The day and a half I spent in Seoul at the end of the Korean leg of my trip were a repeat of those at the beginning, except that I visited Changdeok Palace instead of Gyeongbok. I stayed at the same hotel (the Ibis Ambassador), I met the same friends for dinner the first night (chicken and rice this time), and I ate lunch at the same Insadong restaurant followed by coffee and macarons in the same patisserie. I did try a rose raspberry macaron as well as a brandied pistachio – the pistachio was much better.
Built on hilly terrain, Changdeok doesn’t follow the usual south-north layout, but is more spread out. The architecture is otherwise similar. I was most interested in seeing the “secret garden” behind the buildings, but when I learned that the mandatory tour would last two hours, I bailed at the half-way point. Aside from not wanting to stress my bad foot, I was getting hungry, and the grey day wasn’t the best for photographs. I do think the grounds would be lovely on a sunny day, though, especially after the leaves changed.
I had no one to blame but myself for the planning that required me to get up at 5:00 am to make my next flight, from Seoul to Taipei. At least I got to eat breakfast twice – in the Cathay Pacific lounge at Incheon, and on the flight itself.
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You didn’t miss much by not seeing the secret garden.
It was totally not memorable.
Fanny