Why are there no trash cans?

Sorry folks, today's post is Theo-free. =( Andy and I just got back to the hotel after a LONG day of sightseeing. And as you can tell from the title of this entry, we had a heck of a time trying to throw garbage away! I'm serious - this country is super clean and apparently has no need for public trash bins. Moving on...

We left the hotel at about 10:00 this morning with a full agenda for the day. Before we made it to the subway station, we ran into one of the couples that we had met at lunch the day before at Eastern. And would you believe that they are a Lifelink family? Would you believe that they are from Illinois? WOULD YOU BELIEVE THAT THEIR SON'S NAME IS THEO?!?!?!? Well you should, because all of these facts are true! Needless to say, we were all very excited that we shared they same great taste when selecting names for our children. We exchanged e-mails and everyone went on their merry way.

First up today was the Gyeongbokgung Palace. As we walked "into" the palace, we were met with a tour guide that was about to start an English-speaking tour group at that very minute! What great timing. While our group walked and talked, Andy and I found out that many of the people in our tour group were all journalists from various parts of the US who were participating in an exchange-type program with Korean journalists. We filled them all in as to why we were in Seoul and they, being the journalists that they are, wanted every single detail! So much so that one gentleman gave us his card and asked us to e-mail him with an update after we were home with Theo. How cool is that?

After our tour, we meandered to the back entrance of the palace to see the Blue House - the Korean version of the White House. (And yes Monmouth people, I was quite excited to see a "Blue House" in Seoul) We took some pics, walked back through the palace, hopped on the subway, and stopped off at Insadong for some more shopping.

NEXT, we hopped back on the subway (we are total pros at this point), and went to the Korean War Museum and Memorial. It was an interesting visit - Andy and I were both very impressed with the building itself but not so much with the exhibits inside. We left the museum and headed back to Naedaemun market (where we went yesterday) this time with hopes of seeing the famous South Gate. Unfortunately, due to an incident of arson, the gate is under some serious rehab. It was a sad sight to see - huge walls are up all around the gate and the walls are covered with notes and signatures from thousands of people. Speaking of thousands of people, Andy and I managed to become spectators of a "small" demonstration today in downtown Seoul. We have no idea what these people were protesting against, but we did see the riot police get dispatched. Oy!

Our last stop of the day was Seoul Tower. This is a massive structure with an observation deck that lets you see all of Seoul. The bus ride to Seoul Tower was NOT fun, but the view was amazing. One strange thing that we saw at the tower, and never found out any information about, was the fact that barricades at the observation deck were covered in hundreds and hundreds of padlocks. All of the locks were signed with dates and names and they were all over! We never did find out why they are all there, but it was an unusual sight to see.

Well that was our day in a nutshell. Tomorrow we are heading to the Korean Folk Village with a bunch of other families - should be fun! Andy and I will post some last pics of Seoul Sunday after we pick up Theo from the agency. Thanks to everyone for your fun comments on the blog - Andy and I have thoroughly enjoyed them!