Seoul - Day 3, Part 1

I have come to realize that I will not get to do everything I've planned on this trip. This city has so much to see and do, it's very impressive! My legs ache from walking around so much!

To start today off, I visited another palace, Changdeokgung. It is another one of the great palaces built by the kings of the Joseon dynasty. Like many other great buildings, much of it was destroyed or burned throughout the years, mostly due to Japanese invasion. This place was massive; the rebuilding of it must have taken years!

Main palace building

I'm finding Korean structures to be much more colorful than the
Japanese counterparts

The inside of the main palace building

I have been enjoying seeing palaces in Korea; they are a nice change after all the shrines and temples in Japan. You can really tell that this used to be a place of residence, with clearly defined living quarters, and lots of chimneys where fires would be placed. There were so many buildings that they formed a maze within the grounds, although there was also a massive center building that must have been the throne room. Once again, it was a lot of fun to imagine the people who used to live here, serving the royalty.

See? Huge palace grounds!

See the two critters (raccoons, I think?) hanging out? They're totally
like, 'hey, this is MY palace''!

Seoul, Day 1

I'm in South Korea! I really like Seoul so far; it's a gleaming metropolis, with a lovely extensive subway system. A smattering of ancient palaces sit side by side with shiny modern buildings, and it all somehow works.

I walked around two popular neighborhoods today, Namdaemun and Insadong. Namdaemun was a maze of outdoor stalls and shops, buzzing with activity. I went to get new glasses there on the advice of some friends, and it was so much cheaper than in the states! Insadong was artsy, with galleries and ceramic shops along it's winding side streets. Both had its own personality, and was a lot of fun to walk through.

In addition, I went to Geongbokgun Palace, located near Gwanghwamun Square. It's arguably one of the most recognized areas of the city, and I had to laugh as I recognized it from Asian TV shows!

King Sejong the Great

Admiral Yi Sun Sin. At this angle, it looks like he's keeping
a watchful eye over the city

Gwanghwamun itself was large and impressive, and even better, I arrived just in time for the ceremonial changing of the guard!

The palace itself was huge, spanning multiple buildings and courtyards, giving a glimpse of what life was like back in ancient days. Of course, much of the palace has been reconstructed, but it seems like meticulous care was taken for authenticity. Today's perfect Spring weather with its blue skies and blooming flowers made the palace picture perfect!

There was also a free museum located on the Palace grounds, which explained a lot about the day to day life of the people who lived there, and featured various items used by royals. It was a fascinating complement to the palace buildings.

I didn't eat anything fancy today, this was beef bulgolgi with rice for dinner... at under 5 dollars! South Korea is yummy!