Seoul is a huge city that requires many days to enjoy thoroughly. I spent 3 years of my life living there, and couldn't see it all - go figure. So if time is an issue for your visit, I put together here a short guide for a pleasant and slow-paced afternoon in Seoul - with places I think are interesting for taking a look. It will give you a slight feeling of Seoul's soul, calmly.

Take the subway from anywhere you are in Seoul and get off at City Hall Station, line 1 or 2 (it's a downtown station, so it will not be difficult to find). Leaving the subway station, you'll face a big gray ugly building in a corner of a spacious plaza. That's the Seoul City Hall. In the plaza you can find numerous artists and bands performing traditional Korean music for tourists. Take some minutes to appreciate that, it's worth it as a first encounter with real Korean music.

The gray City Hall building, and Korean traditional music being played at the plaza.

In front of the plaza, there's a tall brick wall with a traditional gate in Korean architecture style: it's the entrance for the Deoksugung Palace, where they perform daily at 1 pm the ceremony for the change of the royal guard. Colorful uniforms in old Korean style are worn and a large decorated drum marks the rhythm of the ceremony, carried out according to the Joseon dynasty rules. Even the Korean residents stop by the sidewalk to watch. The palace grounds are a national historic site, with a complex of Korean style pavilions and one very westernized building, the Art Museum Deoksugung. It takes half an hour to enjoy the gallery there, if you're not very into modern art.

Change of the Guard Ceremony at Deoksugung Palace entrance gate.

Spend some time in the palace garden, its really worth the peaceful atmosphere in the heart of the downtown area. Walk around the traditional paths - imagine the royal family doing the same there centuries before. After leaving the park, walk towards the mountains (north) on the right side of the street, and you'll see a stream between a bunch of steel-and-glass buildings. That's the Cheonggyecheon, the stream recuperated recently in order to renovate Seoul's urban area. The stream was covered with cement during the 60's and now, reopened, made into a pleasant walking park, with small waterfalls, rest areas and a wall covered in tiles with Korean-style drawings telling the history of Korea from all dynasties to nowadays. It's really worth seeing.

Cheonggyeochong stream in the heart of Seoul downtown.

When you reach the end of the de-urbanized stream, take the stairway on your right side. You will find yourself in Myeong-dong, a neighborhood mixed with fancy stores and little alleys with nice Korean restaurants. You will smell kimchi everywhere you walk here - and if you enjoy extremely spicy food, try the most important Korean food item. Some streets in this neighborhood are only for pedestrians, and ask at the Information Stand where the Gelateria Gusttimo is located. Gusttimo has the best ice cream in Seoul (perhaps in Asia?), so forget about your diet for a while and enjoy a big cone there. They are made without sugar and you have the choice of more than 30 flavors.

Gelatteria Gusttimo in Myeong-dong, a neighborhood with small alleys and some traditional restaurants.

By the end of this walk, it's probably night already. Hopefully, you will have enjoyed the quick look around Seoul's downtown area and may plan another not-so-quick visit.

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- Welcome, dear readers of the Carnival of the Cities! My blog is written in Brazilian Portuguese. I'm a scientist, a diver and a traveler, so these are the basic themes of my posts. Feel free to browse around or see some of the pictures I publish here on this link. Comments are made on the link "X viajaram comigo" ("traveled with me" in Portuguese), by the end of the post. Once in a blue moon I write in English in order to interact a bit with the inspiring english-speaking blogsphere. Hopefully, this will become a good habit. Enjoy!

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- Esse post é a versão em inglês desse post aqui, escrito no ano passado. Traduzi-o para (tentar) participar do Carnival of the Cities dessa semana, que será hospedado num dos blogs de ciência que eu mais gosto, o Living the Scientific Life, comandado pela Grrl Scientist.

E preparando esse post me ocorreu a seguinte idéia: por que não fazemos um "blog carnival" sobre cidades em versão língua portuguesa? Comentei a idéia com o Bender, ele achou interessante e decidimos propor aqui a todos o seguinte convite para o dia 29/fevereiro, sexta agora: submetam o link para seus posts escritos durante o mês de fevereiro sobre uma cidade (vale qualquer assunto sobre qualquer cidade de pelo menos 50,000 habitantes) para o email do blog (mallablog ARROBA gmail PONTO com), que a gente os agrega em um post único no dia 29/fevereiro lá no Goitacá. Assim, você participa da primeira edição do "Mundo de cidades", o carnaval das cidades versão língua de Camões! Se der certo, poderemos fazer todo fim de mês. Que tal?

Conto com a participação de todos!!!