Gyeonbokgung Palace, Seoul.

It was a gloomy, cold, snowy saturday; the kind of day that I would prefer to stay in the hotel and work on my blog or pictures or something like that. But for Frits is was one of the few occasions he had to do some sightseeing. So of we went, to see Gyeonbokgung Palace. 

Not the best weather for some sightseeing;-).

I already visited the Changdeokgung Palace in the week before, so I had an idea of what to expect. 

Just before exiting the subway, we saw a couple of Tourist Information people. They are all over the touristic areas in town and very recognizable with their bright colored, mid-calf long coats. They asked us if we would be interested in a free tour guide to show us around the palace. Ofcourse we were! How luxurious to have your own private tour guide. And even for free! Wow.

Sam, a 19-year old student, brought us to the palace and lead us around. His english was quite ok and his knowledge about the palace was good. 

Thanks to the wonderful Sam we learned some new things about the old days in the palace:

• We learned that the king and queen never slept together. I mean slept together as in sleeping, capice?;-). They each had there own pavilions and bedrooms.
• Another thing we learned was that -nowadays- during the warmer months, the rooms get their furniture (like beds) back and tourists can go inside to have a look. Now, everything was removed for winter and we were only allowed to look in from the outside. That there is not a whole lot of stuff left from the old days anyways,  is thanks to the Japanese who ripped and stole everything during their occupancy.

• I saw this way of opening up walls in summer (by sort of 'hanging up' the wooden panels) at the other palace too. But I never saw it anywhere else. Have you? 

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• The stone figurines on the roofs are all meant to scare away evil spirits. There was a lot of evil going around in those days, apparently.

The pond around this pavilion was frozen. Too bad that there was no sun shining, because that would have given a pretty picture!

Maybe the whole place looks a bit  dark and boring on my pics, but the palace grounds are actually a favorite spot for filmmakers. They have been used as a backdrop in many Korean drama series. It probably looks very different with sunshine and blossoming flowers and trees.

Here are some more pictures. Not that many though, since you already saw a lot in my post about the Changdeokgung Palace. They obviously are different, yet there are a lot of similarities too, and I do not want to bore you. 

Despite the cold, there were a lot of visitors. Mainly asian tourist groups.

Towards the end of our tour it started snowing more and more. Time to call it a day. Sam would not take a tip, even though we insisted. He clearly was not allowed to accept tips and he stuck to that. Wow!

Finally I want to share with you three pictures of three girls in traditional Hanbok clothing, jumping for a photoshoot in the snow. They looked so pretty and had such fun!

Verdict:

If you only have time for one palace (Seoul has three of them), choose either this one or the Changdeokgung Palace. 

Geokbuching has the advantage of the changing of the guard ceremony and of all the musea around it. 
Changdeokgung has the advantage of the huge Secret Garden, which especially during spring and autumn must be a feast for the eyes.

Which ever one you choose, be sure to explore the place with a good guide. That will make your trip so much more interesting!