Have metro card, will travel...with my list of places to see in hand, i decided to go to Jagalchi Market. The largest fish market in all of Korea, and I could see why...When you enter, you don't know which way to go first!  Fresh fish to the left, fresh fish to the right, more fish upstairs!  it went on forever!  on a clear day you could see gifilte fish!  oy!  anyway, back to my story...i was completely bewildered. Fish of all sizes and varities. if you're hungry, you can buy the fish, and they will cook it for you. There's an eating area overlooking the water one flight up. i got there way before lunch time, so I didn't order anything to eat. next visit...

Walking around with my camera in tow was a bit of a challenge. the floors are wet. hoses are constantly filling and draining baskets of fish. you've got to keep very steady. i took lots of pictures. again, except for one or two vendors, no one allows you to take their picture. want to photograph my fish?  go ahead.  you want me in the picture too?  no thank you. i'm going to have to start to get a little crafty from here on out...

Exit the indoor fish market and explore the outdoor fish market only a few feet away. more vendors selling things i've never seen before. click. click. click. snap. snap. snap. great stuff. A few hours of this and i'm ready to head home. no longer at the market, but ready for lunch, i find a nice little spot. i do my usual. order something that has an interesting looking picture attached. my server is trying to communicate something even the translator i carry can't translate. we muddle through. he cooks my meal at the table. it looks great. i taste it. my lips are pissed!  if they could speak, they'd want to know what they ever did to deserve this...waiter, I'd like to order your finest fire extinguisher please!

And so it goes...a morning visit to an amazing place where i saw maybe one or two foreigners. Actually, i met a family from Albany.  They were visiting their son who teaches english in seoul. that brough the foreigner count up to about six! gotta love it.

I'll leave you with this, and tell you about the awesome experience that followed in another blog. 

ddo bwayo,

Donna.