Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Palace of Happiness

Now that the holidays are over, I can start sharing photos from our wonderful honeymoon. The first part of the trip was to Seoul, South Korea. It was our first time there and it did not disappoint. The city was so fun. People there work hard and play hard. The food was excellent and the shopping was endless! One of our favorite places in Seoul is a much quieter place though. Gyeongbokgung (Gyeongbok Palace) is a beautiful place to take a little break from such a fast-paced and energetic city.

It is considered the most beautiful palace in Seoul and the name can roughly be translated into "Palace of Shining Happiness". I can definitely see why. The views with the mountains alone is gorgeous.

The motifs and patterns painted on the ceilings and beams were beautiful; so colorful and vibrant. I can't even imagine the amount of time it takes to maintain something like this.

 (left) Reenactment of the changing of the Palace Guards; (right) So intricate! There were 3 to 4 layers of ceiling beams!



We saw many painters around the palace grounds. It was nice to watch them paint. When they took a little break, I smiled at them and gave them a thumbs up. We might not speak the same language but a smile is always universal :)

I love the ancient lock and the door's hardware on the right and I love the guy on the left too lol.

James and I had so much fun exploring the palace. Although there were a lot of tourists, the palace grounds were big enough that we didn't really notice the crowd. We found little secluded nooks and took our time looking at all the details and taking photos. It was very relaxing and peaceful. There was so much to look at that we didn't have enough time to see everything. I guess we'll just have to go back :)


So glad we got to see the beautiful foliage on our honeymoon since we missed it back home.


Love these two pics...James is so silly :)

These persimmons look like ornaments on the tree hehe

He was so friendly. We had a nice conversation with him. He even posed for this picture! :)



2 comments:

  1. Awww...what a sweet honeymoon!!! I went to Korea more than 10 years ago and i dont remember it being so beautiful!!! I have heard from friend that went recently that the shopping is really good! I think its time i revisit Korea;)

    I really like the color of those beautiful architecture, its very cultural!!! Palace of Shining Happiness is definitely a right name for this place!

    And how gorgeous are those beautiful foliage, something you dont see in hk:(I really like those two silly pics of your hubby, makes me laugh! and how cute is it that the old man for posing for you:) Lovely and talented artist too....

    Great recap! I can't wait to see more pics!!! Have a great weekend dear:D

    Cinz
    http://cinzee.wordpress.com

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    1. You must! The shopping is crazy! So many cute cosmetics that are good quality too. I still have so much to share...hope you won't get bored of them lol. Have a wonderful weekend too Cinz! :)

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