This weekend I traveled with MyeongHee and two of her friends to Eunyong for a little excitement. First, we ate at a restaurant tucked back in the woods and had “오리” or wild duck. They also had wild rabbit and venison on the menu, which I would have loved to have tasted, but since most meals are eaten family style we voted on the duck. It was fabulous, cooked right in front of us and eaten wrapped in lettuce leaves and with various forms of fresh and pickled vegetables.

Eunyong was also having a flower festival for all the cherry blossoms in bloom. During the daytime, photography is much easier and highlights the plummage these trees sport.

At night they had an entire lane of blooming trees lit up. They formed a beautiful pink canopy of flowers under which an arts, crafts, food and fun fair florished. Unfortunately, I only had my camera phone which has doesn’t do very well at all in poor light. I hope this at least conveys the wonder of walking in a tunnel of pink.

Under this awning of pink, the shops and food stalls were an amazing sight. Had we not just feasted on wild duck I might have sampled some of the goodies. No less than a dozen hogs had selflessly sacrificed themselves for the festival and jumped onto huge spits over blazing fires. Piles of oysters shells littered some stalls.  Some things weren’t quite so appetizing.

Roasted Dolphin meat (above) and vegetable-stuffed, roasted squid (below)

After walking the nearly half-mile long tunnel of stalls and entertainment, we finished off the evening with a bottle of Soju (I stuck with Sprite) and grilled fish. For $10 we got a bottle of Soju, some soda, our own grill and big pile of fresh fish to grill them on.  I love grilled fish and picking it right off the grill with chopsticks was a tasty treat. Forks are sometimes too cumbersome and chopsticks make it extra easy to sift through the bones and grab just the tender flaky pieces.

On Sunday, MyeongHee and I traveled to Daegu for  a little shopping. Since half the country is Buddhist, the other half concedes the Easter holiday and most shops were open. Along the way, pear and apple trees graced the hills with white and pink blossoms while Kennedy shrubs with their bright yellow flowers  dotted the highway  barriers. In all, it was a fine weekend filled with flowers, friends and festivals.