Gwangju to Daejeon for Monet to Warhol

I never actually made it to the Monet to Warhol exhibit last weekend, but the exhibit is showing until August, so I still have time.

When I arrived in Daejeon, I was met by Maggie, Lee Ann and Nadia at the train station (thanks!) and we made our way over to Amy's to meet the rest of the gang (Marisol, Emily, and Amy) before heading to the art museum. We got to talking and had such a good time that we decided to postpone the museum trip until another time.

We talked until we were starving, and then we went out to fix that problem.

We decided on Italian, so we went to this restaurant in the same building Amy gets her hair cut. (Making a note to get my hair cut there in the future.)

The restaurant was amazing. It was so beautifully yet simply decorated, that if it were an apartment, I would describe it as a spacious and bright New York loft, accented with industrial framing, clean lines, and modern yet rustic decor.

Decide for yourself:

Isn't it pretty? Very NYC loft.

It was authentic Italian cuisine, and the menus were in English. AND our waitor spoke excellent English. We asked him where he learned English, and he said he lived in the USA for a year, and Ireland and Australia for several more years. He was great. He even had great music playing.

I ordered broccoli soup to start, and a main dish of fettuccine with a mushroom cream sauce. It was absolutely delicious, even though I don't like mushrooms so I ate around them. The side salad was actually a salad like you get in the states, and the appetizer was a yummy (but hot) bean dish with a side of pickles.

Whats left of the pickles, and another serving of the spicy bean dish

Broccoli Soup

Fettuccine with Mushroom Sauce and a Side Salad, American Style

Close Up of my food

Spaghetti in a Pesto sauce topped with some sort of shell fish. I'm allergic to shellfish, so I can't tell you what kind it is. Sorry.

 Maggie and Lee Ann both ordered the spaghetti in pesto sauce, but didn't realize until later that it came with the shellfish. That could have been a problem had I ordered the same thing.

And if you thought those pictures were cool, check out the view:

And we couldn't help but notice this mean looking fish on a sign across the street:

Told you! Mean!

And this was their wine cellar. Beautiful.

After dinner, we strolled back to Amy's for our Naked Lady Party. If you don't know what that is, it is just basically a clothes swap with other women who may want the items you don't want anymore. We had a great time with that, too. I lucked out with two skirts, a winter coat and a beanie hat to keep my head warm this winter.

On Sunday, we were on a mission to find this art store called S Dot that was rumored to be in another section of Daejeon. We found it, and I was very happy. It was 5 [small] floors of bliss. All types of paints and paint brushes, beading supplies (although pretty, they were a fraction of the size and 4x the price as you would find at a Michaels in the states), puzzles, sewing supplies, paper, stationary, pens... everything. To prove, though, how much some of the things were compared to the USA price, here is a pair of beading needle nose pliers, a one-function tool. In comparison, I have a tool at home that I got at Michaels for about $4 that is needle nose pliers, wire cutters, wire twisters, and a soft padded crimper (doesn't leave scratches).

Yup. That's 11,700W (roughly $11 USD)

Just for kicks, here is a picture of Jessica with a very handsome man outside of The Face Shop.

(He's fake, but don't tell him that.) 

And to end this very awesome blog, here is an awesome picture of myself taken in front of a plant shop in Daejeon, compliments of Amy.