Palace Girl

The Gyeongbokgung Palace is probably the MOST famous palace in Seoul. It is located in the northern part of Seoul against the beautiful mountains, flanked by a crazy road junction and a ton of talk modern buildings.
This is one massive reason why I love Seoul. You have the city, the modern architecture and the old traditional palaces and buildings all in one place, yet the landscape looks right. Everything looks so seamlessly well blended together.

What I Wore
Top - Taobao || Skirt - Forever 21 | Shoes - Nike | Sunglasses - Accessorize

I'm all for visiting castles and palaces are pretty much common whenever I travel. From the Palace of Versailles, to the fairytale like Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany or most recently, the Kumamoto Castle in Japan. I'd never pass on the chance to pretend Im living 150 years ago in  a palace or a castle.

We visited the Gyeongbokgung on Culture Day - the last Wednesday of each month, and the entrance to the palace was FREE. All the more a reason to visit.

The palace reminded me so much of the palace in a Korean drama called Jewel in the Palace (Da Chang Jin / Dae Jang Geum). It was a drama that I watched when I was younger and it had a female protagonist (guess I was a fan of those since I was a kid) who was an orphan, worked as a kitchen cook in the palace, and went on to become the king's first female physician.

I vaguely recall the scenes of the palace grounds, the mini courtyards, the palace maids and cooks running around doing chores and hanging out. I guess that was where my desire to be a palace maid (I wouldn't survive being a kitchen cook, so palace maid it was) came about.





I'd say after having visited so many grand palaces, you can tell from seeing the Gyeongbokgung that it doesn't compare. I'm guessing people living in the Joseon dynasty and the reigning family who used to live in the palace weren't as wealthy. You don't see as many gold, the palace doesn't have all the crazy paintings. Thats one big difference between castles and palaces in Asia compared to those in Europe.

Still, the Gyeongbokgung Palace was a wonderful depiction of Korean history and culture especially with its architecture. I absolutely love how there was so much free space and so many courtyards. Plus, that beautiful pond in the middle of the palace with the view of the mountains behind it was just perfect!