Wednesday brought cloudy skies but no rain!!! I was happy we would be able to go out and see things outside and not be kept indoors. After a morning bike ride with Luke, we set off for Suwon and the fortress wall. I was excited because I had never been there and I knew this was something fun for Dana and Luke. The fortress wall is a big wall that is about 5 kilometers in circumference. It was built in 1794 by the king so he could show his respect towards his parents. It also had a outlook on the top of a small mountain where they would watch for enemies. When we got to the wall, we just started walking. It was pretty cool and we eventually made it to the base of the mountain and had to climb a few stairs. By "few" I mean about 100 or so. After we climbed, we kept walking to the look out. There was had an amazing view of Suwon and all the surroundings. We took about 200 pictures from the top, then we continued to explore the rest of the wall.
We spent most of the day there and by the time we were heading home we were pretty tired. Since it was the actual Chusok day, nothing was really open so we decided to make dinner at home. We relaxed and ate dinner then decided to head off into Seoul to go to the Seoul Tower. This is a tower, kind of like the Space Needle in Seattle, with spectacular views especially at night. I was excited to go because, like many things on this visit, I had never been there before. We got into Seoul around 8:00 or so and I took Luke and Dana through Myeong-dong to get to the Seoul Tower. Myeong-dong is a really big shopping area for foreigners and it was really fun to have Luke and Dana walk through and be engulfed by the madness that is Myeong-dong.
We made our way up to the tower and the cable line that took us to the top. After waiting in line for a bit we made it up, bought our tickets, and waited in another line for the elevator up. Once we got to the top, all the waiting and lines was worth it. It was a clear night so we could see all the city lights! It was pretty fun to walk around the top and look in all different directions. We took more pictures, took in the view, and finally made our way home.
We got back to the bus around 11 o'clock. We were all exhausted and we all crashed on the bus. Luckily we woke up before we missed our stop. We dragged ourselves back home and went to bed.
Thursday brought clear skies and great weather....finally!!! I was so happy Luke and Dana would be able to enjoy real fall weather, not the monsoons we had earlier in the week. It was a good thing we had such great weather because we had a jam packed day.
We headed into Seoul around 11am and started our day at one of the biggest palaces in Seoul. Gyeongbokgung Palace is one of the greatest to see. I like to take visitors to this one because once you see this palace, you have seen them all. We spent a good amount of time at the palace and they both took lots of pictures. They enjoyed it but they both agreed the Korean Folk Village was better because it was more intimate and personal. I would agree but the palace was still pretty cool.
After the palace, we went to a small temple close by. I had been to this temple earlier in the year and it was really neat because there were 3 huge Buddhas inside the temple. I really wanted them to see this and we were lucky because they had the big doors open and we had a great view of the wonderful artwork and the Buddhas inside. We also got to witness many many people worshiping. I felt a bit like I was intruding but it was really cool to be able to see that many people praying at the same time. I just wish I could have understood what they were saying!
After the temple, we grabbed some food and headed to Insadong road. This is a great place to do shopping for traditional Korean gifts. Luke and Dana were both really excited for this, seeing as though they had brought SO much money to burn on souvenirs. We spent about 2hours walking and shopping. I had a great time because I love Insadong and my bank account can attest to that! They both had a great time and got their fair share of gifts. Once they were satisfied, we headed home.
It had been another long day. We relaxed for a bit at home then headed back to Travelers for some dinner and a drink. We didn't last too long there either and headed home pretty early. It was a great day and Friday was the DMZ, or Demilitarized Zone. I was excited for that but I was also a bit sad because my time with Luke and Dana was quickly coming to an end.
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