glad I went.  The hot cake/market combo definitely helped pulled me out of my malaise...

[Credits: amazing ink drawings by artist Go Eun Young; unbelievably cute pincushions from Jin Hyo Jung and Kang Eun Soon]

Holiday Slideshow: Gaeta, Italy

Do you get a bit sad on the final night of your holiday?  I always get a bit sad.  Because I know I'm heading back to reality, to bills and emails and groceries and laundry.  Because I know I'm saying goodbye to the possibility, the anything could happen, of travel (at least for a little while).  Even writing this post, about the final stop on our holiday is making me feel a little bit sad!

After getting off the big boat we headed towards Rome and stayed in a little seaside resort called Gaeta.  The old town is rather pretty and lovely to walk around, and we had the best meals here (seafood pastas, simple grilled fish, yummo!).  Gaeta is packed with hotels and restaurants and places to camp.  It feels a bit like the kind of place where families from Rome would go every summer holidays, year in year out.  A bit like Sorrento or Torquay in Victoria (what would be the equivalent in your neck of the woods?  Maybe the Gold Coast for Queenslanders?  Or the Sunshine Coast for New South Welshians?)

We stayed in a stunning hotel a bit out of town, Grand Hotel Le Rocce.  It had a beautiful little beach (though it was quite a trek getting down to it and back, probably for the best after all that pasta...) and gorgeous terraced gardens with the most amazing collection of succulents. If you have a few days to kill and you're flying out of Rome I'd highly recommend a couple of days swimming and eating in Gaeta.

Our holiday ended the way all our European holidays end - with my husband completely underestimating the amount of time it will take us to drive to Rome airport, which leads to a very nervous hour or so watching the clock in the car and me telling him to 'drive like the wind!'.  And then we get to the airport with barely a moment to spare, so the husband throws the step-sons and I out of a moving vehicle whilst yelling 'grab the bags! run to the check in desk!' while he speeds off, throws the car keys at the poor hire car guy and sprints back to meet us.  Ahhh, the fun of family traditions huh?

ps. thanks for indulging me and my holiday slideshow posts!  I hope you enjoyed them - if so, there are lots more photos on my Flickr.  And if not, normal programing will resume shortly!

Holiday Slideshow: Venice, Italy

So here's the thing - we were not going to get off the big boat in Venice!  I know, some of you might think that is crazy but we have all been to Venice numerous times (not that you'd ever get tired of it), the view from the boat is really quite wonderful and unique, plus Venice at the height of Summer is not as magical as it could be (the heat! the crowds! the rip offs!).  Hence the plan was to spend the day on the boat - relax, enjoy the empty pool, soak up the birds eye view, and maybe have an early cocktail o'clock.

But then we realised that the Biennale was still on, and how often do you happen to be in Venice when famous artists from all over the globe are staging a show?  So we dragged ourselves off the boat, paid some hideous amount for a cab driver to take us 20 meters, and threw ourselves into the stinking out streets of Venice.  Unfortunately by the time we ate lunch (pizzalicious!) and walked all the way from the port end of Venice to the garden end (where the Biennale is held), it was time to get back on our big boat (or risk being stranded in Venice forever, a concept I am not totally at odds with).

I was a bit disappointed not to have made it to the Biennale.  I am a total sucker for 'concept' art, and I've been lucky enough to visit the Biennale once before - it was fantastic!  The pavilions alone are wonderful (each country has their own, built in different styles and eras) - lots of deco and mid-century modern goodness to soak up there.  And then there are the installations which range from the wonderful to the surreal to the comical (and which also neatly reflect the stereotypes of each country, so that in the German pavilion you'll find weird stuffed toys hanging from the ceiling wearing gas masks, and in the Japan pavilion you'll find giant anime/cartoon characters constructed from animal skeletons).  Oh well, I guess I'll just have to visit Venice again in two years time...

Holiday Slideshow: Dubrovnik, Croatia

I adore Croatia and I especially adore Dubrovnik (doesn't everyone?).  It was our third visit here and it just made me want to come back and spend a lazy Summer month exploring the little back streets of the old town, jumping off rocks into that stunning Mediterranean Adriatic water, and whiling away afternoons with a gelato and a cool beverage.  Unfortunately we only had half a day so we couldn't quite do all of that, though we did do most of it (including the leaping off rocks bit - well, I didn't leap but others did!).  Even with the summer hordes and the stinking hot heat, Dubrovnik was as beautiful as ever.

Holiday Slideshow: Istanbul, Turkey

It was this stop on our cruise itinerary that gave us our 'Song of the Trip', which was of course Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants.  It was also this stop that I was most looking forward too.  My husband has been lucky enough to get to Istanbul three times previously, but I'd never been and it's probably been number one on my 'cities I want to visit list' (followed very closely by Chicago.  And St Petersburg.  And Jerusalem.  And...).

Istanbul did not disappoint.  It was sprawling and beautiful and delicious (and surprisingly clean and organised).  And chock full of aesthetic inspiration.  I think I have 100 photos of painted tiles - the colours, the patterns!  Oh my!  We spent most of our time at the Topkapi Palace (if you ever go there, it is well worth paying the extra money to see the Harem), but also managed to have a look at the Basilica Cistern and The Grand Bazaar.  I can't wait to return to Istanbul one day...