In the Spirit of Palaces

Despite being very tired, I couldn't sleep properly on the first night at the Seoul accommodation. I woke up at 3 AM and couldn't fall back asleep afterward. So we set off relatively early after 8 AM for breakfast hunting. We had a substantial Korean toast sandwich for breakfast. After breakfast, we headed to our first program location, where we had to arrive at a specific time.

We aimed for Changdeokgung, or at least we wanted to, but we managed to get lost sufficiently. In the end, the issue was resolved and we arrived on time at the Changdeokgung Secret Garden. First, we had to buy the palace entrance ticket because that was the only way to get to the Secret Garden. We had to present our pre-purchased ticket at the Secret Garden ticket office, and they issued the ticket for the English-guided tour there. The tour lasted about 80-90 minutes. The garden is marvelous and emanates incredible tranquility. Various buildings are also located here. After the tour, we also visited the Changdeokgung Palace.

The next destination was Bukchon Hanok Village, where we could view hanok houses. As a concluding program, we headed to Gyeongbokung Palace, and the National Palace Museum of Korea was also on our agenda. Gyeonbokung Palace is rightly called the Grand Palace, as both its size and the surrounding area confirmed this. What we saw in the museum showcased the life of the ruler. When we exited the palace, we saw the monumental bronze statue of King Sejong and the likewise monumental statue of Admiral Yi-Sun-sin in the square opposite, so it was clear that we visited this as well (it was included in the plan). At the back of the King Sejong statue, there’s an entrance to an exhibition room where the life of the king and the history of the creation of Korean writing, Hangul, is presented. This was also important to me, so we checked this out as well.

Enriched with numerous experiences, we headed back to the accommodation. We concluded the day with Korean fried chicken.

I was very tired by the end of the day, influenced by the lack of sleep and that I had taken nearly 29,000 steps, which was also due to getting lost a lot.