THReddingJr.: On to Seoul

We had a leisurely morning with an 11 AM pickup. We were early for the KTX so people watching was the order of the morning. The train is a marvel, smooth and fast. No TSA either. You could be in New York from Cleveland in three hours. Faster than flying with the two hour advance and security. (More on security later in the trip :-(.)

Korea at 180 MPH.

At the station, a 'porter' grabbed our bags and took us to a 'taxi'. The he wanted 10,000 WON for toting our bags. He eventually got 5,000. The driver wanted a flat 30,000 WON and then couldn't find the hotel. (Meagan said the same thing happened to her friend Michael's parents.) This was the only transfer not pre-arranged, and had we known more about the KTX that could have been easily remedied.

'Taxi' driver's license.

Our hotel was in Insadong, and once again, we were right in the middle of night shopping. Win for the women! We walked through it and on to Gyengbokgung Palace which had closed for the day but the grounds were still open and the lights were coming on for the evening. Very pretty in twilight, and a good thing too, as it would be locked up tightly tomorrow.

Gyengbokgung Palace

Gwanghwamun Square was lit as well and the fountains were on and then off. Then on. I got wet. A nice Korean man apologized to me for there not being a warning in English and then we chatted about the election which was still over a week away at this point in time. He, like everyone we spoke to about this topic, had an overwhelming desire to see Mr. Obama re-elected. He stated that Mr. Romney scared him, particularly his views on Iran.