Gwanghwamun Art Walk
We were randomly granted Thursday and Friday off this week, so Amanda and I took a little trip into Seoul yesterday. Lonely Planet Seoul recommends a gallery walk from the edge of Insa-dong up and around the west side of Gyeongbukgong Palace, so we headed for Gwanghwamun Square. We arrived a few minutes before 3pm to find that the Palace was preparing for the "Changing of the Guards." Any tourist guide will attest that this ceremony is a must-see, so we stuck around to have a watch. On-Duty Guards preparing to change shifts. The replacements, marching in. Horn-blower above the main gate. He played a head-sized, speckled, horny conch shell. The guards' march was accompanied by a traditional Korean parade of musicians, which certainly added an air of regality to the ordeal. It felt like we had travelled to a different time as I wondered how people regarded this ceremony back in the day. Did it make them late? Was it like being caught in traffic? What if an en
