Korean National Treasures at Deoksugung Palace

There are quite a few interesting objects on display at Deoksugung Palace, and some of them are Korean National Treasures. Treasure number 29 is the Sacred Bell of King Seondeok the Great. Treasure number 229 is an ancient water clock. This clock is the oldest and largest surviving example of an automatic water clock.

The National Museum of Art at Deoksugung

The art museum does not hold a permanent collection of art, rather the curator brings in exhibits from around the world to display there. The curator has a reputation for bringing in excellent collections. We were lucky enough to visit the museum while the collection of Fernando Botero, an artist and sculptor from South America, was being shown. Botero is known for his larger-than-life paintings and statues of large-sized people and animals, as you can see by his cat statue that sat in front of the museum when we visited.

The Garden at Deoksugung Palace

It was a lovely afternoon when we visited Deoksugung Palace and strolled through the garden there. The fountain is unusual because it goes against Korean beliefs that since water flows downhill, a waterfall, not a fountain, should be built in a manmade garden. We loved the otters spouting water around the main fountain!

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!