Changdeokgung

To begin our foray into the labyrinthine world of the blog, a photo Deanna took of a 15th century meditation hall in one of the many Seoul palaces, this one the Palace of Illustrious Virtue. Rather than clogging the email accounts of all and sundry with the sights of our new home, we will occasionally post here the fruits of our wanderings. We have barely begun to scratch the surface of the amazing number of temples, museums, galleries, stadiums, parks, mountains, and palaces in this city. Yesterday while walking through one of the markets we had visited several times before, we stumbled upon Seoul's first Western-style park, and on March 1, 1919, the site of the reading of the Declaration of Independence, modern Korea's first organized resistance to Japanese rule. Making our way home, we happened upon a Metro stop fifteen minutes walk from our apartment, a huge find in lieu of the twenty minute bus ride to what we had previously believed to be the closest station. And for today, new books, new magazines, and some genuine quiet time.