Change of plan today, after discovering that the latest National Holiday in Korea would mean getting to and from Suwon was a real bind. Instead we opted for more culture in the form of palaces, museums and food areas in central Seoul.

Leaving the hotel around 9.15am, we passed a multicoloured animal kingdom, outside a funky office building opposite to where we are staying.

By visiting Deoksugung Palace, it meant we had crossed off the last of the 5 palaces in the city and got to see some more fanfare with the ‘changing of the guard’ performed by soldier/actors.

This last palace is the smallest of the lot, having been reduced in size over the years to enable consulates to be built in the area and new roads to be constructed. As a result it was a modest set of buildings, with the remaining area dominated by a park and the museum of National & Contemporary Art.

We decided to pop our nose in the door of the Art Museum and were pleasantly surprised by the scale of the art work on display and the diversity.

Inside the gallery which was free to enter was a show of 70yrs of Korean Art following the establishment of the Academy of Arts in the 1950’s.

After a pleasant hour or so at the palace & museum, we got back to the street to walk the 2 miles down to The War Memorial of Korea.

This is one of the best and largest museums in Seoul and is very on the ‘must do’ list when visiting the city, and to better understand the Korean War.

The sculptures and memorials commentating the Korean War are powerfully displayed and vivid.

The Korean War sculptures are truly stunning and really capture the sentiment of what the country & those that fought in the conflict went through.

One of the most poignant sculptures is the brothers embracing on the battlefield, the eldest an officer in the South Korean army and the younger a soldier in the North Korean army. The desire for unification at some point, is abundantly clear.

In recognition of the UN contribution in the 3yr Korean War , each country has a plaque acknowledging the sacrifices they made to help in the fight against North Korea and the communist regime. Needless to say we were keen to view the UK’s military assistance of the numbers involved, with their losses second only to the Americans.

Inside the museum we walked through a series of rooms charting the country’s wars and military conflicts over their 3,000 yr history.

Once we were back outside, there was an array of old military aircrafts, helicopters and even a ship.

Mid-afternoon we left the Museum of Korea and picked up the underground and headed to Hongdae for a late lunch and some retail therapy.

When we arrived on the main shopping street in Hongdae there were protests and tons of police, which we gather was down to local elections and a desire from a section of the population for change. The rest carried on shopping and hitting the restaurants on their national holiday.

After lunch at a cool bakery on one of the side streets, we had a wander around the busy shopping area and took in the atmosphere of the eclectic Eoulmadang Road.

Whilst we both really love this part of Seoul, it’s clear we were twice the age of most shoppers and wanting to find a more relaxing place for dinner, we decided to get back on the subway and return to Insadong, where we spent last night and enjoyed the great selection of restaurants and bars along with independent craft stores.

Fortunately we found a great restaurant, with views down the Main Street and went for their speciality, a curry soup of vegetables and chicken. It’s fair to say that it was one of the best dishes we’ve had in South Korea. Incredibly flavourful and filling and not bad at just £6 a dish.

After a fabulous dinner we wandered back into the city, passing the much visited and beautiful green plaza and the wild flowers. The place was packed even though it was close to 7pm with locals making the most of the final hours of their holiday.

Tomorrow is our last day in Seoul and we have decided to finish with one final walking tour around Jonggak & the historical parts of the city. We’ve had such a wonderful time over the last week and will definitely return at some point in the future.