Day 238: Gyeongbokgung, Insadong

We did pretty good on sleep reversal and jet lag today; Seoul is a 13 hour time change and we woke up at 5am! We planned to visit Gyeongbokgung National Palace but it didn’t open til 9:00am. Took our time getting ready and stopped by a bakery for morning pastries.

Gyeongbokgung Palace was built in 1395 as the official palace of the Joseon dynasty. It has been partially destroyed and rebuilt many times over due to wars and fires. It’s the largest palace from this dynasty in Seoul. If you wear the hanbok (traditional Korean clothing), admission to the palace is free; that’s why you see so many people dressed super fancy.

It was a hot day so around 10:30 am we walked down Insadong which is an artist, craft, and shopping street. They have traditional tea houses as well as some of the best unique souvenirs and shops. We grabbed lunched and jet lag Mary accidentally pointed to the wrong menu item which contained octopus, squid, and two types of mushrooms. Kieran generally hates all of those things, but the sauce was so good he survived.

Kieran needed a clothes refresh so we walked on to Myeongdong shopping district to grab him new pants, rain jacket, and shirt. Around 4pm, we couldn’t push anymore and returned to the hotel for a two hour nap; grabbed 7/11 gimbap along the way to reward Kieran for shopping.

Woke up long enough for Korean BBQ dinner at 7:30pm and promptly returned to the hotel for more sleep.

Spots:
Gyeongbokgung Palace
Insadong
Myeongdong

Food:
Chop Suey with Rice
Pork Belly
Pork RibRead more