Changgyeong Palace

I went to one of the palaces in Seoul with some of my friends today. The original plan was to go on a 4 mile walk to visit all 5 of the royal palaces in Seoul, but we ended up having to change our plans so we only got to see one palace. There is a garden here that is also lovely, but we got there too late to go to the garden. 

While Sarah and I were waiting for Thomas to arrive, we saw this sign. We decided to go check it out. There was this adorable little old lady who ran a tourist information place in her free time.

We were impressed because this was in six languages. Korean, Japanese, Chinese, English, French and Spanish. The Korean and English are fairly common translations, if there is going to be a translation. Chinese and Japanese are common in certain parts of town. The French and Spanish was what really made us happy. We hadn't seen anything French or Spanish in a very long time. 

She gave us a map and pointed out some spots that were really interesting, and she gave us adorable little cups of tea. 

Thomas showed up as she was walking us through the places to visit. After we drank our tea and visited a bit, she asked us if we would make some cards to hang on her wall. She had cards from all over the world. So, we added Indiana, Tennessee and Texas respectively. 

We finally made it to the actual palace.The fall foliage was still mostly nice, although it is getting towards the end of the fall season. It was a little overcast as well, but it wasn't too cold, so we were thankful. 

This is the main palace. I guess it would be something like the throne room? We weren't really sure what most of the buildings were for. There aren't any helpful signs in any language on these buildings. 

I'm always amazed at the detail in these palaces. Everything is painted and carved so beautifully. 

There are also random faces that pop up everywhere, like this guy on a set of steps. 

This is inside the throne room. It is quite opulent, especially since this is an old dynasty palace. 

The color scheme of the palace definitely went well with the autumn leaves. 

There were lots of cool doors and gates that I kept taking pictures of. This was one of my favorites. 

Some more examples of the ornate work in these palaces. 

This is Sarah, and she was part of our palace-going trio. 

Thomas rounded out the trio. 

There were lots and lots of walls throughout the palace compound. They were all pretty cool!

This reminded us of the entryway to a fancy hotel somewhere. 

This was another section of the palace compound. We don't know why the color scheme changed, but we all liked the more austere look better.  

Since I matched the palace walls, we decided we should pose together. 

*no friends were harmed in the staging of this picture.

These are persimmons. They are quite delicious, and they seem to grow all over this country. I'd never eaten a persimmon before I came to Korea. I think I'll miss them when I eventually leave. 

This little building was off by itself. I have no clue what it was for. But it was quite tiny, and quite pretty. 

The doors and hinges were pretty cool too. 

All in all, we spent about ninety minutes wandering around the palace. The day didn't turn out quite like we'd imagined, but it was still nice.