Today was the first full day in Korea. It was packed with lots of walking and sightseeing. Due to jetlag, I was constantly waking up every two hours, until I finally got up at 6:30 in the morning. After getting ready for the day, I went to get some breakfast at the hotel.

After breakfast, we met up in the lobby at nine. Due to the rain, it was decided that instead of walking to the first location, Cheonggyecheon square, the group would take the subway. Compared to the United States, the subway in Korea is very clean and reliable. When we got to the square, we were given time to explore before heading to the next destination.

Our next destination was Gyeoungbuk Palace. The Palace was absolutely beautiful. I loved the architecture of the buildings. Additionally, I loved that there was lots of nature within and around the palace. After walking around the palace, we went to the Blue House. The Blue House is similar to the White house. As they both were presidential residences, however the Blue House no longer houses the president.

Our final destination of the day was the Namdaemun market. It was the largest market I have ever been. For only being here a day, I felt a little overwhelmed with all the things they had to offer. There was an assortment of souvenirs, clothes, jewelry, food vendors, and more. We were only there for an hour, so I hope we will be able to go back to explore fully.

For dinner, the group went to a restaurant right next to the hotel. They served traditional Korean food family style to our group. All the meals were pretty good.

Overall, the day was very tiring. For the whole day, I managed to walk 23,088 steps. Due to this and my jetlag, I decided to go back to the hotel early and try to get a good night’s sleep.