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| Insa-dong. In this street you find Ssamzie-gil. |
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| Insa-dong street. |
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| And there it is: Ssamzie-gil. |
We are talking here about a building with several floors around an open courtyard. You can either go straight to the top floor and walk downwards in a spiraling way, passing by around 70 small shops. Or you start at the bottom and spiral your way up, like I did.
The whole building, a small mall actually, is focussed on handicrafts and arts with lots of handmade goods.
The place is crawling with youngsters and has a creative vibe.
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| In the basement they offer creative workshops. |
You can see this not only in the shops and what they sell, but also in the murals and scribbled walls.
I was particularly taken by two shops that sold cards, stickers, brooches and some other small stuff. I bought in particular many cards and stickers from (Water) Drop Sonata and I love them! They were not expensive at all, especially since they are made by an artist.
They are really exquisite. the quality of the paper is very good: thick, beautiful colors and sometimes with a shimmer. Of course the art/images itself are pretty, but also the details, like that there is also something nice at the back of the cards.
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| Front card |
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| Back of card. |
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| I tried to capture the glimmer, brilliant shine over the card, but did not succeed very well. You just have to believe me;-). |
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| Back of the card. |
I have used many of the cards and stickers already on some of my snail mail, although I find it hard to send them away, since they are so pretty that I would love to keep them all.
I now regret not having bought 3 times more, since I cannot find the products for sale online:-(.
Once you reach the top floor, you come to this area where couples can hang cute plastic charms; a variation on the love locks that are nowadays seen around the globe.
I like them. Very cute and fun. If Frits would have been with me when I visited Ssamziegil, I surely would have persuaded him to buy and hang one for us. But alas, I was alone…
Anyway, whenever you visit Insa-dong, be sure to go to Ssamziegil as well. And bring back some of those nice postcards and stickers for me, will ya?!;-)
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| On one of the roofs of Ssamzie-gil. |
Adress: Seoul-si Jongno-gu Gwanhun-dong 38
Directions: subway station Anguk, line 3, exit 6 or subway station Jonggak, line 1, exit 3.
What do you think of Ssamziegil? And of the Drop Sonata products?
I would surely have liked this place: handicrafts and artistic creations, just what I like to browse through. Cute cards and stickers, love that Chaplin cat.
Oh yes, there were so many cute cat items. You would have loved it, Olga!