Happy (belated) Birthday, Buddha!

**** This post is a month late.
******Click on the pictures to make them larger.


Temple areas, bridges, and other public spaces had been decorated with brightly colored lanterns for weeks. So, I had an inkling that something exciting was about to happen. That something was a three day weekend to celebrate Buddha's birthday!


Buddha's birthday is a pretty cool holiday because most people get the day off work, the weather is usually nice, if you go to the temple you can eat free bibimbap, there are parades, and there are pretty lanterns everywhere. I celebrated by going to Seoul for the Lotus Lantern Parade, an annual parade packed with dancers, lantern carriers, and giant, brightly lit floats. This parade blew  all others I've seen out of the water. 

But first.... a snack!

This is what our snack looked like before it was fried.

This whole ally was filled with street food.

Mmmm, giant blood sausage.

Now to the parade.

Chillin'

.

Kisses for my fish lantern.

I call this one 'Linabean with Lotus'.

Haha. Love how this float parked under the street sign. Perfect.

Peace out!

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Korean vocab: Lantern/칸델라 /CON-DAY-LA