Seoul, South Korea

I promised I'd catch you up on what you missed during the last three months (rather, what I neglected to tell you!), so here is a little bit about our trip to Seoul, South Korea.

Namdaemun Market

Insadong (yes, those signs say:
FREE HUG)!

Joe needed to attend a work conference there in early May, so Jackson, Jacob and I decided to tag along. It was a short flight, less than two hours from Tokyo, so no jet lag, yes! Before we left for our trip, I received some invaluable tips from my friend, Angela, whose family is from South Korea and who also studied abroad in Seoul during college, about where to go and what to see. Once we hit the ground, Joe had a day before his conference started so we starting our sight-seeing. First we went to the Namdaemun Market, which is this cool, ancient, outdoor marketplace that has been in existence for over 600 years! You can find almost anything you're looking for there from clothing and shoes to kitchen items to tasty treats. From there we explored a multi-level department store called Shinsegae. We ate authentic Korean BBQ at one of the restaurants inside, grabbed a cool treat at another spot, and let the boys run around in the rooftop park. After that, we went to Insadong, another cool, outdoor shopping area. This was my favorite place we visited in Seoul. The area had a very laid back feel to it and we were able to pick up great souvenirs there.

Prayer lanterns at Jogye Temple

I knew Joe was going to be working almost all of the time we were in Korea, so I was prepared to explore Seoul by myself with the two dudes. Let me just say what a huge fan I am of bus tours. They are the perfect way to check out a new place, especially with kids. I know they are a super touristy thing to do, but I don't have to tell a taxi driver where to go in a foreign language (that I don't know), I don't have to pay for a taxi each time we go to a different place and the tour group leader keeps an eye on us! All while he's explaining Korean history to us! Score! Our first bus tour took us to the Jogye Temple, the Gyeongbok Palace and the National Folk Museum. To the right, you can see the rows and rows of colorful prayer lanterns that were hanging out side of the temple. There were also thousands of white ones in memory of the passengers who were killed in the Korean ferry boat tragedy. Below, is a depiction of what a changing of the guard would have looked like during the Joseon Dynasty (between 1392-1897). Below that, is the actual Gyeongbok Palace. Can you see the pagoda in the background? I was struck by the juxtaposition of my surroundings; an ancient palace, beautiful, rolling, green hills, and skyscrapers. Very cool.

A reenactment of the changing of the guard
ceremony at Gyongbok Palace

Gyeongbok Palace

A sea turtle at the
Coex Aquarium

Let me tell you a bit about our hotel... We stayed at the beautiful InterContinental Hotel in Gangnam (you know that song, Gangnam Style by Psy? Yep, that's where we were!) The service was excellent and the people were so extremely helpful and forgiving of my sometimes crazy kiddos. Besides that, there was an entire shopping mall, complete with Aquarium (and Starbucks!) in the basement of the hotel! It was amazing because we were wondering what to do on the following rainy day. Jackson and Jacob had a great time checking out the marine life, while I enjoyed my iced chai tea latte. Joe had a bit of time away from the conference that afternoon and wanted to catch up on some zzz's, so while he and the boys napped, I was able to sneak across the street from the hotel to a place called the Bongeunsa Temple. In 2010, I journeyed to the most sacred Catholic cathedrals in Italy; it only took being in this compound of Buddhist temples for a few minutes, for me to realize I was in a place just as spiritual. It was moving to see people, monks included, so deeply practicing their religion. The architecture of the structures and the history of the 1,200 year-old temples were so significant to me. And once again, the compound included almost forest-like land, but was surrounded by skyscrapers.

Inside one of the Buddhist temples
at Bongeunsa

Inside another temple at Bongeunsa

The Great Statue of Maitreya Buddha
32m (105ft) tall

The view from the hill behind the Maitreya Buddha

A pond and gazebo at the
Secret Garden

Feeling rejuvenated, the next day Jackson and Jacob and I jumped on a another bus tour to check out the Changdeok Palace Palace including the Secret Garden and the N Seoul Tower. The Changdeok Palace was the secondary palace where the last king spent much of his hard life before the fall of the Joseon Dynasty. The structures aren't nearly as intricate as they are at the Gyeongbok Palace and the king remained in just one or two rooms instead of living comfortably throughout the compound. The nearby Secret Garden was a place the kings and queens often visited on vacation during the summers to fish and frolic in the sun. It was beautiful, even on a rainy day. Jackson and Jacob enjoyed running around in circles at the top of the N Seoul tower, but I was able to get them to stop for just a second as I snapped this (dark) picture. Only 10,031km (6233 miles) to Denver! At 237m high (777ft), you are able to get a 360 degree panoramic view of Seoul and the surroundings areas, but because it was cloudy and rainy, we weren't able to see quite as far into the distance. It was still great seeing the beautiful city through the clouds. The walls of thousands of colorful "love locks" at the N Seoul Tower were cool to see too! There were many couples, young and old, placing their special love lock onto the wall, making a wish and tossing the key over the edge (even though you're not supposed to!).

Jackson and Jacob at the top of the
N Seoul Tower

Jackson in front of the "love locks"
wall at the N Seoul Tower

Overall, we had a wonderful time in Korea. We explored Seoul, took in some history, did some shopping, and ate some amazing food. We are definitely looking forward to returning there some day.

The next stop, in retrospect, the US: Colorado, South Dakota and Texas.

Thank you so much for reading. I love you.

XOL