Palgongsan

My friend (now roommate!) Cadena and I spent a busy weekend touring around Daegu. Most importantly, we found (after several hours and several wrong turns in our little rented car) the COSTCO!! That's right, Daegu has one, and it is Heaven:)

I know, it still says Kelly, but so does my passport, so they wouldn't change it.

Secondly, we got to took around the mountains that surround Daegu. If I haven't told you yet, this city can be exceptionally beautiful, and those places that are beautiful are the parks that surround the valley (where I live). Having a car makes getting to these places so much easier...or at least we thought it would.

Generally, I have a pretty good sense of direction. It helps that I've been living in a city built on a grid for the last 7 years - Chicago is fantastically easy to navigate once you understand the system. Daegu, however, is MUCH MUCH more difficult. Much like DC, Daegu is built in a circle...but that's where the similarity ends, because it doesn't seem like there was any planning whatsoever for this city.

Other than getting lost and finding the sites we wanted to get to whenever we didn't want to get to them, it was a fantastic weekend. Seriously! We stumbled upon so many lovely places and interesting people. A small river where families worshiped Buddha, lighting candles and offering food, money and prayers...

Yes, that is a severed pig's head with 5000 won in it's mouth. Sweet.

Palgongsan, or Mt. Palgong - which means "from the oak" - studded by temples, shrines, and the world's tallest Buddha statue...

We can't read it, but we're sure it leads to somewhere!

Inside the shrine to the world's largest Buddha statue - there are 108 stairs leading to the shrine, and there may be more Buddhas than that within

Artwork on the side of a temple

And, quite possibly, the strangest sherbet concoction I have ever tasted (just not too much of!)...

"Sherbet" FAIL
Includes milk, ice shavings, red beans, frosted flakes, a random marshmallow, nonidentifiable fruit bits, sour kiwi, and oh yes, a tomato

A good weekend spend with a good friend. Now, exhausted, but still not ready to return to work tomorrow!!! Never enough weekend, never enough travel...