63 빌딩 | 63 Building

Our friend Katie got us in touch with her friend Louise, who had only very recently moved over to Seoul. On her list of "things to do" she wanted to go up a tall building, so I found the 63 Building.

It's a modern landmark overlooking the Han River, built for the Seoul Olympics. It has all kinds of credits, including being one of South Korea's tallest buildings, previously the tallest building outside of North America (the 63 in its name refers to its 63 floors), and the tallest gold-clad structure in the world. Yup, that faint orange tint in the picture above should actually gleam bright orange-gold on a sunny day, especially at sunset. I'd love to see that one day!

We met at the station and headed towards the river, following my (probably poor) directions. After a while, we saw the 63 Building, rising up out of the mass of apartment blocks and started to head towards it. I'm not sure how, but every time we seemed to get close, it would suddenly be on the other side of us, as if it were deliberately avoiding us.

Which is ridiculous, but still.

After a bit of confusion as to where we should buy tickets, we worked it out (which included queuing to grab a ticket which would in turn allow us to...queue up...to buy a ticket?), grabbed tickets, and went up to the observation deck.

It was kind of strange to see everything looking so peaceful and still.

There were a lot of people up there, including a school trip of elementary-age children, so it was a little crowded but we still had plenty of time to wander slowly and take a good look around.

The building is surrounded by sweeping, open spaces and wide roads that make it look like a kid's play mat from up high.

The observation deck goes 360° round the building, letting you see Seoul from all directions.