Seoul Poppy Fields and a Quiet Cafe in Jamsil
If you haven't caught on already, I have a thing for fields of flowers. Perhaps it's because I grew up next to the Carlsbad flower fields that bloom stripes of bright ranunculus each spring. Or maybe it's my mind trying to break up the concreteness of my city life, drawing me to spots that make me forget I'm in a metropolis of 10 million.
Whatever the reason, I am so thankful for this little piece of Olympic Park which blooms twice a year with bright poppies and cosmos. from May to early July, the flower fields are a bright red that you won't want to miss.
I arrived around 10am, an hour later than I had arrived last September for the cosmos blooms. There were significantly more people, but since it was a chilly morning, the crowds held out until the sun came out from behind the clouds around 11:45. It was mostly professional or semi professional photographers with huge lenses taking macro shots of the poppies.
One old man even had a spray bottle which he used to spray each flower he photographed so they looked like they were covered in a gentle morning dew. Brilliant!
After taking in the poppies, I climbed to the other side of the hill to see the pink, purple, and white mix that dotted the slope. I couldn't get over how much this field looked like a painting. If the woman in the center hadn't been on her phone, this shot would have looked like a Monet brought to life!
My poppy tattoo was very happy to be among some of its own kind :)
After the hill started to fill up with more and more couples, I headed down to the rose garden. These roses are in bloom nearly all year round, with an army of older women taking care of them each day. They come armed with gloves and shovels and tend to the garden with such love!
I then hopped on a bus towards Jamsil where I stopped at the most magical cafe, 가배도 (ga-bae-do).
I arrived about five minutes before the cafe opened and there were already two couples waiting! I could smell the incense before the doors even opened and when it was finally noon we shuffled in to find our seats. I chose the comfy corner with couches which turned out to be a good choice, since the two larger rooms got noisy and crowded about thirty minutes later.
While they are known for their pannacotta and green tea tiramisu, I opted for a simple pot of tea. I chose their sakurambo and it was absolutely delicious. The tea is meant to have hints of cherry in it, hence the 'sakura' in the name, but I tasted a much stronger apricot taste which is actually my favorite flavor for tea! Each pot of tea is served in a unique teapot and I adored my white one with red accents.
I got two refills and sat back reading a book and admiring all the little details in the cafe like the tassel lamp or the cuckoo clock that chimed on the hour. While it did get quite noisy around 1pm, this was such a calming and lovely spot for a Sunday afternoon.
