N Seoul Tower

I told Joe that as much as I love our weekends away in Seoul, it creates a lot of blog work for me! We just get so busy exploring, I don't fully comprehend how much we are doing until we are back home and I'm combing through the 150 pictures I took over the course of 2 days.
So, forgive my slow trickle of information and updates about our explorations.  I have been trying to break them down to give you a chance to savor each morsel-- and prevent me from spending hours at the computer on an entry that may be classified as a small novel!

This is the third (and last) installment from our trip to Seoul in Februaury (although we've already been back for Joe's birthday...so, I'm woefully behind STILL!).  On this weekend, we visited the fish market and stayed in the Korean Hanok, so if you haven't read about those two experiences, just go back to my handy-dandy list of posts and you'll find them.  Just like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, in order to fully appreciate the scope of the weekend, you should read all three back to back! :0)

Our last activity of the day was N Seoul Tower, a communication tower that perches atop a mountain in the south of the city and is this peninsula's version of the Space Needle.  Orginally erected to serve a very practical purpose, N Seoul Tower has become the most recognizable icon of Seoul, and draws hundreds of thousands of tourists every day.

We chose to hike up the mountain at night when the tower is illuminated and the views of the lights of Seoul are spectacular.  Of course, waiting until dark also meant that we were at the end of a very full day-- and the kids were running very low on energy.  You can imagine their response when we surfaced from the subway and they saw the mountain that we were going to clamber up.  Every step brought a chorus of "my legs are tired!" and "I. can't. take. another. step."  (Please say these last two phrases in your whiniest and most dramatic voice and you will begin to understand what we were dealing with! Probably not our best parental strategy to date, but you live and learn!).

It was a beautiful, clear night with crisp air that required jackets even as our heart rates climbed, and we were not alone as we took on nearly a mile of stairs and pathway to the top of the mountain.  In true "Korean form" we marched up Namsan along people who were young and old-- which was simultaneously inspiring and humbling.



And the view at the top...



well, it was breath taking.

Not only were we treated to the juxtaposition between modern and ancient as N Seoul Tower rose like a giant blue asparagus from behind the squat and slanted rooftop of a traditional pavilion, but the lights of Seoul spread like a picnic blanket of twinkling lights beneath our feet in every direction. (As poetic as it sounds, our hearts were still pounding from what felt like a nearly vertical summit...and it took us all a good 5 minutes to catch our breath before it could be taken away again!)

The tower also serves as a canvas for a reoccurring electronic slide show with music and crazy Korean graphics. We were 

treated to fish swimming in the sea, break dancers, pinballs pinging their way around the tower, and 

tetris-esque blocks stacking one on top of the other 

until the tower was full.  The kids were mesmerized-- and Joe and I were thankful for a distraction that turned their attention from their "aching legs".  

The fence around the base of the tower is also a sight to see has hundreds of thousands of padlocks have been attached to the chain links to symbolize the undying (or at least just beginning...) love of young couples from around the world.  Apparently inspired by a segment on a Korean sitcom when the lead couple makes their relationship "official" by putting a lock with both their names on the fence at the base of N Seoul Tower, it is a trend that has exploded with popularity-- and translates to walls and walls of rainbow colored "love locks" that surround the tower.

It's amazing to contemplate that each lock represents two people who have journeyed together to stand atop Namsan mountain and proclaim to the world their love for each other-- it does give me a great deal of hope in this world that seems riddled with evil and hate.  Here, on a mountaintop on the tiny Korean peninsula are thousands of beautiful proclamations of hearts joined, if even for a moment, by something that is so much greater than themselves.

Conveniently, you can purchase a lock in the gift shop if you happen to forget yours-- or feel spontaneously moved to make a declaration of love.  According to tradition, you are also supposed to deposit the key into a steel box near the tower so that the lock remains forever in place as a public testimony.  While it is now a commercial enterprise, and trend driven, there is something awe-inspiring, innocent.....and lovely....about all of these locks.  Something akin to not being afraid to wear your heart on your sleeve.

We had to traverse the same 1600 meters in reverse to get back to the subway, but somehow the downhill journey went much quicker-- and we were met with far less resistance!  Namsan mountain is one of the most southern mountains that encircle Seoul, and is also one of the smallest.  We may as well have summited Mt. Everest that night, with as tough as the uphill climb felt.... even though we know we were miles away from that mega-moutain, the views from Namsan were phenomenal..... and the memories are even better.