Deoksugung Palace

There are 5 palace compounds in Seoul, and our Korean guidebook said if you could only visit one it should be the Changdeokgung Palace. You can tell from my earlier posts how much we enjoyed Changdeokgung, but our trip to Deoksugung Palace was just terrific! We liked the fact that we could just wander about the palace grounds versus the guided tour at Changdeokgung. There is also a beautiful garden at Deoksugung, a display of some of the National Treasures of Korea, an art exhibition, and a musical changing of the guard three times a day (more about all of these later). If you ever get a chance to go to Korea, I would put the Deoksugung Palace on my "Must-See" list!

Cruising on the Han River in Seoul

After visiting the 63 Building during the day, we decided to take an evening cruise on the Han River. The cruise lasted about 2 hours, and it was nice to sit and watch the scenery of Seoul pass by. One of the bridges that we passed under had an awesome light show as we approached. Then as we floated under the bridge, a shower of water sprayed over us! I was lucky enough to stay dry.

Shopping at Dongdaemun

Korea has to be one of the most amazing places in the world to shop. Everywhere we went there was a variety of above ground and underground shopping (usually at the train stations). We shopped in Dongducheon, Uijengbu, Itaewan, and various places in Seoul. One of the best places we shopped was at Dongdaemun. There are both above ground shopping and underground shopping at Dongdaemun. In fact, there are 26 malls with over 30,000 shops from over 50,000 manufacturers. One of the large stores that we visited had a whole floor of nothing but buttons. It boggles the mind!

Observatory and Art Exhibit at the 63 Building

We went to the art exhibition and the observatory at the 63 Building. The exhibit was called "In the Flower Garden," and it was lovely. There was a bridge in one of the paintings, and a little bridge was built in front where you could take pictures. Another sections had glass, mirrors, and metallic leaves that made an interesting effect. The views of Seoul from the observatory were awesome!

Seaworld at the 63 Building in Seoul

The indoor Seaworld at the 63 Building is great. There is such a variety of salt water and fresh water life and fun, interactive performances. We saw a new (for us) fish called "Doctor Fish" that come up and nibble on the dead skin on your fingers. That was a funny feeling, to say the least! Our all-time favorites were the penguins though. There was a tank where they could swim past, and you are allowed to pet them. We had never been able to do that before, so that was quite an experience as well.

63 Building Wax Museum

You can buy tickets to the exhibits at the 63 building in bundles of three events. We didn't choose the wax museum, but we enjoyed taking pictures with the figures out front. My shot with Tiger Woods turned out too fuzzy, but here's my DD with Leonardo DiCaprio and my SIL with Einstein. E=MC(2).

63 Building

The 63 Building in Seoul was obviously named for its 63 stories. This building houses an amazing array of activities. There is a Seaworld, yes an indoor Seaworld, a wax museum, an art gallery, an observation deck, and a floor filled with a food court and various other restaurants. We spent the whole day there and loved it!