Seoul

On July 31, we headed to Seoul.

On the road again...

Train ride from Busan to Seoul going as fast as 300km/hr (186miles/hr)

We made it! The bag is heavy.

Seoul Station - looking for the taxi stand

If you've been reading our blog, you'll know by now that the first day we arrive anywhere we don't really do much. We explored our neighborhood the next day.

Looking towards City Hall

The main thing we saw on this day was the Sungnyemun Gate, which is "National Treasure No.1." It is the south gate of Seoul. It was originally built in 1398 and has been repaired many times including after the Korean War when it was badly damaged. From 1961-1963, the gate was taken completely apart, repaired and fully reassembled. It was most recently damaged in 2008 by an arsonist and repairs were recently completed.

Looks pretty new

Lots of people visiting it

This is the art on the ceiling of the gate

Paul is excited to pose for a photo in the heat

Interesting juxtaposition (as pointed out by Sascha on the photo I posted on Instagram)

Walking through the crowds in the alley ways where scooters whizz by...do you see it? Or are you distracted by the couple wearing matching shirts? More on that later...

That was pretty much the extent of our first full day. We had to get up early the next morning for our tour of the DMZ (demilitarized zone).