Changgyeong Palace at Night

A friend sent me a link with information on this annual event at a few of the Seoul palaces. (Check it out here  for awesome pictures.) For a few nights every year they put out lanterns and you can enter the grounds after dark. Prior to this, I hadn't been to Changgyeong Palace so this was a great chance to practice my passion (not skill) at photo taking. It was a perfect night for a stroll, and the lanterns were so pretty. I was a bit disappointed that they were electric and not candles, but hey, take what you get!

The guards were present.

The throne hall.

Peeking in.

 Part of the pond above, Chundangji, used to be a rice paddy
the king cultivated. I guess it was his way of keeping in touch
with the people. 

Local paparazzi.

I believe this was built during the Japanese occupation in the 1900s.

My attempt at an aerial shot.

Part of Seoul.

It's Springtime, Hey Ding-a-ding, Ding!

In springtime, the only pretty ring time,

When birds do sing, Hey ding a ding, ding.

Sweet lovers love the spring.

And therefore take the present time,

With a hey, and a ho, and a hey hey-nonny-no,

For love is crownèd with the prime

In springtime, the only pretty ring time,

When birds do sing, Hey ding a ding, ding.

Sweet lovers love the spring.

Shakespeare, from As You Like It
Act 5, Scene 3

Oh I do love Korea's spring! Cherry blossom time is here (well, was - today is rainy and windy and the blossoms are going, going...) and that of course means picture time in my family. Since I have the pleasure of homeschooling, I can select field trip and park days willy-nilly, so most of this past week was spent in a few of the numerous parks throughout Seoul. I must say that Seoul is fabulous at creating beautiful park spaces inside the city.

Our first visit was to Yongsan Family Park, 용산가족공원, which is located just outside one of the base gates. The land used to be part of the base and was given back to the Korean government in the late 1980s. A large portion of that land is now taken up by the National Museum of Korea, and the park itself is fairly small. However, it is a beautiful park. The park contains a pagoda garden, walking trails, scenic spots, an exercise area, playground, and duck pond. We even met a friendly bunny hopping around!

The Reflecting Pond in front of the museum.

Dragon Falls

A small view of the park grounds. Love those blossoms!

The same evening my husband and I went to Yeouido Park to find a festival. We never found it; turns out I had incomplete information. It was still a lovely little park to see. Since it was evening/night time the pictures are all dark.

King Sejong

Reflexology walking path

Another friendly bunny!

Above is the National Assembly Building. I found out the next day looking at a random poster while waiting in the subway that the festival we were looking for was behind this building. The website I used left that part out. So close, yet so far!

The following day we went to the World Cup Stadium, which has several parks adjacent to it. The one I chose was Pyeonghwa Park because it is said to have a playground. However, their idea of a playground and my idea are apparently different. It did have a small lake where we saw some fish, turtles, and a blue heron, and the walking trails are very nice. The cherry blossoms were beautiful as well!

Across the lake.

The 'playground'.

A not-so-great picture of the cherry blossom trees.

World Cup Stadium in the background.

We also crossed the pedestrian bridge over to Nanjihangang (Nanji Han River) Park. This is a large park, and we only went over to see the fountain show.

Not a great picture, I know.

And finally...on Friday we went to the Children's Grand Park. I had been dragging the girls everywhere for pictures, so I decided they should have some fun too. It was beautiful in bloom! There were people everywhere with the same idea, and even several bridal photo shoots to be seen. At one point the wind got a bit strong, and the petals were everywhere like a blizzard!

I hope you can see it!

Other flowers in bloom.

Under the aquarium.

63 Building

The unmistakable 63 Building in Seoul; the tallest gold-clad building in the world. So named because it has 63 levels. It can be quite blinding at sunset when the sun reflects off its surface. Inside are several tourist attractions. Most of the floors (59 to be exact) are office space, but of course the top floor is an observation deck/art gallery. You can ride to the top in a rather speedy glass elevator. (Interesting side note, in the evening there are 'love elevators' for couples only.) It's quite a view.

Going up!

Just a bit of Seoul.

Sky Art Gallery.

We covered the place top to bottom! The other attractions we went to see were located in the basement. After a quick bite to eat from the food court (we opted for convenience and chose to skip over the several more upscale restaurants and the popular buffet they tout) we entered the aquarium. Pretty standard, nothing especially noteworthy. If you've been to an aquarium before, then you know what was here. There was an amusing walrus when we first walked in that was highly entertaining.

We saw a few of the shows; once they start they kind of run back to back. We were able to see the sea lions, the seals, and a synchronized swim/dance. They also have a penguin and otter feeding show that we weren't able to see.

Next stop, the wax museum. There's not a lot to say about it. I don't really get the allure of taking pictures of fake people anyway. If you are considering going to the 63 Building, you can skip this part. We went through it in about 30 minutes, and half of that time was spent play-painting.

After we finished inside, we walked back to the subway station along the Han River. There is a nice park area, Riverside Park, where the water taxi and Han River cruises are located, along with a few restaurants and coffee shop on a moored boat. Normally, this would be a lovely walk, but the wind this day was brutally strong and made it very unpleasant.

All in all it was a day well-spent and I'm sure we'll go again!