Korea!

Here is a large selection of photos from our recent trip to Korea.  It was a wonderful time with family and a few friends.  We learned so much family history and Korean history and are already hoping towards when we can return with the kids and travel the country more extensively.  

There was a large memorial for the children lost in the ferry accident just outside our hotel, but the memorials and ribbons actually extended all across the city.

We were able to visit a number of museums, including this National Museum.  It was beautifully designed, rich with history, and very impressive, not to mention free to visit.  In fact, every museum we visited was impressively well done, and free!

 

 One of the highlights of our trip was catching up with good friends who had spent a few years in Houston and recently returned to Korea.  They showed us around the city and treated us to an amazing dinner up in Seoul Tower.

Coming from America, with such a relatively brief history, the centuries of history in the midst of one of the most modern cities I have ever visited made for a fascinating juxtaposition.

I couldn't help taken this shot of the ancient Admiral Ye watching over the city so sternly while kids splashed in the water beneath his war ship.

The city was decorated festively for the holidays.  Both Buddha's Birthday and Children's Day fell on the weekend I arrived.  

One of the days we took a tour to see palaces and an outdoor traditional cultural village.

(David in the Korean equivalent of the stocks)

Equestrian show at the Korean traditional cultural center.

 It was wonderful to see cousin Anne for an afternoon, and we were able to visit the Horticulture Festival in her neighborhood.  It was AMAZING. 

 I suddenly understand just a bit more how it is that David's parents are insanely productive gardeners.  The city was over run with flowers.  Every corner, every building.  Even the airport was thick with orchid blooms.

The best part of the trip was meeting extended family whom David hasn't seen in years and whom I was meeting for the first time. 

The uncles showed us around the city, prepared an extensive family tree for us to complete with the cousins, and brought out some stunning photos of Oma on her wedding day.

It was a wonderful, rich trip.  We're so grateful to my parents for spending the week with the kids to make it possible and for the hospitality of our family and friends who showed us around.