Chicest Picnic: Ulsan, South Korea

You may never have heard of Ulsan, or think of South Korea as a particularly chic place, but for one golden afternoon in a field of cherry red poppies, it was the site of my chicest picnic. Closet romantic that he is, the Twenty First Century Nomad surprised me with an afternoon date.

I’ll admit, riding in a paddle boat shaped like a giant swan is a tad cheesy, but that kind of over-the-top frivolity makes me smile. Steve valiantly braved the fiberglass bird and captained our little boat into the rippling water.

Our picnic began as he pulled a sneaky bottle of wine from his backpack. “Here’s to the charms of picnicking in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday!” We toasted this particular toast, as Steve was reveling in the fact that he had just finished his teaching contract to join me in becoming a full time freelance writer.

Next stop: Taehwagang Grand Park, where the field of electrically hued flowers rivaled that of the famous poppy scene in “The Wizard of Oz.”

An afternoon spent picnicking surrounded by beauty, love and wine? To me, that’s the epitome of chic.

Photos courtesy of Steven Moore (sorry fellow adventurers, most of the photos he took that day feature yours truly).