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Sunday, September 7, 2014

A visit to Busan - Day 4



Busan Day 4 - our last day in Busan was a laid back, "let's see what we see" kind of day.  We slept in late and then I headed to the beach with the boy for a last dip in the sea.  After Wednesday's rain, it was a beautiful, clear morning.



On the way to the beach, we stumbled through a TV shoot for a new KBS Korean Drama called "Ironman" (Blade-man, in English).  From a quick online search, it seems the plot centers around a man who has iron blades protruding from his body, as a result of the pain in his heart, and a woman who hopes to help him.  No knives for this scene, but I loved how the actor (I think it was the lead, Lee Dong-wook), wore comfy, neon sneakers for the filming with his suit!





I saw the cameras and large crew blocking the exit, quickly grabbed Michael before he ran for the automatic revolving door, and asked the concierge if we could leave.  He directed us out a side door, which still had us walking through the equipment and crew, and we made a run for it when I heard the director yell, "CUTTA!"   Whew - to the beach!




We headed back, packed up, and said goodbye to Haeundae.  We opted to take a taxi back to Busan Station and saw some interesting landmarks along the way.



The UN Monument at the crossroads outside Busan Museum and Busan Cultural Center

We had about two hours before our train left, so we stowed our luggage in a train station locker, and decided to explore the area surrounding the station.  The outside fountains were on this day, so I snapped a few photos.  There was a group of women playing percussion instruments and singing in front of it, showing support for the Sewol victim's families and calling for reform.



The different elements of the fountain each stands for something.

Across the street from the station is Busan's China Town, marked with large ornamental gateways.



It was pretty quiet at that time of day (and year), but we admired the 
wall murals and various statues along the way.










We decided to stop at a small restaurant for a delicious lunch of steamed dumplings, 
garlic chicken, and fried rice.



The decor was a hodgepodge of patterns, and I couldn't resist taking a picture of the wall paper, as the  colors just really appealed to me.


We saw a sign for an area called the Forty Steps, so we trudged down the street and found an area of shops, statues, and eateries.  This was historically a meeting place where refugees and wharf men used to wait for their families during the Korean War. 






We climbed the spiraling ramp and then found the 40 Steps for our descent back to the main street.






After that, we had had our fill of trekking around, so we jumped on the subway for a quick ride back to Busan Station, headed inside and boarded our train.  We relaxed, ate snacks, and tried to keep Michael quiet so he wouldn't wake the sleeping baby on the table in front of us!


Well, that's about it - I'm all blogged out for the moment!  
Hope you enjoyed reading our posts about Busan - we had a great trip!






2 comments:

  1. Looks like a great trip, really fun pictures! Glad you had a good time.

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    1. We did - there is so much to do there, we may have to plan a second trip!

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