Blog 54 - 30th October

The autumn continues to be glorious here in Korea. Damien and I took our chances venturing a bit further out of Seoul with our car which has just turned over 242,000 kms . Two highlights today were so contrasting - one the beautiful Ryumjae Gallery House. Here is the link - it's in Korean however there are some beautiful images http://www.ryugallery.com/. The other highlight was a visit to Little France, a kitsch replica of a French village.

This sculpture in the window of the main living area was my favourite piece in the gallery. We did not ask the price of anything - way beyond our budget!

The two hour drive to Chyeongpeong north east of Seoul, took us along the Han River to the Bakhangang River. The gallery is also a residence, however nobody lives there, and classical musical performances happen every once in a while. All pretty amazing.

This fireplace was made of a huge stone and really looked like state of the art.

We had a guided tour as we were the only visitors - we almost went away as the door was locked, however it seems like it is so exclusive, that only special visitors can enter!

We fluked this French village nearby to the gallery. It is tribute to the Little Prince and replicates the book's drawings. There is even a museum dedicated to Antoine de Saint-Expery. Very funny and worth a look, epsecially popular with couples and young families with children. The main purpose also seemed to be to take photos of each other and imagine being in the European countryside.

The ticket collector boy at the gate looked so excited to see us! The gate however was pretty gorgeous.

A genuine fountain - most unusual in Korea. Where's Damien? What is he looking for? A good coffee, cheese, croissants - we found none of these things.

We did find a very funny comedian who mimed his whole act, so for us with our abysmal Korean language skills, this was a real treat. For a change we understood what was happening and could laugh along with everyone!

Blog 53 - 7th October

Our friends, Hilary and Steve, (pictured below) from Adelaide have recently visited - our 10th lot of guests in the past 20 months. We do love having people to stay and feel very privileged that friends are happy to stay with us in Seoul. We climbed Bukhansan, 840 metres and one of the sacred mountains. Can you see me up the side of the mountain? As you can also see, it is very close to Seoul, just north and with a view over downtown included in the 360 degrees panorama. Amazing! Here is a link http://www.seoulstyle.com/fitart_hikingKorea.htm

We all had a few aches and pains the following day - surprisingly mine were in my arms from pulling myself up on the chains.

Here we are at the summit! Sir Edmund Hilary eat your heart out!!

Those smiles are so broad becasue we are on our way down. Yippee!

Here we are getting away from it all with everyoone else who is trying to get away from it all too!

On our return route the men had a fun time navigating the signs which were mainly in Korean of course. This interested onlooker was very amused by our puzzlement. We were so happy to have a beer at the foot of the mountain after a 6 hour hike. The best thing about completing a climb here is that there is always a cafe or two immediately at the mountain base.

Traffic on our way to visit somewhere in Seoul - typical afternoon traffic.

Is is a person or a dummy? This moving figure was warning traffic of danger with roadworks in Suwon, south of Seoul. Thanks Hilary for these great photos.

I promised one son that I'd post a photo of our trip to the Barossa in August. Here is Jacob and Sarah wih wine in hand of course!

Temple details.