Today I went shopping. I'll write more about that by the end of the weekend, but that's enough to say for now. Note: I did not buy any of the bags you see in the photo, they just made me laugh. I walked and walked for about 5 hours in Seoul between Myeong-dong and Ghwangwamun and trying to stumble across the Canadian embassy. I had a fabulous time shopping for clothes for the FIRST TIME EVER in Korea, and then I decided to walk a bit more since I was already out for the day and not ready to go home.
I came across some... interesting art at a small art museum... there's a Rodin exhibit there now, but I haven't planned to check it out at this point...
I'm not sure what the story was behind the shoes with legs, lol... the hen had some eggs that were visible inside, the aliens lit up at night when you walked by, and the fish and pig were made of recycled stainless steel rice bowls, plates and cups... strain-jee...
I found myself in a palace in lieu of another temple ~ ^.^ ~ and wandered around for a good hour in there, until about the time that my feet were starting to hurt...
Gate into the palace...
The King's hall where he received visiting dignitaries
The King's throne...
The garden and fountain in front of the attached museum... they're rebuilding the building covered by the banner, and apparently that's what it'll look like when they're done!
A really amazing water clock that King Sejong was said to have designed... it told time using water and bells/chimes/gongs that responded to particular water levels (of course it is missing some pieces and no longer works, but I thought it was really neat!!)...
Speaking of the King (and I don't mean Elvis!)...
I never plan to get over for my love of the way Korea wraps the new around the old without ripping it all down and building over it... heritage sites are prized here, not razed...
There was a nifty bit of grass all about this particular palace (something that is in limited supply in Korea, especially soft grass you want to scrunch your naked toes in!), and it wasn't just limited to the lovely fountained garden you saw above! In the event that you thought it actually would be nice to take off your shoes and run barefoot in it, these little signs dotted the green spaces... :(
2 of my favorite things... doorways and rooftops...
After leaving the palace I wandered up and down a couple of sidestreets where I stumbled across the art museum above, as well as this church that I thought looked interesting...
I never did come across the embassy, even though I walked well over the 500m the sign indicated in the direction it pointed (and it was in ENGLISH!!!). I did pass a large numbers of foreigners on tour buses who stared and pointed at me just like Koreans in small towns do (thanks, oldies on some kind of UN tour it seemed), but I never did find the little piece of home!
At the end of my 5 hours I decided to walk back to find a bus home. I had to walk an extra 10 blocks beyond what my hip thought was tolerable, so needless to say when the bus finally arrived and my tears dried up I made plans to visit the doctor this coming week!!
I'll find the embassy another time!
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