Seoul Day Trip

 We arrived in Incheon early in the morning on turnaround day. and almost everyone who was staying on the ship took one of the excursions into Seoul.

We chose the one called 'The Best of Seoul'. Of course, I had booked these so far in advance that I'd forgotten exactly where they were going and what we should expect to see, so it was always a bit of an adventure to find out from the tour guide what the day's itinerary would be.

Even before we left for the tour, we noticed these huge banks of apartment towers. This photo doesn't do them justice at all. Each complex had a name with signage at the top of each tower, multiple buildings of at least 30 floors, and the building number written huge on the side. There must have been a half a million units in view just near the port at Incheon.

Our first stop was Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was established in 1395 as the first royal palace of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. It was huge, with more than 500 buildings within its walls, and was burned down during a war in 1592. Initially because there was no money to rebuild under the poor farming economy, and later, after Japan colonized Korea in the early 1900s when it was a symbol of the Korean monarch's authority, it was never rebuilt. In fact under Japanese rule, almost all of the buildings that were left were sold off and moved elsewhere.

It wasn't until after the liberation of Korea in 1945 that discussions began to restore the palace. So far, one period of restoration has taken place between 1990 and 2010, bringing back the buildings we see today. Another phase of restoration began in 2008 and will last until 2045(!) to add more. It certainly is an ambitious plan, but judging by the number of local people who were visiting along with us, it is an important cultural treasure and the work, however long it takes, will be supported by the population.

We were wondering why so many people were wearing
traditional dress here. It turns out that you can rent the dresses
and tunics to wear over your clothes. If you are dressed
this way, you get free admission to the palace grounds.

A lovely artificial pond with a banquet building
and small temple

The restored buildings here are all beautifully painted, and most of them have these figures on the corners. They are called 'Japsang', and are supposed to protect the king and the structures from evil spirits, fire and misfortune. Dragons represent courage, royal authority and power, and the monkeys are the sacred guardians bringing prosperity.

This is the Queen's Garden located behind her residence. It is quite lovely with the azaleas still in full bloom.

And another of the buildings here is the king's 'office', where he met with his court during winter and spring. Why then? Because the stone floors were heated from below and with the doors closed it was a comfortable space. It gets quite warm and humid in Korea in summer, and the doors of all the buildings are opened and stored above the opening for maximum air flow.

Twice per day there is a changing of the guard ceremony at the Grand Residence. We didn't catch the whole thing, but we arrived there to see some of it on our way out. The ceremony is done by over 100 participants and re-enacts the Joseon-era event. It is very impressive!

Our next stop was at a restaurant for a traditional Korean lunch consisting of a selection of salads, kimchi and beef Bulgogi Jeongol. This is different from the grilled version in that it is served in an earthenware pot with vegetables, broth and glass noodles. No matter what, it was delicious!

Our restaurant was in a part of town that traditionally was required to only have signs in Korean and not English. Even Starbucks had to comply with this requirement; and here's what the sign looks like on the first location they opened here. Since the mid-2010s this restriction has been lifted, but older stores and restaurants haven't made any changes.

We had a little free time after lunch but not being shoppers we checked out a park across the street. It also had a small shrine, and in the big glass case, a 10-tier pagoda that was built in 1467 by King Sejo. The pagoda is said to have enshrined 'sarira' or sacred remains of Buddha. The designs on the pagoda are meant to represent the manifestation of Buddha's body and teachings. It was actually made from marble and not granite. We had no idea we'd stumbled upon such a historic monument.

I've had to adjust to take away some of the glare,
but you can still see some of the white marble

Our final stop after this was at the Bukchon Hanok Village. This is an area of old houses in the city which is still inhabited today. And because it is high season for Koreans to be vacationing, just like it is in Japan, it was quite busy. As a result, it was difficult to get good photos, so there weren't many from this stop.

It's pretty bad when someone has
to hold a sign to tell you to respect
the people who live here

One of the houses

See how busy it was? 

As we left the village and were walking back to the bus, we passed this little flower shop. I did a double-take as something looked a little odd....It was - ALL of the flowers and petals are crocheted! You can see in the back that even some of the pots are crochet.

This is a close-up

The display at the window

After that we headed back to Incheon and the ship. It certainly was a busy day, and it was quite interesting. Our first day of the segment was also a sea day, we hoped to be able to catch up on some much-needed rest!