Lazy Morning
We didn’t have a tight schedule today, so we slept in and had a leisurely start to the day. Our plan was to visit the palace and the surrounding area. It was maybe a little too comfortable a morning, because before we knew it, it was noon and half the day had already passed by! We quickly got ready and made our way to the Palaces.
Gyoengbokgung Palace
After short subway ride, we arrived at Gyoengbokgung Palace and immediately appreciated the size and grandeur of the royal palace grounds. Due to our late arrival we only had a few hours at the palace before it was due to close at 5pm. We quickly purchased tickets and made our way in.
It was fairly crowded but at the same time, the huge size of the palace grounds allowed for a large number of visitors to wander without it ever feeling too claustrophobic. Only around some of the more popular areas did you start to notice a big concentration of crowds.
While the entire area was very well kept and very pretty, I found myself making comparisons to the forbidden city in China. I found that there were a lot of similarities. Seeing as how close the two countries are to each other, you can tell there are overlaps in culture, architecture and the like. So in some ways I felt that some of the sights were a little redundant (only to me), but there were some amazing gems to see as well. One such standout was the Gyeonghoeru Pavilion. It is this beautiful structure set in the middle of a pond.
Blue house
After exploring for a while, we noticed a small gate with a few guards in front of it. Curious, we entered, walked down a short path until we arrived at a larger gate. Outside of this gate was a road and a lot of armed guards. We realized we had exited the palace grounds and had arrived at one of the entrances to Korea’s Blue House. The Blue house is Korea’s equivalent to America’s White House where the president works and lives.
We didn’t anticipate stumbling upon this, but am glad we did. While it was difficult to photograph the house itself (we were pretty far away from the actual house with no way of getting closer). I did appreciate this unexpected surprise part of Korea. Much like a visit to Washington DC, the security around this area is understandably high.
Tosokchon Samgyetang Chicken
By the time we left the Blue House, our belly’s started grumbling. We hadn’t eaten all day and it was the afternoon already. On the recommendation of a friend back in Vancouver, we visited a “ginseng chicken” shop near the palace called Tosokchon Samgyetang Chicken. It is a very popular chicken shop famous for its ginseng chicken soup, so we ordered that along with a green onion pancake.
I enjoyed the food very much, however for those that may not be as keen to the “medicinal taste” of ginseng soup, it may not be fore you. This meal was delicious and certainly satisfied given how hungry we were by this time.
Live sites
After “lunch” we walked back around to the front of the palace and walked towards city hall. There is a large open boulevard in front of the palace that stretches for quite some distance. Normally it looks like the area is quite open, however because the Winter Olympics were going on, there were lots of temporary tents and structures setup to celebrate the sporting event. We spent some time exploring the different displays and stores that were there.
Bukchon Hanok Village
Because it was nearby we made our way to the Bukchon Hanok Village. This is a small village of traditionally built houses near the palace. By the time we arrived the sun had set and it was already dark but we still walked through a few of the streets and tried to snap a few photos.
Physio!
We were also excited for the arrival of Physio tonight. It was something that I was looking forward to having seen him last while travelling to Australia. His flight was due to arrive this evening, so we made our way back to our apartment to wait for him to show up. After a brief wait we heard the electronic door lock disengage and Physio was here! We spent some time catching up and letting him get settled and decided to go out for some late night eats. We didn’t venture too far since we were all a little tired, but found a small eatery near our place that served some home style Korean fare. I ordered what was explained to me as a traditional Korean lunch box, with rice, egg, veggies and spam. No complaints here, it was super tasty!
Physio was visiting Korea in order to get laser eye surgery and he had an early appointment the next day. We’d be heading to Itaewon tomorrow and spending the day with another one of Suzy’s friends.