Day trip to Seoul

A friend invited us to spend a day at Seoul this past Saturday and we decided to visit the Korean War Museum and Deoksugung Palace. We opted to take the 2 hour KTX train ride instead of driving 4 hours to Seoul.

The Korean War Museum was located just right outside of Yongson. It was much larger than I thought it would be and there were impressive monuments right outside the front entrance. We weren't able to see the entire place, so we will be making another visit to see what we missed.

Jensen had a great time at the Museum.

Notice Jensen on the bottom of the photo trying to look at the colorful shields.

Our next stop was Deoksugung Palace which was located near the KTX station. There were 3 palaces listed on the hotel guide, but I decided to go to this one which had the changing of the guards that was scheduled for 2 p.m. I was also pleasantly surprised that an Art Museum was also located inside the palace grounds.

Guard at the entrance of the palace

I was trying to get Jensen to pose with the guard, but he was too scared.

I love the fact that this photo includes the palace and the high rise buildings in the background.

Nice photo taken by Christian.

 On our way back home, Jensen was having a tough time sitting still. I had to keep walking him to the middle part of the train so he can stretch his legs. A family was nearby and I guess they noticed how Jensen was being so fussy and whiny. On one of the many walks that I took Jensen, the grandfather just grabbed him and sat him on his daughter's lap. Keep in mind, I have never met them before. I guess if that happened back home, I would have flipped out, but Koreans feels as if you are part of  a large family. I was so appreciative that he "adopted" Jensen. They were returning to Deagu from Seoul as well. They had just attended a cousin's wedding. It was nice to talk to them and even the children spoke English. One of the grand-daughters drew a picture of Jensen and gave it to us to keep. This is one of the many things I love about Korea.

Jensen making new friends on the the KTX train ride back home.

Drawing of Jensen by Anna.

Labor Day Weekend - Sunday Bodypainting Festival

To finish off our Labor Day Weekend, we went to the Bodypainting Festival at Duryu Park. The park is about a 20 minute drive from our place and we were fortunate enough to find a parking spot. We didn't realize that it was the other side of the park where Koron Concert Hall was located. We got a little bit of exercise since we had to walk through the park. The track was pretty hilly and again Jensen was getting a lot of attention. There was a nice view of the city from the top of the mountain.

Finally, we found the concert hall where they had booths set up for all the artists and models that were being painted. There were also food and vendor booths set up. Some booths were set up as art activities for the children. After walking around and watching the artists work, there wasn't much to do while waiting for the awards ceremony and fireworks later that night. 

Most of the models were ladies, but I was able to find these 2 gentlemen.

There were backdrops set up to have your photo taken with the models. We were able to get one with this lady painted all while. A friend posted on FB that she looked like the Pillsbury lady.  I guess she does look like a female version of the dough boy. Jensen was little scared of her, but luckily he didn't cry until after Christian was able get this shot.

Anything to do with art, I always enjoy. This was especially amazing since I have never been to such an event. I was a bit surprised that there were no US artists. I saw a booth for Russia, China and even Ukraine. Of course there were numerous from Korea, but no one from the US. Hopefully, the International Daegu Bodypainting Festival will live up to its name next year.