Seoul - something old and something new

I spent last Saturday in Seoul. I didn't want to just sit around Kunsan so I figured I'd go back to Seoul to see a few things I had already seen and one thing I hadn't. I first went to the War Memorial which is my favorite museum in Seoul. Since I had taken pictures before, I only took one of the snake zodiac sign for Ben since Boehm in Korean means snake.I next headed to Gyeonghuigung Palace, the Western Palace of Seoul. By going here I finally completed my goal of seeing all of the 5 palaces in Seoul. Unfortunately the buildings at this site were all rebuilt since the Japanese either tore down or relocated the original buildings. It was the one palace that didn't have an entrance fee and it seemed like the least visited.The day I went there was a taekwando competition, but I had much more to see so I didn't stay to watch. I then went to Changdeokgung, the best preserved palace and on the way I passed by Gyeongbokgung palace and saw part of the daily ceremony there. Even though I had been to Changdokgung palace before, when we went it was freezing cold and I figured I might get more out of the tour if I could actually listen to the guide instead of wishing for warmer weather or toe warmers. First I saw the throne hall, named Injeongjeon. Then we saw government offices.

Here is a picture of my guide.Last I saw the secret garden area. After Changdokgung palace I went to get some dinner, stopped by one of the big markets in Seoul to look around. I was pretty tired at that point and so I went back to my hotel and called it a day. Sunday morning I took a bus back to Kunsan.