Fireworks over Seoul, South Korea

Happy American Independence Day, everyone! I'm probably on the outside near a barbecue in a park near my apartment right now than I expected this post to automatically publish today. If you are American, and Korea, enjoy the videos on the fireworks

One of the best for last: allegedly, the largest July 4 fireworks display in America

Jeju Island waterfall, South Korea

Jeju-do (transliterated Korean for Jeju Province, short form of Jeju Special Autonomous Province of Cheju Island) is the only special autonomous province in South Korea, situated on and coincide with the largest island of the country. Jeju-do lies in the Korea Strait, southwest of the province of Jeollanam-do, which was a play before it became a separate province in 1946. Its capital is the city of Jeju.

The island contains the Natural World Heritage Site of Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava.

Walkway in Busan, South Korea

Busan (Busan officially) written above Pusan ​​(Korea pronunciation: [Pusan ​​is the second largest in South Korea after Seoul, with a population of 3.6 million.The metropolitan area (including adjacent cities Gimhae and Yangsan) Population 4,399,515 in 2010. This is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world. The city is located at the southern end of the Korean peninsula. The city with the highest density of construction are in a series of narrow valleys between the Nakdong River and Suyeong River, with mountains separating some of the districts. Administratively, it is designated as a metropolitan city. The Busan metropolitan area is divided into 15 major administrative districts and one county.

Busan was the host city of 2002 Asian Games and APEC 2005 Korea. It 'was also one of the host cities for 2002 FIFA World Cup, and is a center of international conventions in Korea. 14. November 2005, the city has officially announced his candidacy to host 2020 Summer Olympics.

Busan is home to department stores in the world, and Shinsegae Centum City is conducting a series of projects multi-skyscrapers, including the Solomon Tower (108 floors, 418m), Haeundae Resort Tour (108 on the ground 478m), soil-110, 510-supertall Lotte Super Tower, which is the favorite to become the third tallest building in 2013 after Burj Dubai and Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Sunset over Seoul, South Korea

OK, so lonely Planet website publishes a list of its readers - or at least the readers of the blog - at least in your favorite cities.

And yes, Seoul was the third place.

Detroit - all the picturesque charm of security and good government in Grozny, without dramatic backstory! - Won first place, which reinforces my suspicion that the inclusion of the New York Times about the city in its list of places to visit in 2008 was a clever ploy to increase the IQ of their audience through attrition. Other cities on the list are third world shit Accra, San Salvador and Los Angeles.

I do not know how it got there Arusha, however. This is a lovely city, and much better than Tanzania's capital Dodoma. I've also heard Accra is not so bad, either.

Back in Seoul. The poster quoted commentator on a preliminary list of least favorite cities, who wrote:

This is a shocking sprawl and highways repeated and the Soviet-style concrete apartment buildings, terribly polluted, without heart or spirit in it. Bland so overwhelming that the population is driven to alcoholism.

There is no heart or mind to it, huh? Obviously, the speaker in question was never in Washington, DC.

I'm not sure how this list was made and how it is configured to order. I would like something was a bit 'ironic, although I fear Seoul tourism authorities can not see it that way.

Seoul has a lot of heart and mind to it - Of course, some of the most chronically bitter expatriates may not realize - and while no one can deny that the city has an excessive concentration of concrete buildings, there are a lot of charm and beauty hidden under there. Just put the bottle of beer in Itaewon and look around. Maybe buy my book.