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Changdeokgung and Its Secret Garden
After breakfast the RYSE, we headed over to Changdeokgung. We visited the Secret Garden, which requires timed tickets, and then finished walking through the rest of the palace grounds. We then walked through the nearby Bukchon Hanok Village before returning to Hongdae for dinner.
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Suwon Hwaseong
After breakfast at the RYSE, we took the train down to Suwon to see the Hwaseong, the city’s World Heritage listed fortress. We spent the day walking a full circle along the fortress wall, stopping for lunch along the way.
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Naksan and Namsan
After having breakfast at the RYSE, we headed over to the Dongdaemun Design Plaza for a quick stroll by before walking along Seoul’s city wall to Naksan. We continued down the other side heading to Myeongdong for lunch. From there, visited N Seoul Tower, atop Namsan, where we saw a cultural demonstration and enjoyed the view from above.
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Gyeongbokgung to Myeongdong
After waking up at the RYSE and having breakfast, we headed back to Gyeongbokgung to see the guard changing ceremony at Gwanghwamun. We then visited the adjacent National Palace Museum before having lunch. After, we walked over to Myeongdong, visiting the Buddhist Jogyesa on the way. We walked around Myeongdong a bit, having some bingsoo and a snack before returning the RYSE to end our day.
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Gyeongbokgung and the Blue House
After arriving late last night at Gimpo, we stayed at the LOTTE City Hotel at the airport before heading to the RYSE in Hondae the morning. After dropping off our bags, we had breakfast and visited Gyeongbokgung, Seoul’s main royal palace. We spent the morning there followed by lunch nearby. We then visited the Cheong Wa Dae, also known as the Blue House, the presidential residence until 2022. We ended the day with dinner in the area before returning to the RYSE.
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Sunday Night Aurora at Shenandoah National Park
We missed the fantastic aurora seen across the US on Friday night due to inclement weather, and again Saturday night due to even worse weather. We decided to drive over to Shenandoah National Park tonight as the forecast called for good weather with clear skies.
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Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, 2024 Visit #2
We went back to the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens today after visiting for the first time this year two weeks ago. We once again saw a variety of flowers and birds. We in particular had many Orchard Oriole sightings as well as many swallows as usual, though unfortunately no Baltimore Orioles.
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Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
It has been about 6 months since our last visit to the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in NoVA. We missed cherry blossom season this year but were still able to see many beautiful flowers today. And, of course, a variety of birds, including the sometimes elusive Baltimore Orioles!
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Odawara
After breakfast at the Indigo Gora, we checked out after a fantastic stay and took the hotel’s shuttle bus back to Odawara Station. We spent a few hours in town, primarily visiting Odawara Castle. We then began the journey home, taking the Shinkansen back to Tokyo for our flight out of Haneda.
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Owakudani Nature Trail and Gora
The weather didn’t look as good today when we woke up at the Indigo Gora with overcast skies. After breakfast, we decided to head up to Owakudani again as there did seem to be bits of blue sky. We ended up getting onto the day’s first guided tour of the Owakudani Nature Trail. The weather wasn’t so great and it was extremely windy so we returned to Gora to have lunch and to walk around the town a bit. Later in the afternoon, we went back up to Owakudani to see how conditions were. It was even more windy than before! We came back down to Gora pretty quickly for an early end to the day.
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Here and there but not quite everywhere!