Today the ship arrived Incheon, South Korea at 8 AM. The schedule was to leave at 12 midnight but the captain said that because of port problems at the next stop at Jeju City, South Korea the ship would not be going to Jeju City but would be staying overnight in IIncheon, Korea. We had to get in line and go thru Korean Immigration and after this I left on a tour called "The Best of Seoul". Our first stop in Seoul was at the Gyeongbok Palace & Folklore Museum, built in 1394 as the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). Next stop was a traditional Korea lunch at a hotel. After dinner we stopped at Insa-dong street as an area of traditional Korean culture and crafts. Our next stop was at eh South Gate Market an open air market in downtown Seoul, Korea. The day was very cold and the high for the day was 29 F. We got back to the ship at 6:30 PM. I went to dinner and the show was put on by Venus Tsai, who played the Violin.
Incheon, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City, is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. Today, about 3 million people live in the city, making it Korea's third most populous city after Seoul and Busan. The city's growth has been assured in modern times with the development of its port due to its natural advantages as a coastal city and its proximity to the South Korean capital. It is part of the Seoul Capital Area, along with Seoul itself and Gyeonggi Province, forming the world's fourth largest metropolitan area by population.
Incheon has since led the economic development of Korea by opening its port to the outside world, ushering in the modernization of Korea as a center of industrialization. In 2003, the city was designated as Korea's first free economic zone. Since then, large local companies and global enterprises have increasingly invested in the Incheon Free Economic Zone, including Samsung which chose SongdoInternational City as its new investment destination for its bio industry.
As an international city, Incheon has held numerous large scale international conferences, such as the Incheon Global Fair & Festival in 2009. The 17th Asian Games Incheon 2014 was also held in Incheon on 19 September 2014. Incheon has established itself as a major transportation hub in northeast Asia with the world-renowned Incheon International Airport and Incheon Port. The city is also home to the Green Climate Fund, an international organization addressing environmental issues.
Seoul formerly Wiryeseong, Hanseong, Keijo, and others, – officially the Seoul Special City – is the capital and largest metropolis of the Republic of Korea (commonly known as South Korea), forming the heart of the Seoul Capital Area, which includes the surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province, the world's 16th largest city. The Seoul Capital Area houses up to half of the country's population of 50.22 million people with 678,102 international residents.
Situated on the Han River, Seoul's history stretches back more than two thousand years when it was founded in 18 BCE by Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. It continued as the capital of Korea under the Joseon Dynasty. The Seoul Capital Area contains five UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Changdeok Palace, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo Shrine, Namhansanseong and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. Seoul is surrounded by mountains, the tallest being Mt. Bukhan, the world's most visited national park per square foot. Modern landmarks include the iconic N Seoul Tower, the gold-clad 63 Building, the neofuturistic Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Lotte World, the world's largest indoor theme park, Moonlight Rainbow Fountain, the world's longest bridge fountain[16] and the Sevit Floating Islands. The birthplace of K-pop and the Korean Wave, Seoul received over 10 million international visitors in 2014, making it the world's 9th most visited city and 4th largest earner in tourism.
Today, Seoul is considered a leading and rising global city, resulting from an economic boom called the Miracle on the Han River which transformed it to the world's 4th largest metropolitan economy with a GDP of US$845.9 billion in 2014 after Tokyo, New York City and Los Angeles. In 2015, it was rated Asia's most livable city with the second highest quality of life globally by Arcadis.[20][21] A world leading technology hub centered on Gangnam and Digital Media City, the Seoul Capital Area boasts 15[ Fortune Global 500 companies such as Samsung, one of the world's largest technology companies, as well as LG and Hyundai-Kia. In 2014, the city's GDP per capita (PPP) of $39,786 was comparable to that of France and Finland. Ranked sixth in the Global Power City Index and Global Financial Centres Index, the metropolis exerts a major influence in global affairs as one of the five leading hosts of global conferences.
Seoul is the world's most wired city and ranked first in technology readiness by PwC's Cities of Opportunityreport. It is served by the KTX high-speed rail and the Seoul Subway, providing 4G LTE, WiFi and DMBinside subway cars as well as wifi at every station. Seoul is connected via AREX to Incheon International Airport, rated the world's best airport nine years in a row (2005–2013) by Airports Council International. Lotte World Tower, a 556-metre (1,824-foot) super tall skyscraper with 123 floors, has been built in Seoul and become the OECD's tallest in 2016, with the world's tallest art gallery. Its Lotte Cinema houses the world's largest cinema screen. Seoul's COEX Mall is the world's largest underground shopping mall.
Seoul hosted the 1986 Asian Games, 1988 Summer Olympics, 2002 FIFA World Cup, the Miss Universe 1980 pageant, and the 2010 G-20 Seoul summit. A UNESCO City of Design, Seoul was named the 2010 World Design Capital.
This picture was taken in Incheon, South Korea on the way to Seoul, South Korea.
This picture was taken from the bus in Seoul, South Korea.
This picture was taken at the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea.
This picture was taken at the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea.
This picture was taken at the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea.
This picture was taken at the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea.
This picture was taken at the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea.
This picture was taken at the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea. This is a close up of the above picture.
This picture was taken at the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea.
This picture was taken at the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea.
This picture was taken at the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea.
This picture was taken at the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea.
This picture was taken in the Folklore Museum located at the Gyeongbok Place.
This picture was taken at the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea.
This picture was taken in Seoul, South Korea.
This is a picture of the Korean lunch we had at a local hotel.
This picture was taken in Seoul, South Korea.
This picture was taken in Seoul, South Korea.
This picture was taken at a stop on Insa-dong Street.
This is a picture of the South Gate Mall in downtown Seoul, South Korea.
This is a picture of the march supporting the president of South Korea taken near the South Gate mall in downtown Seoul, South Korea.
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