Palaces and Insadong Marketplace

We didn't have a visit with Luci today, so to keep ourselves occupied, we went to a couple of palaces and did some shopping at Insadong marketplace.

First on our trip was Gyeongbokgung Palace. This amazing palace was built in 1395 and was the primary palace during the Joseon period. At one point, it was burned during a Japanese invasion but later rebuilt. We were absolutely blown away by the level of detail and ornamentation on the buildings. There is no such thing as a plain panel or undecorated piece of construction anywhere, and every bit of ornamentation was steeped in symbology related to the rule of the king.

As we were photographing the Hyangwonjeong (hexagonal pavilion in the middle of a lotus pond), a photographer signaled me to come look from where he was standing. My looking turned into 1.5 hours of coaching from him on the best angles, best lighting, best natural framing, and how to coax some pretty cool photos from our camera. I consider myself a hack at best when it comes to photography, so this was very much appreciated. I can't begin to describe how generous this man was in taking the time to help us. Furthermore, he spoke ZERO english. It just goes to show that there's no such thing as a language barrier when you take your time, are flexible, and patient. He also taught us that magpies are fun to feed and photograph, but apparently you must throw sticks at pigeons. Here's a photo of us with our coach.

Next we toured the Korean Folk Museum and then headed to Insadong for lunch and shopping. We followed the suggestion of the McFarrens, a fellow Dillon family that was just in Seoul, and searched out Sadong Myeonok restaurant. Also at their suggestion, we tried the mandu-guk (dumpling soup). These dumplings were absolutely huge! After a bowl of 3 dumplings in broth with other assorted goodies in for good measure, we were stuffed. Below is a shot of cooks making mandu (dumplings) and the meal itself.

After lunch and some shopping in the Insadong market, we went on an english (yay!) tour of Changdeokgung Palace. Our guide kept us giggling. She spoke very good english. It was apparent that we were on her last tour of the day as she was a bit smarmy, although good-natured. We had to laugh a bit when she bristled up at other tour guides and fended off questions that could have been a bit more thought out. The highlight of this palace was the secret garden area.

We wrapped up the day with a visit to the Kyobo book center and then headed back on the now-familiar subway system. We had a fantastic day and are now absolutely dead tired. Off to bed. Tomorrow we have lunch with Dr. Kim, president of Eastern Social Welfare Society. After that we have another visit with Luci!