Sunday, September 23

Happy Sunday!  
By the time you read this, it should be early Sunday morning on the east coast.

The nice thing about the New Sanno and Dragon Hill Lodge experience is that you are under the lovely, wonderful, beautiful, powerful, and reassuring American Flag with all of her protection, lifestyle, and expectations.  Even though you are in Japan or Korea, because of the Status of Forces Agreements, these properties are a little bit of America on a foreign soil.  They were meant to give the American serviceman or servicewoman the touch and flavor of America... all the way from speaking English as the standard communication to American burgers and pizzas and french fries.  Yep, a little bit of "home" right here a mere 12,000 miles away on the other side of the world!!!

Today was the day to go to Incheon and the MacArthur Memorial.  As a famous person once said, "I like heroes who aren't fired"!!! Yep, this famously famous, this Kardashian before his time kind of guy who surrendered the Philippines to an undermanned enemy, ran one of the most brutal governments when he did have the military governorship of the Philippines and found a way to get thousands and thousands of soldiers killed needlessly... no, Sir, I will not go to honor a man who did all this in an incredible career of vainglory and egotism.  He once even cleared the Washington Mall of WW I veterans who were only asking to be given what they had been promised... using tanks and bayonets.  Yep, a real hero who showed that ego can overcome duty, honor, and country.

https://www.historyandheadlines.com/10-reasons-general-douglas-macarthur-jerk/

So, no, we did not go on this tour.  

Instead, I did a personal tour of central Seoul for my Sweetheart.  We had our little breakfast and then took a cab to the center of the city, near the American Embassy and the Seoul city hall.  
Right there you get to see the unbelievable industriousness of the Korean peoples.  

They went from this:



to this:



and this:








Yes, it's an incredible transition.  

We were dropped off a block from the American Embassy, along the Sejong grand boulevard, which goes from the south gate, Nam Dae Mun straight to the Grand Gate that leads to the King's throne.  This was the path that theoretically the people could follow to have an audience with their king during those halcyon old days.  Now there is the rebuilt gate, rebuilt because some crazy burned down the 800-year-old gate back in 2010.  It was rebuilt in less than 2 years.  It's amazing how fast they can work!  

My Darling in front of the King Sejong statue.  He is considered one of the greatest of Korean kings.  He ordered the development of the Hangul writing system that helped the common people have a writing and reading system without the years of formal study of Chinese.  It is said that a citizen could learn to read Korean Hangul in about 15 minutes.  Try it!

The mighty American Embassy, which is always protected by 4 or 5 busloads of police officers just in case the Korean students feel like protesting something America has done.  Thankfully, there was nothing but clear skies, nice temperatures and civic calm for our visit.

The great King Sejong

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sejong_the_Great

Some good reading about a most remarkable man and great king!

My Darling with King Sejong!

On the same boulevard is Korea's greatest military leader, Yi Sun Shin... who developed the first armored ship in the world, the Gobukson, the armored turtle ship.

Admiral Yi Sun Shin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_Sun-sin

Another remarkable man, and a true patriot of Korea!

Then, on the same plaza is a display about the new efforts by the Moon government for rapprochement with the North Korean government.  Oh, one can only hope that the third time is the charm!

The past looking over the present!

Then we went to the Cheonggyecheon Stream!!! Wow!  They took down a road and an elevated highway, opened up an old, blocked, polluted stream and turned it into an oasis of calm, serenity, and a refuge for both people and animals right in the heart of the city.  It was all that I expected of it and more.  The waterfall below starts the stream and it meanders down a wonderfully clean and well-designed streamway towards the Han River.  The sides are well lined with flowers and artworks.  The stream bed is dotted with crosswalk paths.  There are multiple bridges... all in all, a most wonderful, refreshing, rejuvenating little refuge and an oasis from the hectic and harried life in the city.

If I can ever get the camera on the phone and the laptop to talk with each other in a civil manner, I'll upload more photos and expand on our day. 

Still, it was a very nice day for us old folks.  We walked the stream, walked a few blocks of skyscrapers, ended up back in Myeong Dong, caught a taxi to the Korean War Museum for a brief walk around the many memorials and memorabilia.  It is a super museum that is so well done and a fair presentation of a horrific war.  

We finally walked the half mile back to the hotel and rest.  

Now we sign off for this day filled with nice new memories and new insights.

We wish you all the best of health, love, happiness, and successes.