Last day in Seoul

Sunday was my last day in Seoul and I headed up to Changdeokgung Palace. 

I walked up just in time to see the changing of the guard.  There were lots of Korean men in period costumes and there was even a big drum and a band.

 

The palace is set on a huge piece of land and is pretty nicely landscaped.  The guide book that I read said that the palace was not very ornate and was quite reserved.  I beg to differ:

 

 The colors on the walls were fantastic and really unlike anything I have seen anyplace else.

The inside of the buildings were all empty and we couldn't walk inside most of them.  But there really wasn't a need to be inside of them because the exteriors and the grounds were so pretty.  There were some main buildings that were quite grand and this was clearly where the king and queen lived.  Towards the back of the property there were the servants quarters that were not nearly as grand nor as ornate.

 

I spent about 3 hours walking around the grounds and exploring.  The palace was built during the Joseon Dynasty and is one of five palaces like this around Seoul.  It is very different than anything I have seen in any of my other travels which made it fun to explore.  They were also doing some reenactments while I was there. 

 

I watched a bit of it for awhile.  I think there was some sort of exam that was occurring in honor of the king.  It wasn't in English so I am not entirely sure and kind of made up my own story.  I did snap this picture which I just love:

So, to summarize, I loved Seoul.  I only saw a very small piece of it but I enjoyed the little bit that I did see.  The locals speak very little or no English but it doesn't seem to be a problem.  The city itself is quite clean and orderly and was very easy to navigate.  The local food was delicious.  This was all based on only 2 days wandering around so I will definitely be back for another weekend so that I can explore other parts of the city.