A Morning in Seoul

It was the ides of March and the Ocean Princess had docked in Incheon. Only Pam was brave enough to venture out with me on another adventure Blitz.  The view from the port was gray and unenticing.

The customs people had already come aboard and I learned that they were invited to breakfast (which I suspect made the search process more enjoyable for everyone.)

I had had a difficult time deciding between exploring Incheon and taking the subway into Seoul. On the one hand Incheon was at our feet and probably had an interesting history as a port town, on the other hand Seoul was the heart of South Korea, but was more than an hour away by train and I spoke NO Korean.  Ultimately in the spirit of flying by the seat of one's pants, it was to be the train!

An advantage of choosing Seoul was that we had to walk through part of Incheon in order to get to the train. This meant we got a pretty good view of some interesting sights including this art museum.

The most intriguing sight on the way to the train was Incheon's large and famous China Town.

Full of glitter and dragons, we enjoyed the glimpse that we got as we headed past toward the station.

At the station we were pleased to find English speaking officials who helped us get the subway ticket and figure out where to get off.  On the subway we encountered some familiar faces. The couple on the left you may recognize as the two lovely "ladies" who danced with the Russian folk group Kalinka.  They had hired a Goodwill Guide and were off to have a private tour in Seoul.

It was reassuring to talk with people we knew, but all in all, it turned out to be a fairly simple process to get to Seoul. You get a subway card that has a small deposit paid on it and then when you are done you can get a refund by putting the card into a deposit refund machine.  The only tricky part was getting off at the right stop and there were signs in English so Pam and I were "good to go." We set as our initial goal the Gyeongbokgung Palace that (unlike many of the museums) happened to be open on Mondays.

This palace is most famous for it's quiet presence in the middle of the large city and the changing of the guards that takes place regularly throughout the day.

The guards were dressed in traditional uniforms and looked fierce and scary.

The entry looks like this:

Fortunately we arrived just in time for the English tour, so we met up with a group from Indiana and headed through the grounds for a very informative tour.

Eveywhere we looked there were interesting buildings or figures.

The paint was bright and cheerful in the Chinese style.

The setting was mountains like those seen in traditional Korean paintings.

Even though the weather wasn't the greatest, it lent a somber and almost mystical atmosphere.  These roof figures were more interesting than they at first seemed.

The second figure from the right had gained in height and liveliness.

Ceilings of the palace buildings were beautifully ornamented.

There were many many buildings, throne rooms, secret gardens and houses for concubines.

They were all watched over by fanciful protective figures.

We were told a story about a commoner who snuck into this secret palace and earned the respect of the emperor, such that he was elevated 7 levels in the hierarchy and saved dozens and dozens of years of study and exams.

We also learned that a golden dragon was sunk into the pond to protect it (according to legend). When they had to drain the pool not so long ago they actually found the dragon and now he has a warm place to live in the museum.

The interior of the throne room (a different building) was beautifully outfitted.

It was an ingenious civilization that learned how to do internal heating (through ducts) and to hide the chimneys (while also making them inaccessible to people who might want to harm the emperor.)

The orange rectangle (right above) and below was one of the chimneys.

Our guide was very informative and also shy .

We were lead around the main buildings to see a little city in the depths of the grounds.

In the back was also a secret garden.

You can see where they built the fires in the foundation of the building above.

In the back garden, our guide also pointed out the famous "Big House" or Blue House.

Look carefully on the right and you can see it behind the fence. It is the equivalent of the American "White House."  Here is a closer view.

Of course Wikipedia has a nicer shot of it. Unfortunately,  I didn't have a helicopter handy.

We continued to explore the buildings and grounds.

Ducts were built under buildings so that warm air could circulate beneath the floor boards.

Buildings were repainted regularly and thus looked as fresh as the day they were put up hundreds of years ago.

  

After exploring some of the back buildings we headed back to the entrance so that we could see a bit of the city.

On our way out, we got a chance to see the guards changing once again.

As we left the palace we said goodbye to Korea of the past and looked forward to discovering what contemporary Seoul might have to offer.