New Seoul: Blog 55 - 10th November

Autumn continues with unseasonal warmth. Yes, I know I have been going on and on about autumn, however, after a very short autumn last year and such a long hot and humid summer, this season, here called the man's season, is a welcome respite before winter. My favourite tree and fruit at the moment is persimmons. This photo was taken outside the Persimmon Cafe at Seoul Arts Centre. I wonder how our perssimon tree in our Adelaide garden is going? Damien gave it to me for my birthday last year after the sad demise of persimmon tree number one.

We are regulars at the Seoul Arts Centre. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra is coming next week so of course we have tickets.

These images are from the foyer of the Cultural Instute of Italy in Seoul where we were invited to a concert to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Nino Rota. We had never heard of him, however, we enjoyed the modern clasical music and seeing inside this wonderful building. The seat above is designed by the world famous Iraqui born architect Zaha Hadid. Not sure how comfortable it would be!

The staircase from a foyer view.

Can you see the glass lift ascending to the 5 storey height?

Seoul Forest was formerly a racecourse and is now converted into a huge park and located in the centre of the city. We walked around for hours and felt that we were really away from it. Here is Spiderman climbing the skypscraper!

The park fronts the Han River with its myriad of bridges and curving roads elegantly alongside.

How delightful to see kids playing and actually getting dirty. Most people in Seoul live in apartments and have never had to luxury of a backyard to play in.

The sculpture park is an honouring of past races.

Lots of walking paths zigzag all over the place.

My friend Hilary invited me to her traditional Korean concert in which she was performing. She is pictured below playing the haegeum, a two stringed bowed instrumnt. This ameteur group was extremely professional and the personal small centre was packed.