This weekend tried to something low budget in town to save money before the big overseas August trips. A friend and me went on a walking tour downtown, to some places I had already been but he hadnt, and other places I wanted to go. Luckily with summer weather there are no out of town festivals so we have time to explore locally.

First we walked to the end of Herbal Medicine Street to the Daegu Cathedral. I had seen it before from the outside but not inside. The architecture is Victorian British style and dates from the turn of the century so is worth taking a look inside. You are immediately transported to Europe with vaulted cathedral style interior architecture, stained glass windows, and an organ above the doorway in the rear.

What was interesting was a lot of the stained glass were of korean characters in traditional dress, to give it a local, not just european feel. Across the road is a Presbyterian Church which is a striking landmark on the skyline with its very european architecture and two spires reaching up. I'd been inside before and the interior is a bit of a let down with its remarkable exterior and prominence on the cityscape.

The inside was rather bland, more like an auditorium, except for the stained glass. They had different Bible scenes and again some korean characters to give it a local feel. Next to the church there are three colonial brick turn of century homes which belonged to christian missionaries from that period.

The first was a medical museum and residence. They had old medical instruments and displays from each decade of the last century. On the second floor was a bedroom, bathroom, and sunroom. The next building was the Missionary Schoolhouse and Mar 1 Independence Movement museum on the second floor. There is also a small cemetary outside with graves from the 1890s-1920s.

A korean man who spoke english directed us to the pictures depicting torture of koreans by japanese during the occupation. Some were disturbing showing japanese posing with koreans tied like dogs, and others of koreans waiting for execution, or 'comfort women' forced into prostitution for japanese servicemen.

There was a third house but that museum was closed for renovations. Also the three houses are closed from 12-1 for lunch on saturdays so be sure to go before or after. Near here was a house of a poet Lee Sanghwa whose writings were a focal draw during the japanese occupation.

We tried to ask a tour group leader who was doing the same route for directions. She blasted many instructions in korean on her microphone, to bemused looks from her party, so we walked in the direction she pointed and tried to find it ourselves.

The house was actually behind the Catholic Cathedral we had first visited. This turned out to be three houses as well. The first was the poets house with some furnishings and displays in the rooms. Beside was another house but not sure who it belonged to. The third was the house of his brother but this had been converted into a tradtional korean restaurant.

Dissapointingly, the second house was surrounded by a massive high rise apartment complex. The entrance road to the underground parking circles the house compound, walling it in by an underground parking access road. For such an important historical and cultural landmark, more priority should have been given than serving the needs of high rise residents.

Next we crossed the east west main road on banwoldang to reach another church on the south side. Again, this was a striking gothic english style church with two bell towers. We saw stained glass from the outside but unfortunately access inside was locked.

We were able to get into the basement which aside from tradtional wood pews at the back, the front half was an open floor with mats for people to kneel in traditional korean style.

After we walked a few blocks across to the Martyrs Memorial Museum, across the road from the Donga Dept Store. Surprised I have never seen this before, its so close to places I'm always walking and so interesting. The exterior architecture is an interesting design with a tall thin structure with traditional korean temple style wood roof.

We decided to goto the top floor and work our way down. There is access to the wooden temple ramparts but the door was locked. We managed to crawl across and sneak up. There was a varnished wood staircase leading to an open area under the temple roof structure. Interestingly there were christian symbols painted onto the tradtional green korean timber beams.

The top floor below had some interesting stained glass scenes of the Daegu Cathedral and Pope John Paul by the Cathedral. There were other scenes of torture and punishment on the floor below. The basement was a Chapel where there were some people praying.

Next we walked down and across a few blocks to the Daegu Confucian Academy. I had already been here my first weekend in downtown Daegu back in Sept/10. That time I was dying in the heat but this time it was a bit more bearable. All the buildings are locked but the curator told us there are traditional weddings held here, as well as ceremonies on lunar new year in Feb, and Chuseok in Sept.

After we walked across and down a few more blocks to Gandlebawi Rock. The plaque said it was an old man wearing a hat but we couldnt see the resemblance. Across the road is a clifftop temple I'd also been to before but wanted to show my friend. Last time there were lots of old women and they offered me free food. This time it was deserted but there were some stunning views of the city skyline, along with a nice cool breeze.

We walked back along Bongson Culture street and saw some of the art galleries, before heading to Travellers, a Canadian owned restaurant for some Fish & Chips (which my students claim you cant get in Korea!). It was a good day spent walking, and visiting a lot of local sites, which are free, easy to get to, and worth the visit. These are all 15 mins walking radius in different directions from the main interchange station of the two subway lines at Banwoldang.

Last week grade 1's had gone camping for three days so I only had them mon/tues, then no grade 1 classes rest of week. Grades 2 & 3 I alternate every other week so this week I only have grade 3 classes and no grades 1 & 2. This means only 2 classes wed, 3 classes thurs, 2 classes fri with all the grade 1's being cancelled. Seoul is also being hammered with rainstorms and we seem to miss the trajectory fortunately.

Only two weeks of classes left before summer break july 15 when I will do summer camp for 10 days before vacation time. Next weekend, will try to visit some more free local museums if the weather is clear. following weekend am off to seoul for three days so will do more exploring. I found out about a bellydancing dinner and show in seoul that weekend so looking forward to that! :)