Saturday, September 24, 2011

Ch'angdokkung Palace

Today was a day full of palaces and shopping!  First stop Ch'angdokkung Palace.

Ch'angdokkung Palace was constructed as a detached palace in 1405, the 5th year of King T'aejon of the Choson Dynasty.  With its unique palatial layout, its exquisite buildings, and the landscaping of its rear garden, it is known as the epitome of Korean architecture.
The throne room
One of the original buildings
Some of the gates and doorways were just neat.

The building on the right was built for the king's mother.
Interesting wall
All of the different colors and textures intrigued me

Next stop on our tour was the amethyst store!
I'm not a huge jewelry person, but I couldn't resist these beautiful purple rocks, so I talked David into buying me a ring. :)

Then we went to a shopping district (i.e. high-priced tourist trap) called Insadong.  There was a street festival going on as well.
Serving tea.
I'm not sure what this woman was doing, but she stood there for a really, really long time with her hands above her head listing to music coming frrom her little hand-held radio.  The only time she even opened her eyes was when some jerk came and intentionally bumped into her.
This young lady gave Grace a bracelet which symbolized Jesus' life, so Grace was able to share her testimony with her.
This man was making beautiful music on a wooden flute that he had made.  So we bought one...
Now to relearn how to play and teach the kids!

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