Gyeongbokgung Palace

To celebrate national Hangul day (Korean Alphabet/Language Day), I headed north of Seoul to Insa-dong and visited Gyeongbokgung Palace with some friends.  This was the main royal palace of the the Joseon dynasty and it was build in 1395.  It was almost entirely burned down and destroyed during the Japanese invasion of the 1590's.  There is still some major bad blood between the countries. The massive palace, that sits between two mountains, has since been restored.
Ruling families always prided themselves in education and it was here the the king sought to create a language that everyone in his country could learn.  At the time the national language was Chinese which was/is extremely difficult to master.  The result was Hangul and the further result was another long weekend!

Enter through the forbidden gate, one of four gates.

Pay about $3.50 and enter through the next one!

We luckily walked right into the beginning of a free english tour that lasted about an hour... I wish I remembered everything this woman said.  She was funny, charming and amazing.

 

My friends :) ! Kiara (kiki), Gabrielle, Mike and Rebecca!

Insadong is a really cool place!  Famous for art, shopping and dumplings (MON-DOO) !  - Kiki took us to a hole in the wall place were we devoured our weight in doughy goodness.  

Success.