Spring in Insadong

This morning I bundled up (yes, it is still cold) and headed out to get Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. Ah, the pleasures of urban living -- A Starbucks, a Dunkin Donuts, and a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf all within feet of my apartment building. The choices we face every day!

This is the view up the street towards Insadong (the intersection shown) and the main drag near Jongno Tower. Depending on which bus I take home, sometimes I walk down this street in the evenings, when it's filled with people and buses dashing down the road. Those green buses fly down this street, honking their horns, causing people to scramble out of the way. But in the mornings, it's calm, quiet, and nearly empty.


In the last couple of weeks, planters have mysteriously sprouted pansies and violets all through town. Here in Insadong, the concrete planters have all been filled with flowers. Although with the cold snap (apparently winter is jealous of spring and is fighting back), and the recent rain and wind, the flowers look like they've been slightly beaten lately.


One of the many local Starbucks in the area. This one is in Insadong, and is one of the few that I've seen with the sign in Korean and not English, but notice that it is still in the Starbucks green color.