Not Lunch.<\/p><\/div>\n

Generally speaking, my idea of planning a day of inner-city exploration used to begin and end with\u00a0grabbing a map on the way out the hotel door. \u00a0 That way, when I inevitably end up at some unknown\u00a0location at\u00a0the corner of Walk<\/em> and Do<\/em>n’t Walk,<\/em>\u00a0post happy-hour with a dead phone battery, out comes the map and I’m on my way back to the hotel.<\/p>\n

Years of traveling with my favourite travel buddy, the ever-inspired and ever-organized Sylvie, have instilled in me the virtue of including some well vetted pit-stops dotted along the city map. \u00a0After all, a city’s gems or great whole-food and veggie friendly stops are not always easily stumbled upon. \u00a0Alas, a creature reverts to its habits and I was flying solo this weekend.<\/p>\n

Opting to find a quick lunch on the go while exploring, I hit the local farmer’s markets near the hotel to see what was on offer. \u00a0In 2015, the fourth anniversary of Seoul Farmer’s Markets, some 340 opened in parks and urban spaces around Seoul so they are rather easy to find.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As it turns out, onions and garlic are both very popular at Seoul farmer’s markets… I’ve never seen so many in one place! \u00a0Unfortunately, raw onions aren’t the best as\u00a0a quick road-side lunch (unless of course you are former Australian PM Tony Abbott<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ginger, seaweed, and various mystery roots were all in high demand but not quite what I had in mind for my mid-day meal. \u00a0I’ll spare you the photos of the fish market, but suffice to say that didn’t do the trick either. \u00a0Learning on the fly, I discovered that vegetarians seeking a grab-and-go lunch were going to be underserved at the farmer’s market I happened upon, despite it being several blocks square. \u00a0The street food, some cooked and some less-so, looked decidedly unsafe for a plant-based diet, and without a translator I opted to trust my instincts. \u00a0If I could only read the signs, I would have made note to try one of the other 339 farmer’s markets the next time I am in town.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Resigned, I ducked into the shopping mall across the street to smile and point to the first thing that said vegetarian, a strawberry banana smoothie.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Fuelled up by a very utilitarian beverage, I consulted my map and headed off towards\u00a0Changdeokgung Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for some good old fashioned sight seeing. \u00a0Dating back to the 1400’s, it is one of the Five Grand Palace’s built by the Joseon dynasty and a stunning example of far east architecture. \u00a0Lunch may not have been a home run, but the day’s adventure certainly was.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Readers, where should I have gone to find a delicious vegetarian lunch\u00a0in Seoul? \u00a0Let me know below!<\/p>\n

Next time, I’ll be sure to bring Sylvie along,\u00a0do my\u00a0homework, and plan\u00a0more than 24\u00a0hours to look around. \u00a0The energy of Seoul was incredible; there is so much to see. \u00a0I look forward to a return visit so we can share a full Sails & Spices experience with you.<\/p>\n

Signing off\u00a0for now,\u00a0but\u00a0as always… travel safe out there and heed all warning signs:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is nothing quite like those moments where you find yourself somewhere so foreign it reminds you: I’m a pretty good traveler, but I’m not\u00a0that good. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[38,26,34],"tags":[96,95,97],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.sailsandspices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/DSC_0090.jpg?fit=1024%2C685&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7DJI0-cL","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailsandspices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailsandspices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailsandspices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailsandspices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailsandspices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailsandspices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1166,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailsandspices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791\/revisions\/1166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailsandspices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailsandspices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailsandspices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailsandspices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}