Lizzi and I were so exhausted from our full day on Saturday that we slept until 11:00 am on Sunday! Finally, we managed to motivate ourselves enough to get up, dress, and leave. Since we were still pretty foggy-headed, we went to a cute little coffee shop for coffees and danish. I had the foresight to pack some oranges before we left Gyeongju, so we devoured those as well. Over breakfast, we discussed how to spend our second day in Seoul. I really wanted to see a palace, so we chose to go to Gyeongbokgung Palace, which sounded amazing.
Gyeongbokgung Palace lived up to its reputation. It was huge and beautiful, surrounded by the tall buildings of Seoul and mountains. We arrived just in time to get to see the changing of the guard, which was awesome. I took some video of it, so I'll try to edit it and post it soon.
The palace was built in 1395, when the capital of the Joseon Dynasty was moved from Gaeseong to Seoul. The Japanese invaded Korea in 1592 and burned the beautiful palace to the ground. Under King Gojong, the Koreans rebuilt the palace a few centuries later, in 1868. Then, years later, the Japanese occupied Korea again, and once more destroyed the palace, this time at least leaving a couple of its buildings. Since 1990, the Koreans have been restoring the palace. So far, less than 40% of the original structures have been rebuilt. Considering how many buildings there are now, this palace is going to be colossal when they finish.
I particularly enjoyed getting to see the queen's quarters, which were gorgeous. I think I could have been very happy as the queen of that palace! I was also enchanted by the many stone figurines and had more fun than one might imagine taking random photographs with them.
One of the best parts of our trip to the palace was getting to dress up like guards. Believe it or not, it was completely free! We got decked out from head to toe in guard uniforms, chose our weapons, and went wild taking photos.
After enjoying Gyeongbokgung Palace, Lizzi and I discovered that it was already nearly 4:00 pm, with a four-hour bus journey back to Gyeongju still awaiting us. We opted to have dinner first, so we went to a fantastic restaurant that specializes in mandu (dumplings). I had the pork and vegetable mandu, along with some teriyaki chicken, vegetables, and noodles. Yum!
While our delicious dinner settled in our stomachs, Lizzi and I did a bit of browsing at some little shops that lined the street we were on. We each found adorable earrings (mine are little scorpions). We also noticed some television crews and a number of people waving Chinese flags, which we had also observed earlier in the day. As we were preparing to leave for the bus terminal, I happened to catch sight of a little ice cream stand. What a lucky sight that was! It was Korean ice cream, which comes in odd, albeit mouthwatering flavors. Lizzi got grape and vanilla ice cream, and I bought melon ice cream with chocolate chips in it. As bizarre as that combination sounds, it was simply divine.
When Lizzi and I finally got to the bus terminal, we bought tickets for the 6:30 express to Gyeongju. We had half an hour until our bus left, so we waited outside, enjoying a bit more fresh air and leg-stretching before having to sit for four hours. We were surprised (and delighted) to run into four of our friends from Gyeongju, who had taken a DMZ tour and were returning by the same bus we were on! On the bus, our friend Allison explained about the television crews and crowds waving Chinese flags that we had seen earlier. Apparently, we were there at the same time that the Olympic torch was!
It was nearly 11:00 pm when I finally stumbled through the door of my apartment. As much as I enjoyed Seoul, I was happy to return to Gyeongju. Seoul is exciting and full of great things to see and do, but Gyeongju is something truly special. It's peaceful, friendly, lovely, and for the next ten months, it's my home.
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