So here I am on my first day here in South Korea in the beautiful city of Seoul!
Got up nice and early thinking I had a cooking class. After I got dressed and fed I realised that the class is tomorrow, not today. SO change of plan.
Instead, I went to Gyeongbukgung Palace and the War Memorial.
The palace was stunning. Big gates leading to the buildings. Which were separated out by vast courtyards. Some had some flowers in bloom, others with curling pine trees. All set with the backdrop of the mountains and blue sky.
The buildings had bright paintings on the ceilings and bottom of the wood. The prayer room in particular had the most art work and huge clay incense burners.
Following the route through, it lead to the Seoul Folk Museum. Inside was exhibits on the Korean way of life for the rich and famous to the peasants in the old days. They was a special exhibit created from donated photographs from a man who travelled Asian countries visiting shamans and photographing what they did. From funerals, to celebrations. How the believed that life on Earth is preparation for the life after death. In this life you learn compassion, strength and understanding that you carry onto the next life so you can lead a more complete life. Quite liked that. Outside there was a small 'street to the past ' which had old shop buildings from the 50-70s. Quite interesting to see.
Stopped by a restaurant for lunch and had my first taste of kimchi (kind of pickled cabbage with chilli and seasoning) which wasn't toooo spicy, along with some other side dishes that I don't know the name of, with the main order of Bimbibap. Which is rice covered in an egg yolk, with various vegetables and meat of some kind. Which was quite yummy.
After that I went to Changdeokgung Palace which was..closed!
After some pondering of the map I went to visit the War Memorial. The museum was shut, but you could see some of the planes, tanks, boats and weaponry used during the Korean and Vietnam war. There was also a hall of all the names of those who had died in those wars. There is a lot to say the least. The monument in front of the (closed) museum was quite touching. It showed people from crawling, starving and crying changing into soldiers putting up the Korean flag.
I took a walk around Hongdae before heading back to the hostel. And now I'm sat typing this eating my noodles.
Although some things didn't work out (because I didn't make sure they were open) it was still a very interesting first day!