Day 4- Songdo Central Park (Nature)

The familiar beep of my alarm jolted me awake at 6:00am, and I was ready to snooze it and go back to bed as if it was a regular day, but after a couple seconds I realized that we’re not in North Carolina, we’re in South Korea! I was so excited for today, we were going to Songdo Central Park! I had seen an ungodly amount of pictures of the lush green trees, the river, and the villages nearby. I woke up Anisha and Shreya by throwing a pillow at them, and took the blankets off of Isabella and Kaitlyn’s bed. We all fought over who got the first dibs on the bathroom (Isabella won) and took turns until all of us were ready. At 7:30, we went down to the first floor of the airport and found a McDonalds and KFC right next to each other to eat some breakfast. Shreya of course went straight for the KFC and bought a twelve piece bucket of chicken drumsticks to share with all of us while Anisha and I went to McDonalds to order three plates of pancakes. We all sat down at a table in the food court and gladly ate all of our food. Afterwards, we packed some more food to use later on in the day.

KFC at Incheon International Airport

After our meal, we went to go catch the 8:15 bus 6707B that would take us to Songdo Central Park. During the walk to the bus station, we noticed how perfect the weather was in Incheon today; it was about 45 degrees in the morning, and Kaitlyn checked her phone to see that the high was 70 degrees. A wonderful day to be roaming around a park. We were all exhausted from the mountain yesterday, so during the one hour and thirty five minute bus ride to Songdo, we all took a nap. At 9:50, the bus driver announced on the speakers that we were approaching Songdo Central Park, and we all suddenly felt awake again. It was quite surprising to see all the skyscrapers around us, but that would soon all change. One of the most shocking parts about Songdo Central Park is that it is located in the heart of Songdo. The park is a break from the seemingly endless amount of skyscrapers and towers that encompass it, and it was inspired by New York City’s Central Park. It covers about 101 acres of land and has a man made canal, sculptures, and impressive architecture. The official opening was held in August of 2009 and has been a tourist hit ever since. The nature in the park is extremely significant because of the various campsites, and different types of trees, one of which is the Cherry Blossom tree, which blooms around the first two weeks of April, which is when we are visiting right now. The park also has a rain saving facility to save water consumption, and has parking lots located underground to help reduce carbon emissions. As we reached the park, I saw a break in the line of buildings and the shimmer of the sun on the seawater canal. The beautiful bow bridge, which is a common occurrence in Korean gardens, going over the canal was a picture perfect spot for the heart of Songdo.

Bow Bridge in Songdo Central Park

Shreya immediately saw a poster on the side of a building advertising BTS, and took out her phone to take selfies with the building. We first went on a walk around the park, looking at the various sculptures and statues around the park, and taking enough pictures to fill up all our storage. There was a piano sculpture that I was immediately drawn to, and I shoved my phone into Kaitlyn’s hands and asked her to take pictures.

Piano Sculpture at Songdo Central Park

The walk around the park would only have taken thirty minutes if we had kept on walking, but we stopped about every five feet to take pictures. I think the best part about the greenery was the fact that we came in April; the cherry blossom trees were an unreal beauty to our eyes.

Cherry Blossom Trees in Songdo Central Park

The walk ended up taking an hour and a half, and we were back at the bus stop at 11:30. We decided to go to an Italian restaurant called La Campagna for lunch. It was just across the street from the park, so we decided to walk. We ordered three pizzas to share: one margherita, one funghi, and one gorgonzola. The margherita one was with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, the funghi one had Korean mushrooms, and the gorgonzola one was full of cheese. It was extremely interesting for all of us to see Korea’s take on Italian food.

Margherita Pizza

Funghi Pizza

Gorgonzola Pizza

By the time we had finished with our lunch, it was 12:45, and we headed on a bus to the NC Cube Canal Walk. The bus ride took about half an hour, so we reached there at around 1:15. We found out that NC Cube Canal has four buildings based on each season. There’s one for Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring. It has restaurants, shopping centers, cafés, and the whole attraction has a “river” running through it with many fountains.

NC Cube Canal Walk

We mostly window shopped, but we found a cheap place to buy socks with cute little animals on them. Kaitlyn went for the one with a cat, and Shreya found a one with a duck on it.

Sock Shop in NC Cube Canal Walk

The shopping took almost two hours, and by 3:00, we all headed to the bus stop to catch the next bus back to central park. We had planned to go boating in the canal in Songdo Central Park at around 3:45, so we were right on schedule. We reached back at the park at around 3:45, and we got settled in a “family boat” for a ride that would take approximately half an hour. The whole view of the park was different while you were in a boat. We even got to go under the bridge that would light up tonight while we were still here. Shreya started having a photo shoot and everyone tried to steal my phone, which had undoubtedly the best camera. The bright pink cherry blossom trees made us all thank Kaitlyn for suggesting that we go in April. The flower festival is going to be a blast! However, I think the best part of the boat ride was when Anisha pointed out an advertisement of BTS on the side of a canoe, and Shreya got so excited that she almost toppled the entire boat.

Boating Ride in Songdo Central Park

The boat ride sadly ended at around 4:15, and we were ready for the next part of our adventure. We walked to the nearby village, called Hanok Village, and took a leisurely stroll, as we wanted to wait until the sunset before we left the park. I was fascinated by the vast difference in architecture from the Americas to Korea. The style and the colors were completely different; I especially loved the roofing style of the old Korean villages.

Hanok Village

At around 6:30, we finished our stroll through the village, and we found a bench in the park to eat. We took out the food that we packed from KFC and McDonalds in the morning, and slowly munched it while looking at the ducks swimming in the canal. One of them almost attacked Shreya for her biscuit, and we were all too busy laughing to even try to help her. The sun started to set at around 7, and it was a gorgeous sight to see the sun, bridge, and canal at the same time.

Sunset in Songdo Central Park

We watched the sun set completely, and stayed for a little longer to watch the bridges and the buildings light up for the night. This is what we had been waiting for all day; Songdo at night was an absolutely breathtaking view.

Nighttime in Songdo Central Park

As the day came to an end, we caught the bus taking us to a new hotel, because the next several days of our vacation were going to be in Seoul. We took an hour and forty minutes to reach the KPOP GUESTHOUSE hotel, and by the time we had all showered and gotten ready for bed, it was about 10:00. We were exhausted from the day, but exhilarated for tomorrow.

Written by Ananya