Spring Has Sprung.... FINALLY!

  For months I have waited, sometimes not so patiently, but it appears finally Spring has arrived!  The trees are budding, the grass is turning greener and it is no longer below freezing at night.  Flowers are coming up everywhere.

 Last weekend we went to Yeouido Park for the Cherry Blossom Spring Festival.  The park is in Seoul so we started out early to try to beat some of the crowd.  We didn't, there were people all over,  but it was still fun.  The weather cooperated nicely with temperatures in the low 60's F.  The sun was out and the sky was clear.  The trees were absolutely stunning, it was like they blossomed overnight!

The tiny blossoms up close.

 The fragrance of the blossoms was incredible, although we had to get away from the street food vendors.  I was glad we brought our own snacks since they were serving up roasted silk worms on every corner (and they smell like roasted gym socks).   An older gentleman even tried to get us to taste one.  We declined as politely as we could but the look of disgust on David's face was priceless!  The guy was lucky I responded before David could since I knew a very loud "eeeewwww" was on it's way out of his mouth when he saw the worms.

The trees were beautiful!

Trees and a glimpse of the crowd.

   I can tell we have been in Korea for a long time.  The crowds don't bother us as much as they used to. 

Jason got this one.. if you look close you can see the moon rising above the trees.

     Once we got to the part that was blocked off from traffic, the crowd opened up and you could really see things. 

Traditional Korean Drums:  They actually weren't too loud and were amazingly coordinated between drumming and dancing!

  There were performers everywhere!  Music bands played on corner stages.  Some dancers were performing on the street.  We stopped and watched some drummers and they were amazing. 

  In addition to the performers there were flower displays, in both containers and beds.  Plus we had a great time with a sculpture competition.  Basically we had fun seeing everything!  It was great to be outside after the long winter.  I can see why they have a spring festival and celebrate its arrival.

Some of the many containers full of flowers!

The flower beds were narrow strips full of flowers that seemed to go on and on!

Close up of flower bed.

Street sculpture that's actually part of a competition.  The winner gets their sculpture made full size somewhere in Seoul.

This is the one I liked the most.

Would love to know the meaning behind this one!  No matter what its pretty with all that gold!

   All in all it was a beautiful day in Seoul with everyone!  The weather was nice, the flowers were beautiful and it was great to be out of the apartment experiencing the sites of Korea!  We capped off the amazing day with dinner at "On The Border" near the COEX Shopping Mall in Seoul.  I haven't had Mexican food in 8 months so it tasted fantastic!  Also, we had never dined at the one in Austin so I can't compare the food.  All I know for sure is that it was a fitting meal to finish off a fabulous day!