Day 47 -- Traditional Tea and Gyeongbukgung Palace

This morning, I slept in a bit before talking to Mom and Dad and doing some homework. In the afternoon, I went to Tteuran, a traditional teahouse in a hanok. I had a set of pumpkin rice cakes and mugwort rice cakes with a honey-like syrup to dip them in alongside a cup of omija tea, a traditional Korean tea also known as "five flavor berry tea" because it is simultaneously salty, bitter, spicy, sweet, and sour.

After eating at the teahouse, I went to Gyeongbukgung Palace, the main royal palace in the Joseon dynasty. I went to Gyeongbukgung on both of my previous trips to Korea, but because it is one of the biggest attractions in Seoul and because it is so beautiful I thought I would go for a third time. The palace grounds were a lot bigger than I remembered from last time; it was really impressive how expansive they are. I loved seeing all of the colorful paintings on the roofs of the buildings and the nature in the area, but my favorite part was the Hyangwonjeong Pavilion, which was surrounded by water with lily pads covering its surface. It was really beautiful, especially with the view of the mountain in the background.




After walking around Gyeongbukgung for a while, I was very hot and very thirsty, so I stopped by a Gong Cha to get some strawberry boba and read. I went back to my dorm next and did a bit more homework before going out for dumplings. 

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