Beautiful Daegu

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting Daegu, a city southeast of my school. One of my Korean friends invited a myself and two other Americans to go to her home city and explore the culture of Korea there. Early in the morning, we made our way to the train station in Jochiwon and prepared for the two hour train ride down to Daegu. 

We ate at a delicious Korean cafe with a wide array of 반찬 (side dishes). The main dish was various vegetables, some meat, and some 떡(traditional Korean rice cake). The rice was a very special kind, wrapped in a lotus leaf and had various nuts and other goodies inside. This kind of rice is called 연밥. It was delicious.

This cafe also had a small museum attached. There was a room full of various types of dried teas.

Another room had naturally shaped rocks.

This type of wind chime is said to help protect a house because a fish never closes it's eyes. The cafe had a few of these around and they were all fantastically painted and beautiful.

Among many other traditional items in the small museum, there was a case that had traditional pillows.

My friend's mother explaining to us that this is a traditional tea table. The tea is poured out and the extra runoff goes down that hole at the bottom and drains out. 

The cafe is beautifully situated. 

There were many pots outside for kimchi and many other types of foods.

After going to the cafe, we went to a traditional tea room. The grounds were gorgeous, with many plants and trees.

The grounds had a pond full of lilies and lotuses.

The room we sat in was beautiful.

More 떡, just a different variety. These were also delicious and had a filling.

Some 팥빙수, which is shaved ice, with red beans, fruit, and sometimes ice cream.

Iced red tea and syrup.

Daegu is an absolutely gorgeous place. Everywhere we went was green and beautiful. It felt hot, but slightly less humid than Jochiwon. After the tea house, we went to an art museum and then to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Surprisingly, it was not too different from what we have in Colorado. There were a few Korea-specific items on the menu, but not as many as I had expected. After a long train ride back, I was past ready for bed. But I would do it all over again for the delicious food, gorgeous views, and good company.

Check out my flickr for more pictures of Daegu and the rest of my trip thus far in Korea!