Temples, Museums and Night Tours- Seoul April 10.

Wednesday morning brought another tour- this time I had a guided tour of  Unhyeongung Palace.  I figured it would be with a group, but when I got their, it was just me and the guide.  (Well done again, Seoul tourism.) This palace is really a secondary palace of the young king's father (who didn't inherit the throne but was appointed as king by the wife of the recently deceased king).  Gojong's father ruled for him until he came of age, then Gojong sent his father to live here in order to keep him out of the nation's affairs.

Yesterday was my history lesson; today was Korean architecture.  My guide taught me about how every piece of the architecture, down to the size of the stones in the walls were thought out and related to Confusionism.  

Here's another one for you:  All of these traditional hanoks were designed to fit together without the use of nails or fasteners.  This meant they could be disassembled and moved with relative ease.

 After the palace, we walked to Cheondogyo Central Temple.  This is the main temple for Cheondoism- a distinctly Korean religion.  Per the wiki page, it is a "a synthesis of Neo-Confucian, Buddhist, Shamanist, Daoist, and Catholic influences." Now that's all-encompassing.

 Finally, my guide Kim Yung Boo took me on a tour of Insadong- traditionally the heart of the artist district, now a great place to get souvenirs.  (I went there often.)

 On my own again, I visited Jogyesa Temple, the center of Zen Buddism in Korea.

They were also gearing up for the Buddha's birthday.

 Inside, I sat for a while and took this quick picture of the largest indoor statues in Korea.  (I love records!)

I ate a rice cake with the Buddha and opted to get Henry a tiny statue of the Buddha studying instead of the statue of the Buddha receiving a spanking.

 This Baeksong tree is from China, over 500 years old, and was designated at Natural Monument No. 9.

I loved this place.

I grabbed lunch at a convenience store counter- pressed fish on a stick and cheese gimbap.  I did not care for the velveeta cheese.

A storm was rolling in after lunch, so I took refuge in the Palace History Museum.

For other evidence that Korea is years ahead of us in technology, I got a free headset that automatically read me all of the English translations for every exhibit as soon as I stood in front of something.  I'm very easily impressed.

 And I love a palanquin.  

 And musical instruments shaped like animals.

 And folding screens painted with symbols of longevity.

Outside the storm had blown over, thanks to the Haetae stationed around the palaces.  They are shaped like a lion, with a horn on its forehead and covered in scales.  These guys keep peace and order and protect from natural disasters.  

 I took a long walk home past King Sejong.

I love Bosingak Belfry- a bell tower tucked in amidst all the skyscrapers.

Including the massive skyscraper across the street, which is also a bell tower.

And in the shadows of the skyscraper, literally between two parking lots, is this fancy stupa.

All that walking works up an appetite.  I ordered a soju with my supper and was surprised when the bottle contained some pretty strong rice vodka-like liquor.  I made it through about 2 tiny cups of it and had to leave the bottle behind.  

Korea!

You probably already knew (and forgot) that I took a solo trip to South Korea in early April.  Our friend Sara was going to be there for a business trip, so I flew into Seoul 4 days early for a vacation by myself.

But fear not, I wasn't wondering by myself through a scary foreign country on the brink of war.  (Though all of the news channels would have us believe that, as I was in Seoul right when they all picked up on the threats from North Korea.  In Seoul, everyone just shrugged and said "Is he saying threatening someone again?"  

For two nights I stayed with a family at this house.  Homestays (or renting out a room) are very popular in South Korea and this one was aimed toward women traveling alone.  

This is what a modern kitchen looks like.  In fact, it was featured in several home design magazines and right after I left, it was used to film this commercial.

(Yes, all Korean kids are that cute.)

Normally, guests stay in the extra bedroom, but it was being used, so I was offered their daughter's bedroom.  June could have died when she saw I was in a pink and purple room filled with Korean manga (comic) books.

On my first night out, I ventured out long enough to get some food.  In Seoul, most restaurants have pictures and prices posted, so it was very easy to order, even if I didn't always know what I was eating. (But it was all delicious.)

Here's my neighborhood.  I stayed in Bukchon- the historic old part of town filled with tradition hanook homes and artists' studios.  At the bottom of the hill, you can see all the skyscrapers in the distance.  

For my first full day, I had a packed itinerary.  I visited Gyeongbokgung, one of the 5 palaces inside the city. This is the front gate.

And a view through the gate to the Palace Hall. 

I got a full-day history lesson from this wonderful woman, Joong Mae.  The Seoul Tourism Board offers foreigners free tours of specific itineraries or you can request a day long tour guide.  I put in my request and Joong Mae was gracious enough to volunteer to spend the day with me.  I was very lucky as she was retired from the World Heritage Organization for Jogmyo Shrine in Seoul.  In other words, she was an expert.  

A view of the interconnecting buildings.  I learned that you could tell who was allowed through which doorways and what each building was used for just by the height and features of the intricate roofs.

Inside one of the palace halls, you can catch a glimpse of how most Koreans dress- very western conservative.  Joong Mae was the only Korean I met who wore color.

There were hundreds of tiny buildings inside the palace halls, but this little room on an island was the only place the king could go for privacy.

Just out the back gate of the palace was the Blue House- where South Korea's president lives.

Of course, Seoul has preserved and recreated much of their historical sites, but just out the gates, the city was built around it.  

Next, we walked to a fairly new feature in Seoul- Cheonggyecheon Riverwalk.  

Tucked below the city, the park follows the river through the city.  

Next, I got a lesson in the subway and we headed to Namsangol Hanok Village, which is essentially the Sauder's Village of Seoul.  It's full of traditional buildings and people in traditional dress.  And a ton of couples getting wedding photos taken.

A quick break for lunch and we took a bus up Namsan Mountain to see North Seoul Tower.  I went up the mountain twice in my trip, but never made it to the top of the tower.

Even without the extra height, the view of the city was great.  Imagine this many buildings times 50 in every direction and you can get an idea of how massive Seoul is.

It also has the beacons used to signal war to the city.  When all 5 beacons are lit, war is coming.

But today, they are lit once a day at noon.

A cool feature of Seoul Tower is the love locks.  They set up fences for people to put locks on to declare their love.  I know it's a tourist trap and a gimmick to sell a bunch of locks, but it's still pretty cute.  This is about 1/6th of the total fence.

On the way back down the mountain, you could see the original South wall of the city.  Considering South Korea has been invaded and destroyed twice in the past 100 years, it was pretty cool to see something that is still standing.  This wall was built in the 1300s.

Back into the fray (we never left the city but were on a mountain in the center), we took a bus and walked a fair bit back to Bukchon.  The old building is the city library and former city hall.  The new city hall is that crazy looking building behind it.   

And so concludes day one of my trip. 

Getting along?- April 3rd.

We had Olivia over one evening, and in a very rare occurrence, she and Jo didn't immediately start fighting.

These girls love each other, but they tend to want everything THEIR way, and don't always now how to accommodate another strong-willed two year old.  

But tonight, they played together, climbed in everyone's beds, and even worked with June to get Olivia dressed up in a fancy gown.  

And if you don't believe me, I even got video evidence of their harmony as they dragged every last blanket, pillow, and stuffed animal of their room to have a sleepover in the living room.  

Easter Morning!

On Easter morning, we kept up our tradition of eating our bunnies for breakfast.  

Grandma gave Henry a haircut and made him look 4 years older instantly.

Georgie, in her usual fashion, took off running too quickly, and slid across the pavement on her face.  We can't go a week without her scraping her nose.

Soon all the melted chocolate camouflaged her face wounds quite nicely. 

We needed lots of milk to wash down all that chocolate!

This is our best shot of three sugared up kids!

We headed over to Miss Leah's house to try to get a quick Easter Egg hunt in before the rain started.

Miss Leah every hid some extra hard-to-find eggs for Henry.

In her fashion, Georgie just prefered to swing instead of looking for eggs.

The kids all had such fun helping each other hunt that when it did start raining, we suggested they do another hunt in the toy room.  But that fun didn't last long, as everyone started some major bickering.  Sigh.  Kids ruin everything.

I was feeling sad about missing out on some Defiance church lady candy Easter eggs, so I decided to make some of my own.  I was going to decorate these peanut butter eggs with some frosting, but I decided to take a nap instead.  (They still tasted pretty good!)