A walking tour, martial arts and a grand final

Today was a walking day - so I placed a gazillion band aids on my blisters before we headed out! We started at Seodaemun Independence Park which is home to Seodaemun Prison that was used to imprison the Korean independent fighters in 1919 by the Japanese who had invaded. The prison looks a lot like other prisons of that era - and reminded us of our visit last year to Alcatraz. The stories of torture were fairly horrific but we are glad that we visited to be reminded of the many battles that the Koreans have experienced in their history.

After the prison we wandered on to Dongnimmun Indendence Gate - and then on to Hong NanPa's house, past a small exercise park to a part of the fortress wall and then down to Gyeonggiojang House. After that we headed to Gyeonghuigung Palace. We had been to this palace last time to see the K-Tigers perform but had not actually gone in. The palace was small, but beautifully restored and we pretty much had it to ourselves. It was a very peaceful and serene place to spend some time.

Lunch was at the Seoul Museum of History before we wandered on to Gwanghwamum Square where we were fortunate enough to come upon a fusion martial arts performance. Our timing was incredible as we arrived with 10 minutes to spare and were able to watch them warm up. The performance had elements of Taekwondo, tricking, poomsae and even a bit of b-boying. Han loved it and was inspired to do some tricking of his own so we jumped on a train to Sinchon and found a soccer field at Sogang Univeristy where we spent about an hour with Han tricking and Ian and Kim listening to the grand final and watching the commentary on the AFL app.

A fantastic day out - we are back at the agency now resting before we head to Hongik for some tea.

Congratulations to Hawthorn!

Soedaemun Prison....