Landing at O’Hare International Airport.
Chicago greets travelers with lakefront skylines, global commerce, and Midwestern energy.
IST → AGP → LIS → ORD —
a route connecting the Bosphorus, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and the American Midwest.
#Chicago
#ORD
#GlobalJourney
#TravelThread
Pagodas in the park.
Most of the palaces in the cities are recreations, what the Japanese didn't destroy the Korean War did (meant to mention that earlier).
These were quite a hike to get to!
#travelthread
I do like the elevator just kludged in at the edge of the crosswalk.
Nice stream, then temple, then rocky trail, then so. many. stairs.
Many people were impressed with my kiddo-carrying.
#travelthread
Then wife went to do conference things and I went for a backpack hike! First I got a … bagel? The joke must have landed better in Korean. The bagel was nothing to write home about but came with red beans because of course it did.
More stroad waiting for the bus!
#travelthread
Views from the only daytime KTX we'll ride. And the bustling Daejeon station an hour later. Train was packed, one of us sat with the napping and then not-napping kiddo in a vestibule (having swapped with a standee; there were several), the other in an assigned seat.
#travelthread
Everything else is level boarding with platform doors.
Such an own goal to have the high speed rail have steps.
(I mean, even the Acelas are level boarding. The one thing the US does well, when forced by ADA or the Pennsy.)
#travelthread
Anyway, off to KTX our way to Daejeon.
Boarding.
Very Korean safety video (more Japanimation than Japan!)
Crossing the Han
Wait is this an interurban?
#travelthread
It's also a good place to see the old Seoul train station and … oh god more huge roads.
Seoul seems to do a lot of things right and we only saw a tiny piece but they definitely did some damage to the city with huge stroads!
#travelthread
It's obviously an old highway when you look at the structure, has great views of the city, and little cafes tucked into pieces of it.
#travelthread
The Bachle in Freiburg (see this old #travelthread bsky.app/profile/ofse...) are gravity fed and date back hundreds of years. I assume this uses electric pumps. It's a little bit silly, but 100% works. Urban streams are good!
Anyway, they've put that road into a tunnel and there's a nice path/park on top of it, but also this sidewalk tunnel parallel below it.
Lunch was matcha and red bean shaved ice. 10/10 would recommend. Otherwise, we're not doing so hot finding good food :(
#travelthread
The palace used to be connected to a shrine, but the Japanese built a road between them and demolished a bunch of the palace. (The Koreans seem to feel about the Japanese as the Dutch—and others—feel about the Germans, if the Germans had been there for several decades.)
#travelthread
Orphaned pagoda in a traffic circle.
Not a stroad.
Next palace (clearing out now, very bright)
Wall of the palace with a stream people used to do laundry in that now is covered by city streets and eventually empties into the former-highway-stream.
#travelthread
We did get there in time for the changing of the palace guards, which featured instruments almost as annoying as bagpipes, a huge drum, and tourists getting yelled at staff for blocking the way to take photos. And cute Korean school kids.
Oh and a protest I can get behind.
#travelthread
The US does this worst by not having lockers at train stations at all. Europe is generally great with plentiful lockers (Japan, too, although I haven't used them as extensively). But if the advice is "get there early or they'll be full" then … add more.
#travelthread
So now I have a bunch of won to use for transit and whatever else. Anyway, herein ends my rant about paying for Korean transit. Actually using it has been fine!
Now since we made our flight we had time to kill in Seoul.
#travelthread
Okay so we got to Seoul.
I did not do this.
It was foggy.
If you’re going to build a new airport rail link with an underground terminus maybe build enough elevators! This shouldn’t be hard.
#travelthread
(I never finished my Japan #travelthread, maybe I’ll start this one here and get back to the other.)
Okay so KTX is about as expected. Slow in the city on legacy trackage shared with commuter EMUs. Paris with new buildings and more mountains.
And local safety videos.
Giant Buddha! More tram. Rickshaw (the romance of the hansom cab without the guilt or the dander of the equine), temple.
#travelthread
Trams. Shrines. Ocean view from trams. Koi. (This is in Kamakura, trains were taken there and back obvi.)
#travelthread
Alas, not.
More trains, and then something called the pudding research institute? I would like a job there.
Then to see cousins. Would we like to ride a tram? Well, twist my arm.
#travelthread
We woke up early, joined other Americans for 5 am ramen, and scoped out the conference site (and how to get there).
This includes very full subway trains on the minatomirai line and attendants with white gloves. Would they push?
#travelthread
Even non-train infrastructure. Like highways built in rivers.
And an homage to Bill Simmons.
#travelthread
Picking up where we left off a month ago … we landed at HND and made our way on the Keikyu Line to Yokohama where my wife had a conference. Many trains were spotted. Grade crossings with frequent trains. Where to stand for each train type. Love it.
#travelthread
Required mobile lounge photo and then ALASKA.
(Where are we going? Hint: many trains.)
#travelthread
More southie
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
Springfield
Barkhamstead Reservoir (the Quabbin of Connecticut)
#travelthread
Very belated #travelthread now that I’ve downloaded Bsky’s app since the phone browser kept crashing when I tried to upload photos.
We left BOS on a bright and sunny day for a quick jaunt to IAD, despite the DEN cowboy hat.
Southie sighted!
