First stop, we visited Deoksugung Palace. It was the original home of King Seongjong's older brother, Prince Wolsan. After all the palaces in Seoul had burned down during the Japanese Invasion in 1592, Deoksugung was used as a temporary palace. Deoksugung means the palace of Virtue and Longevity. 
Next stop, the War Memorial of Korea. Andrea's father was stationed in Korea and we decided to go see the war memorabilia, planes and tanks. It was a great learning lesson for Matthew and Zahra since they will be studying this part of history one of these days. They were busy running and looking at all the planes and in some, were able to actually step into it. Next, the National Folk Museum of Korea. The National Folk Museum of Korea showcases the lifestyle of the Korean people from the prehistoric age to the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). Since we visited a traditional Korean folk village the day before, we decided to just wander the grounds. While wandering around the grounds, we were fortunate enough to see a performance of traditional Korean martial arts.
After, we wandered over to visit the grounds of Gyeongbokgung Palace. Gyeongbokgung Palace was built in 1394 as the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty by its founder King Taejo. It is the most comprehensive and grandest of the five palaces of that period. 
We were fortunate enough to watch the reenactment of Emperor Gohong's 1892 Jinchanyeon. King Gonjong ascended the throne at the age of 12 and was not able to lead in administering the affairs of state. It was only after the forced retirement of Heungseon Daewongun and the death of Queen Sinjeong, could he finally take complete control over the state. The ceremony in 1892 was the official Royal Court event to announce that he had at last come to have full authority in thirty years after his enthronement. We got a lot done in a short amount of time and promised we would take the kids shopping since they've been so good during this trip. We headed back to the hotel in Insadong. Insadong has lots of art galleries, traditional craft stores and antique dealers. On the weekends, the streets are closed off to vehicles and it becomes one huge pedestrian mall with flea market stands filled with lots of items for sale. We were busy wandering around looking at all the items for sale when a procession with men and women dressed in traditional costumes, playing traditional instruments danced through the streets. It was great. We were very fortunate that we were able to see so many cultural events this weekend. Our timing couldn't have been better.
We've had a great weekend in Korea. There were so many places that we wanted to go to but couldn't because of the time constraints. We'll definitely come back again and plan a longer stay so we can visit all the places we've missed. I'm trying to see if we can get a job in Korea one of these days. Now, I just have to figure out when I can squeeze in a trip to Taiwan before we head back.
