Day 4 …time for a little culture
Today was the day to explore some of the cultural and historic parts of Seoul. As the weather was going to be a little kinder we decided it was time to wander Insadong … a significant shopping district filled with stores celebrating the arts and crafts of Korea, before visiting a couple of the city’s palaces.
Ian and I added in one extra loop early this morning by visiting Unhyeongung Palace before we headed out with Kim and Claire. It is open to the public at 9.00 am and entry is free. It is only a 5 minute walk from where we are staying so we headed out just before 9 and were the first people to visit. This is actually not a palace but was a royal residence of Daewongun the prince regent of Korea and the father of King Gogong (later emperor). Gogong lived at the residence until he was 12 when he ascended the throne.
The palace was built in the 14th century but many of the buildings were damaged or destroyed during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598). It was also taken from the descendants of Daewongun during the Japanese colonial rule and retuerned to the family in 1948. In 1993 they sold it to the Korean government who did an extensive restoration and it has been open to the public ever since. It is a lovely small residence with individual buildings for the men, the women and the staff. There was also a separate building for cooking and hall for gatherings (think of a modern lounge room).
We then wandered our way back to the apartment to meet up with Kim and Claire … pausing to look at a church, and old residence, a massive snowball (!) and to meander our way through some of the lanes that make up the back streets of Insadong.
Back at the apartment we found the kids ready to go so down to grab a coffee for Claire (and me) at the coffee shop on the ground floor of the hotel and away we went. We walked along Insadong-gil stopping to look in some of the shops and commit to memory things we want to buy later on, we wandered the back streets again, Kim and Claire explored a vintage store and Kim finally bought himself a hat to keep his head warm!
Then off to Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main royal residence for the Joseon Dynasty. It was built in 1395 and is the largest for the five grand palaces. It served as the home of the royal family and the seat of the government. Over its life it has been destroyed by fire (1592) and was abandoned for two centuries before being rebuilt. It was then systematically destroyed during the Japanese occupation in the early 20th century. In the 1960s it was designated a cultural property and has been gradually restored to its original glory.
It is an incredible palace … from the grand Gwanghwamun Gate at the main entrance, to the smaller, inner gates that lead you in to the different buildings within the palace grounds. From the living quarters, the outer courts, to shrines, pavilions, the grand throne pavilion and the banquet pavilion built on the lake … it was all beautiful.
We have visited this palace every time we have been to Seoul … and each time there is something new to look at or explore. New sections open, older parts closed for renovation, the grass might be green or in today’s case burnt by the icy cold weather. The lake was frozen, snow was on the ground … it was glorious.
We arrived back at the main gate in time to watch the changing of the guard. This is purely a ceremonial event but mimics the exact same process that would have occurred when the King was in residence. The costumes of the actors are based on the original robes worn by the guards, the musicians and the “officials”.
Entry to the palace costs a mere 3000 KRW … about $3.30! Crazy prices! However if you dress up in the traditional hanbok you can get in for free. We had a wonderful time wandering the palace grounds. If we come back again … yes, we would definitely visit again.
Leaving behind the palace we began walking down Gwanghwamun Square, a large public open space. It was opened in 2009 as part of an environmentally friendly redevelopment of the city. We had planned to walk along the square, stopping to look at the statues of various important figures in Korean history however we quickly changed our plans when we discovered a rather large, and very loud, rally. There is some political unrest in Seoul at the moment surrounding the president and so … we decided to get away from all of the people, protestors and police pretty quickly. Whilst the rally looked fairly peaceful we did not want to be anywhere near it (I had promised Claire’s parents that I would keep her safe … as well as keep Kim and ourselves out of it all as well).
So we detoured onto some side streets, well away from all the drama, in search of somewhere to eat lunch. We came across a small restaurant, packed with people. It only had about 12 tables but there was a constant stream of people in and out. We checked out the menu (thanks Google translate … although the restaurant owner popped out with a menu in English when he saw us) and decided it was a good place to rest and refuel. Different versions of soups (with spice, without spice, with noodles, without noodles, meat or no meat) were ordered along with some mandu (dumplings) and for the next 30 minutes or so we slurped our way through lunch.
Then, bellies full and bodies rewarmed, we headed back out into the streets as Ian navigated our way around the rally to Doeksugung Palace. This is a much smaller palace than Gyeongbokgung and had a similar fate in terms of destruction, occupation and restoration. Back in 1998 it was the first palace Ian and I ever visited … so it will always be special for us.
Along with the beautiful Korean buildings the grounds of this palace also contain a few not so Korean buildings. Seokjojeon was built in 1898 and was designed by a British architect. It is built in a neo-Renaissance style, complete with gothic columns and granite walls and balustrades and was used for diplomatic and high-level government meetings. A second building (built at the same time) now houses the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. A third building, the recently rebuilt royal Tea House (which we have not seen before) looks nothing like any building we have seen in Seoul before … looking like something you might be more likely to see in Europe. It hosts a museum celebrating the history of light fittings!
And so we finished our cultural lessons and headed back to our apartment. We stopped to grab a donut … Dunkin Donuts are incredible here in Seoul. Again, we avoided the noisy (but generally very well behaved) rally by heading down into the subway and catching a train back towards Insadong. Popping back up to street level we walked through Tapkol Park, watched the older gentlemen playing Janggi (a form of Korean Chess), walked through just a small section of the Nagwon Musical Instrument Arcade and then back to the apartment.
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