Palaces and Museums

Walking all day.

We started by walking to Deoksugang Palace for the Changing of the Guard Ceremony and then entered the grounds. We were interviewed by a group of college students looking to improve their English skills. I guess it was obvious what our native language is. 

Changing of the Guard

Musicians from the ceremony.

Deoksugang Palace

Pond at Deoksugang Palace

Leaving there, we walked back to Gwanghwaman Square. Along the way we noticed a heavy police presence. There had been a lot of police around the American Embassy last night but the man at the fountain told me it was 'Yankee Go Home' season in Korea. There were buses full of police in riot gear just in case a demonstration against Sanyo got ugly. It seems that there are several cancer-related deaths associated with the clean room used by Sanyo to manufacture computer chips. And somehow, part of that is the fault of the U.S. We also passed Kilometer Zero which has distances to major cities around the world and their directions from Seoul.

Kilometer Zero

It turns out there is a museum underneath the mall that tells the story of the creation of the Korean Language by King Sejong and the defeat of the Japanese by Admiral Yi who had only thirteen ships at his disposal against over 300.

After lunch at The SandPress, it was on to the other two palaces of the four that were near our hotel. Changgyeong and Changdeokgong Palaces abut each other. Both feature lovely grounds and well-preserved buildings. Lots of pictures. (Even though the new camera had developed the first signs of its being defective, it still took decent pictures, fortunately.)

Changgyeong Palace

Changgyeong Palace

Changgyeong Palace

Changdeokgong Palace

Changdeokgong Palace

The temperature kept dropping and we found a coffee and tea place to warm up, Colonial Bean and Leaf and I found a new favorite drink, a black tea latte. I am an addict. I tried getting one at Starbucks since they are literally everywhere but they weren't quite the same. The closest one to Wadsworth is in the airport in Detroit. Dang.

More walking, Pizza Hut for dinner. More shopping. Tomorrow promises to be interesting as we take the USO Tour of the DMZ.