Insadong and Changdeokgung Palace

Well, we have air conditioning now in our guesthouse room, we are all just about on Korean time and Auden's cold is getting better- so all in all we are doing good!  We spent the entire day today out and about.  We went to a big famous shopping area called Insadong, then did a river walk around that part of town.  We had a Korean lunch in the Lotte Department Store food court that Cody found yesterday.  It's a beautiful place but you can end up buying $20 black cherries by accident (ask Cody!).  

After lunch we went to the Changdeokgung Palace and its Secret Garden in the afternoon.  This palace was originally intended to be the secondary palace to Gyeongbokgung (which we saw on Thursday) but it served as the residence of many kings and later became the main palace.  After all the palaces in Seoul were destroyed during the Japanese invasion in 1592 this palace was reconstructed in 1610 and served as the main palace for about 270 years until Gyeongbokgung was finally rebuilt.  It's amazing how beautifully this palace is arranged with the topography surrounding it.  Really cool that there are these woods and grounds in the middle of the city. 

 It was a full day that rewarded Auden (and okay us) with TGIFridays at the end:-) 

There were big fish in this water that Auden enjoyed watching.

Weekend at Burnie's shot:-).  Auden was asleep for the first half of the palace tour but woke up in time to see the beautiful secret gardens in the back of the palace. Perfect nap that finally got him to go to bed at a reasonable hour:-)

Sleeping quarters

"Secret garden"

Auden woke up!

Fresh seafood two blocks from where we are staying.  Auden wanted to watch the sharks all day (but not get too close!)