Hello Museum

I don't even know how I found the Korean-only website for this children's museum, but I could tell from the pictures that they have some sort of hands-on art display going on. I printed out the main page and showed a taxi driver and we made it there. The horrendous traffic on the way and subsequent high taxi fee reminded me of why I take the subway everywhere, but I couldn't get directions to this place. It is a very obscure, small museum, tucked inside a fairly small (for Seoul), nondescript office building.

Since the website is all Hangul I did not know that you were supposed to make reservations beforehand. However, they kindly excused my ignorance and we were able to get a wonderful private tour from a docent who spoke very good English. The current exhibit is about various mediums artists can use. We viewed watercolors, oil on canvas, pen on paper, ink for stamping with wood, tempura on wood, and some sort of substance she couldn't translate, but said was made from burnt wood. After 'googling', I still can't identify it.

Our guide explaining the art to the girls.

Wood and tempura.

She gave some information for the next exhibit, Animal Safari. It looks really great, so I'm sure we'll be going back, this time with reservations!

And just FYI, we did take the subway home!

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!

Amsa-dong

Amsa-dong is a neolithic village in Seoul rebuilt on the site of the original excavations. Just as most prehistoric villages have a proximity to water, this one is located near the Han River. After a flood in 1925 washed away the topsoil of the area, a large number of pottery pieces were found and the village site was discovered.

We spent a few hours here as a field-trip day for my daughter. There is not much to Amsa-dong really, especially if you don't understand Hangul. They have reconstructed about 30 huts, a small museum, and another hut area with figures. There are tons of hands-on activities to do also. A few more things scattered about the grounds that are not really worth mentioning but they do add a bit more interest to the site. It was worth the trip and interesting enough to entertain and educate.

Entrance to a couple of the huts.

The one hut you can enter. You stoop through the small doorway, walk
downwards, and enter the one room of the hut. 

The excavation sites modeled for display inside the museum.

School kids playing with their new made arrows and bows.

Helping cook.

Changdeok Palace

Injeong-jeon; Hall of Benevolent Government
The throne room

Spring is definitely in the air, so we spent Saturday afternoon at Changdeok Palace. This is considered to be the best preserved of the Seoul palaces and also boasts a 78 acre royal garden. We did not have the time to visit the gardens this day, and also thought it would be best to wait till things start growing again, but I can't wait to go back!

Map of palace grounds. You can see the vast area of the gardens.

Changdeok Palace was established around 1405 as an extension of nearby Gyeongbuk Palace. Both were burned by the Japanese in the 1590s, and Changdeok was the first to be rebuilt, making it the primary palace. Descendants of the royal family of Korea's magnificent Joseon era lived here until the 1970s. Nakseon-jae, where the last king and his (Japanese princess) wife lived briefly, was originally built in 1847 for the king's favorite concubine. Ironically, the last titular king of Korea served in the Japanese military. The president of Korea would not allow him to re-enter Korea until shortly before he died. His son, the last of the Joseon descendants, who was actually a US citizen, died in 2005. 

Nakseon-jae courtyard

in Nakseon-jae

One notable feature of the palace grounds is the existence of some rather special trees. The first of these can be seen as soon as you enter the gate, the Chinese scholar trees. They range from 300 to 400 years old and they are beautiful. I love the twisted, gnarly shape of the trunks. There is also a 400 year old mulberry tree, and a 750 year old juniper tree. It is so fantastic to see something so old preserved in the heart of a large city.

The scholar trees rising above the outside wall.

750 year old juniper tree

Notice the blue tile roof; only the kings were permitted to have blue tile. 
That is why the Presidential Palace of Korea has a blue roof, 
and is called "the Blue House".