Very early on Saturday morning we took the bus to Suwon.One of our friends recently moved here, so a few of us went to visit him and the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress and Palace.This is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sight, and apparently the best detached Palace Architecture of the Joseon Dynasty.We started at the Palace, which was built between 1789 and 1796. Outside there was a stage, with traditional performances.We saw dance and music performances with traditional costumes and instruments.Inside were a variety of rooms, some traditional clothes and rooms set out with traditional furniture and paintings.There were also a few games which you could play: hoopla, throwing arrows and a very primitive see-saw!There was not a huge amount to see, but it was nice to experience a bit of Korean history and culture.We then went to climb some of the fortress wall which surrounds the palace.This wall gives some nice views over the city and of King Jeongjo's Bronze Statue.There was also an archery display and some pieces of information about the wall along the way.Unfortunately the most famous Main Gate (Paldalmun) was under restoration, so covered in scaffolding, so this was a little disappointing.

Later we took the subway into Seoul.We had missed the fast train, so had to take the 1 hour 15 minute subway train.We checked in at our hostel, then Helen, Brooke and I went to see Cirque du Soleil's 'Varekai.'As expected, it was fantastic.The performers, the costumes, the set design, the whole package was just amazing.Their skills and stunts always amaze me, and in this performance there were 3 Chinese small boys who were particularly brilliant.The traffic in Seoul was really bad, so we missed the first 10 minutes, but luckily they let us in when we arrived. They had set up a huge Big Top Circus tent, as this was part of their Asian Big Top Tour.Whilst we were there, the boys went along to some bars, so we met up with them later in an Irish bar to watch the rugby, as 3 of our friends are Irish.

On Sunday we went to the Seoul Tower.The weather was hot, so we took the bus up the hill to the tower and then the elevator takes you to the top.It was nice to see this, but the skyline of Seoul is not particularly amazing or distinct in any way.The buildings all pretty much look the same, but the mountains in the background were nice.There was a traditional performance going on outside the tower, showing fighting methods and costumes, so this was good to see, and Graham got some great photos.We then walked back down the hill and encountered some kind of 'dog club'.There were some beautiful dogs, but some with very strange hair styles!Graham spent ages trying to get some good pictures, particularly of the Afghan that had been trimmed on its back so it looked a bit like a camel!

So a great, but exhausting weekend.Graham also went to see the baseball last Tuesday and the Kia Tigers won 11-0!Then he went out with some Korean friends for a meal.He has also been out riding on his motorbike this week; it's going well so far.

Maggie x