October 6,

We both slept very soundly! It felt good to stretch out… amazing the very simple things I take for granted. Jeff awoke around 0630, and I awoke shortly after, because I heard him leaving. He went to get us water in the communal kitchen area in the basement. South Korea’s tap water is safe for us to drink – it is the first place in a long time. But the dispenser in the basement gives out ice! This is a valuable commodity in all of the countries over here!!  Anyway, we got around leisurely. It was raining, and I think it did much of the night but lightly. We had our Javas and breakfast of some cereal/muesli type with milk and yogurt that we had bought yesterday.

Mid morning we talked with my sister and caught up with her. As we were closing she said we’ll see you in around a month – well, that caught me – it will be that soon!🤯 Crazy!! Then we connected with Jeff’s sister, her husband, and their oldest son. That was a pleasant surprise!! They are in Montana at a convention. Their temperature was supposed to go down to 28 degrees!!! BRRR🥶

After our calls, we went out, as it had stopped raining. It was just a light drizzle. We went over to Changdeokgung Palace. Admission was FREE! This was due to “Chuseok Holiday,” which is the “Korean Thanksgiving.” Anyway, this palace is a UNESCO site. According to a placard…

    The original Palace was built in 1405. It is a second palace in Seoul and in the east part. (The other palace, Gyeongbokgung, is the main palace and is in the west.) All of the palace’s buildings were destroyed in 1592 during a Japanese invasion. In 1610, the palace was restored and served as the main palace for 270 years. Again in 1917, some of the buildings of the palace were destroyed but by fire. To replace the burnt buildings, buildings from Gyeongbokgung Palace were dismantled and moved here. Some of the buildings were damaged or modified in this process. Full restoration happened in 1991. Despite all of the damage at the palace, Changdeokgung is relatively well preserved and is representative of Korean Architecture. It became inscribed on UNESCO World Cultural Heritage in 1997.

We meandered around. So many different buildings, but the main one was the Injeongjeon, or Hall of the Benevolent Rule. It was the throne hall of the Changdeokgung Palace. It was one of the few buildings open. We could see the display of grandeur inside, but no one is allowed inside. The ceilings with its multi-colored painted surfaces reminded me so much of Chinese palaces, but some uniqueness or originality that makes it Korean. In our walk-about of the palace, we could not help but notice so many Koreans (and some foreigners) in traditional Korean dress/costume. It was great to see traditional wear. I asked a couple of ladies to take their picture and spoke with them a bit. They related to me that the gowns they wore were rented and anyone can do this. (I already knew this but it was fun to converse with them.) 

We finished just after 1300 and hopped on a couple of subways to go to the Boramae Park Garden show. It took us about 50 minutes to arrive, but as soon as we exited out of the last subway… it was raining! Ahh Pooh! We decided to go ahead and walk around some but there was not much to see. We opted to try going to the other palace, so back on the subway. But when we got out here it was more rainy and very windy. Umbrellas were almost pointless. But hunger overtook us and we found – about the only Korean place open – Food Cafe. We placed our order from pictures at a check out Kiosk and sat down. We had two Kimbaps (or Gimbaps) – which are made of Gim or sheets of dried seaweed wrapped around different ingredients. One Kimbap was pork cutlet kimchi, the other was double cheese. They were served in sliced log shaped rolls. Both were great with the side dishes: pickled daikon radish (or Japanese pickled yellow radish), kimchi, and namul (seasoned vegetables). I had a Coke and Jeff had a Sprite (which they call cider). Our bill came to 14,500 KRW or $10.62.

We went back to our place after a visit at a convenience store for some snacks. We were cold, and a bit wet- mostly our feet. Wet socks and sandals are not a good combo! We warmed up and snacked on some balsamic vinegar chips, and chocolate. Then we did a WhatsApp for our tour tomorrow, and found out we needed to get up at 0445 due to a change in times for the tour! So we showered and went to bed by 2130.