Seoul Searching (Times Three)

There is a lot to do and a lot to see in Seoul. We still have a few weeks here, and I hope to see more, but here are some of my explorations of the past few days.

The Palace

The throne room palace at Chongdeokgong and the slightly raised King's Way

One day Alrica and I took the metro into Eulji-ro, the same district where the whelk became so popular that I talked about in my last post. And there was a knight in the metro station! Well, a tile knight, but that's similar right?

I'm unsure what the white and navy at bottom right is supposed to be

Now, Eulji-ro wasn't our goal. We walked north and visite Ikseondong. This is an area with Hanok house on tight narrow streets filled with pedestrians. It's very popular with tourists and locals and has tons of cafes and shops. There was one wall that had twelve vending machines in the wall. Above each vending machine was one of the animals from the Chinese Zodiac. There were words in Korean, but I didn't understand them. Still, I assume the idea is to get something out of the vending machine with the animal that corresponds to your birth year. Personally, I'm a pig. But I also live a life in which I have to minimize what I own, so I was not too tempted by the vending machines. Neither was my rabbit wife.

Ikseondong sighting: Hydrant beside a meditating frog

From Ikseondong we walked to Chongdeok Palace (or Chongdeokgong as gong means palace.)

The palace gate ahead

There was much of interest here. It is a beautiful palace. But not all of it is originally Chongdeokgong. Many of the buildings are the original buildings, but not all of them. Some did not survive the war. And after the war, some of the palace buildings at other palaces were moved to this location to replace the lost buildings. Like modular castle design. Except in the move and rebuild, not all of the materials transferred well. So repairs continue to this day.

I like the little figures on the roof

We saw the main throne room palace. This is where the emperor would meet dignitaries or his subjects, where coronations occurred, and where major pronouncements were made. Behind the throne itself is a mural of the sun and moon and several waterfalls. It was representative of the majesty of the emperor.

The emperor's throne

The courtyard that leads from the gate to the palace has some fascinating features. There is a higher part that runs from the center of the gate to the center of the stairs up to the palace. That was "The King's Way". Only the emperor walked on this slightly higher path.

Rank stones

On either side of the King's Way, there are stones, almost like short little milestones. But these are rank stones. Each is engraved and they indicate how all the ministers were to arrange themselves when they came into the presence of the emperor. Those of higher rank were closer to the throne room. Those of lower rank were further away. Military officials lined up on one side of the King's Way and civil ministers lined up on the other side.

The next building we visited was special. It has blue tiles for its roof. These were, apparently, very expensive and used sparingly. This second palace with the blue (not super bright blue) roof was where the emperor spent most of his time. This was his daytime living quarters and also where he conducted most of his business with his advisers. The throne room was good for ceremony, but the day to day work of being the monarch was done in this second palace.

Note that the roof is bluer

One of the officials was the royal historian. The job of the historian was to follow the emperor everywhere he went and record everything the emperor said or did. These historians were so conscientious that it made the emperor's annoyed. In one of the histories, the emperor was out riding and he fell off his horse. He was embarrassed about it and said he didn't want it recorded in the official history. But the historian knew his duty. So the history reads something like "The emperor fell off his horse. He then commanded that this fact should not be recorded in the official history." Disobedient historian for the win!

The sum/moon/waterfall mural is in this building too and you get a better view of it

The third palace we visited was the emperor's bed chambers. This is bigger than just a bed chamber. It is his entire living space. But right behind that, in the fourth palace we visited was the queen's palace, her living space. And there is a fascinating structural difference in this building.

Royal bedchambers for the emporer

In all of the other palaces and in traditional Hanok architecture, there is a horizontal beam that runs across the roof, on the top, on the outside where you can see it. But the queen's palace doesn't have that horizontal beam. The reason is kind of magnificent.

The king's bedchamber, notice the horizontal beam at the top of the roof

The queen's bedchamber, notice that horizontal bar is missing

That beam is called the Dragon's Beam. It is supposed to invoke the spirit of a dragon to protect the home. The emperor is also considered a dragon. His job is to protect Korea. The main duty of the queen is to produce a male heir, the new dragon. They believed that if there were a dragon's beam on the top of her chambers, the energy of that dragon would suffocate the energy of a new dragon and the queen wouldn't be able to produce a male heir.

It was a fun explore. And after it, we got waffle fish. So good day!

The Mountain

I went out for a little solo walk one day. I decided to walk the road that is near our apartment and runs through the market. I would follow it south and see how far it led. And I did. I ended up at one of the high rise complexes. I continued to explore and came to one of the uphill portions of Seoul. The city is primarily built in a flat valley but it is in the midst of many mountains. Some of these are right inside the city. I decided on an uphill strategy. I wanted to see the neighborhoods that were built higher.

A view from Geumho. That tall building on the mountain is the Seoul N Tower

I kept going up and found a staircase and followed that. And soon I realized I was in some sort of park. So I pulled out my phone to find out where I was. Turns out, I was on one of the mountains in the center of Seoul. I was on Geumho Mountain.

Another view, not looking into the sun this time

I explored the mountain. There are some places with beautiful viewpoints. There are badminton courts and basketball courts. There is a lot of exercise equipment. That's huge here. Every park seems to have exercise equipment, and you frequently see it being used. The primary users tend to be older Koreans.

In this direction you can see the Han River behind the buildings

It was a lovely walk. And then, on my way home, I saw a familiar friend.

Hi Colonel!

The Stream

On a different solo exploration, I went back to the Cheonggyecheon Stream. I know I've already mentioned it in the blog. But I decided to walk from where it was closest to where we live all the way downstream until it meets the Han River.

The confluence of the stream and the river

I was surprised at how many different birds I saw at the stream. This is the middle of the city. But the stream does feel like a bit of nature away from the hustle, and apparently the birds appreciate that too.

Bird

Birds

Birds! (okay, that's just one bird)

Nature has some other magnificent sights along the way. I admit, the tulips were probably nature with the help of humanity, but I'm giving nature a lot of the credit.

I did not tiptoe through these.

But there was a lot of loveliness created by humans along the way too. Plenty of sculptures.

He doesn't look happy

Heart and Seoul?

That's bull

Thumbs up

At the confluence of the stream and the river, I found a park. This was an area with some other sculptures and art, but also had ballfields.

Keeping the balance

I saw young kids playing soccer (or they would say football.) And there were older kids, teenage boys, playing baseball.

Clock in the ground, and the time was correct. I checked.

Here's what fascinated me. Everything was in English. One team was WePlay (I assume their sponsor.) The other was something like AngelBirds or AngryBirds. I couldn't make it out. The names on the backs of the shirts were written in the Latin Alphabet. And the scoreboard said "Team" and "Away" and "Home". Plus it marked how many balls, strikes, and outs there were with B, S, and O. All English. In South Korea.

The home team is dominating the away team

On the way home I found a big market where the streets were blocked off and there were people selling things from tables or sitting on the ground. Mostly it was clothing, but there were electronics too.

I saw a place selling corndogs and thought, I haven't had a corndog in a long time. I bought a couple for dinner. Because who says no to corndogs?

That's a lot of exploring, and there is still so much more to check out. So I'm sure I will have more to report.