We all enjoy our beds and the fact that it’s one hour earlier, this way it seems like we get an hour extra sleep. Tim gets up early and uses the rooftop to his advantage for some aerial reconnaissance.
We eat breakfast at 8.30 and leave before 9.00 to visit our first palace with as few others as possible. There is some sort of celebration so all the places are free today, not that museums or sites are expensive in Korea. Only private museums ask around €15.
Gyeongbokgung Palace is the first palace on our list. It is the largest and the primary palace of the Joseon dynasty. The complex dates back to 1395 but was destroyed as almost everything in Korea during Imjin war with Japan at the end of the 16th century. The palace was only rebuild in the second half of the 19th century to be demolished by the Japanese some 70 years later. So most of what we see today is a post WW II reconstruction.
It’s a huge complex and we go through one gate after another as we get deeper and deeper into the complex which originally had over 7000 rooms. At the far end of the complex lies the Korean national folk museum which is also free. It tells the story of Korean traditions and culture and it provides some nice background information on the food we have eaten and the different practices we have witnessed. The main exhibition is tied with the seasons and tells the story of Korean live throughout the year but also shows how the traditions have changed with the rapid industrialization and American influence.
Today is a hot 26 degrees Celsius so after a palace and a museum it’s time for an ice cream and affogato, all vegan made of soy beans. Cleo has to finish her ice cream quick as the gallery we want to visit is next door. As she has eaten her last bite we are told that the gallery is closed due to switching exhibitions. No problem, on the other side of the ice cream cafe is the contemporary art museum. As we’re not fans of a large portion of contemporary art these museums can be a hit or miss. This one lands on the positive side as it has 7 halls with different types of art, so everybody can enjoy something. Cleo even gets to kick a ball, there is a heavy metal concert, there are ice sculptures and there is an incense carpet.
On our way to the next palace we look for something to eat as we have to refill our energy. We find a poke bowl joint which has vegan options so we are very happy. Cleo eats so much of our bowls that we regret not getting a third one but we’ll find something else soon. Zeno is sleeping anyway, so he missed lunch part 1 completely.
Changdeokgung Palace was built as a secondary palace to the primary palace,
Gyeongbokgung Palace, in 1405. However, it served as the main palace for 270 years, when Gyeongbokgung Palace was destroyed but not yet rebuild in the 17th-19th century. It was also the place where the Korea–Japan Treaty of 1910 was signed and where the last descendants of the royal family lived.
It’s hot, we’re out of water, but we must continue with out palace quest, as Changgyeonggung palace lies next to Changdeokgung Palace. It was built for a retiring king in the 15th century and it often served as residential quarters for queens and concubines. It became a park with a zoo and a botanical garden during Japanese colonial rule, and was only restored to being a palace again in 1983.
At the Palace exit gate, our bus to the War Memorial of Korea leaves. So we postpone our water stop even more, until we see a convenience store next to the memorial entrance. Also Zeno gets his lunch here, and then we decide to split: there is a playground next to the museum, it was a long day already, especially for Cleo, and we have even more on our planning today.
So Tim visits the War Memorial of Korea, learning more about the Korean War while Olga and the children enjoy themselves on the playground.
We have to hurry to get to the SAMSUNG Museum Leeum, a private museum founded by Samsung. It has a superb collection of ancient artefacts but first we visit the two temporary exhibitions with contemporary art. There are some interesting installations and its really busy, even just before closing time. The highlight are the four floors of the permanent collection with several national treasures. Just before closing we return the buggy and go on the hunt for food.
The area of the museum is really expensive and reminds us of the neighbourhood of Parasite. But when we cross the hill we enter the Itaewon drinking area food with a lot of world cuisine on offer. Unfortunately, most restaurants are more like bars and we don’t see our children sitting relaxed on the high chairs in the loud music. With our final energy we carry the children around, we’re so hungry as we’re still performing on this half salad bowl of 6 hours ago. Luckily, the final restaurant in the neighbourhood is a real restaurant serving Thai food, and we eat every spring roll, curry and grain of rice that is served.
We end the long thay at the Namdaemun Market, we read in travel blogs that the evening is the best time to visit this lively market, but we conclude different: all the stall owners are packing their stuff and we’re obviously too late. So no success for our souvenir hunt tonight.
We’re back home at 20:30, but Olga finds out that there is only one diaper left, so she had to go on an hour hunt, checking 6 convenience stores and getting really nervous that baby diapers are nowhere to be found (unlike diapers for grown ups – which shows the ageing population is real in Korea). Finally at the 6th store there are six diapers on sale. Olga buys all six and gets back to a home where the children are already sleeping. Only the blog has to be written and then we can also go to bed
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