Our first full day in Korea started at 9 am and we were on our way into Seoul. Our day was filled with a full Seoul city tour that took us to some really interesting places. We first went to the Gyeongbokgung Palace. This was the royal palace during the Joseon Dynasty and where the King and Queen lived. We were able to witness the change of guards which was a 20 minute ceremonial process and was so cool. Rob, our tour guide gave a very interesting tour of the whole palace and we were able to see the throne room, the bedroom of the king and queen, and the banquet hall. What really blew my mind was how this was located right in the city while skyscrapers surrounded it. You could look at one direction and only see the palace and the mountains and turn around and there were huge skyscrapers. I loved how the city included these open spaces and made the city not feel crowded.

We moved on and kept sightseeing the city. We visited the Jogyesa Temple, Bukchon Hanok Village, the Cheonggyecheon Stream, and Namdaemun market. We were able to experience such cool places and they were all located in the city. Although the city includes such new and marvelous skyscrapers it has such an old history. I loved the mix of old and new history blending together. The market was filled with vendors all trying to get people to buy their products and there were so many people there that made it very crowded. Everywhere you looked you could see people selling fake products like fake Louis Vuitton bag and fake Supreme clothes. I ended up buying a pair of sunglasses that were very cheap but looked great. We had free time to explore the market and we just walked around this cramped and very crowded streets. Once we were done with the market we were done for the day and returned to the hotel.

For dinner a group of five of us got some fried chicken and then did Karaoke.This was the first full day for us in South Korea and it has set the bar very high for the rest of the trip. I had such a great day and all the visits were so great. I find it so fascinating how there is the mix of old history like the palace that is located right next to the modern civilization and all the skyscrapers.