A palace in the middle of the city

After a sufficient amount of sleep to counter the jet lag, the first agenda item was to meet with the coffee nerd and his coach (or coachess? I’ll just stick with coach).

Picked up from the hotel and quickly dropping off our luggage, we headed to a café where the two were supposed to meet an acquaintance from the competition the day before.

Since we still had more than enough time and happened to pass by Gyeongbokgung Palace, we thought: Why not take a quick look inside?

So we strolled through the expansive grounds, admired the throne room, and wandered through the gardens, which were, for me, the little highlight of the visit.

Especially the many people in traditional Hanboks enhanced the atmosphere even more.

When it finally became time, we made our way back and met the acquaintance as planned at the café. An hour and many deep discussions about coffee later (in which, as a non-coffee person, I couldn't really contribute much), it was time for an afternoon snack.

With freshly gifted coffee beans from Malaysia and growing hunger in our bags, we set out to find food – not an easy task. The coffee nerd's coach eats vegan, and it seems that vegan food is not easy to find in South Korea, especially between 3 PM and 5 PM, as many restaurants are on break during this time. After an hour of fruitless searching, we finally ended up with bagels and tomato soup for the vegan and topped bagels for the rest.

A subsequent walk through Seoul led us past tall buildings, wide streets, and the predictably huge neon signs.

And it ended – of course – back in a café, where we waited for the bus to the airport with three types of coffee to say goodbye to the coach.

After that, the coffee nerd and I were back on our own. After a quick dinner, we walked back to the hotel to unwind and end the day relaxing there.