#ssamziegil

Ssamziegil

Quote of the Day : “Do you think that bird knows he’s in Korea?”

This morning we wanted to do something before we got our bags because we didn't want to go all the way (its about 30 minutes to the hustle and bustle of the city) into Seoul to come all the way back just to do it again. So we went to Insadong after our host gave us black coffee and a chocolate muffin for breakfast. Fun fact, my mother does not drink coffee so I drank both of ours. Maybe I started to sweat, maybe I didn't, you'll never know. Anyways we took the train to Insadong to spend the day looking around.

In the subway station, I saw an older lady with a backpack with the world map on it. I love maps so of course I liked it. I pointed it out to my mom and said I wonder where she got it. As soon as we walked out of the subway station and took a turn there was a stall that had the backpack. Needless to say I now own that backpack. Also right outside the subway station was someone handpainting fans and personalizing them. I got one with my name (클레어) on it that also has a poem.

Once we were walking down the street, I told my mom that after we explore the immediate area for a bit then we can go find Ssamziegil. As soon as I said that we were right in front of it. We went inside and looked around, got some poop bread and continued exploring.

 On our way back to the subway station we were interviewed by 3 different groups of teenagers for some school project. They asked why we were in Korea, what we wanted to do, our first impressions, and the foods we liked.

Ssamziegil is a collection of shops and workshops that feature a variety of cafes, galleries and fun shops.  The things for sale here are locally made and you’ll be hard pressed to find a traditional souvenir here.  

Ssamziegil or sometimes romanized as Ssamzigil (쌈지길) is one of my favorite places to shop in Seoul -or, really, Korea in general. It’s a spiraling walkway of fun shops. Lots of handmade crafts but, mostly, it’s cute stuff and I wanna buy everything. It’s over 70 shops including handicraft stores, souvenir shops, art galleries, restaurants, and more.

Hours: 10:30am - 8:30pm

Address: 서울특별시 종로구 인사동길 44 (관훈동) 44, Insadong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul