What kind of palace is this?
Asked the Prince.
I'm bored. Can't we do something else.
I had taken my son for a walk around the central palace grounds. This is the place grounds the Josun dynasty king used to welcome foreign delegates in the city. It was more of a picnic place than a living place for the king.
The Prince today was particularly impatient. He was more interested in exploring the foreign embassies nearby than the beauties of the palace and feeling history as he walked through the same grounds that princes before him had walked.
As autumn passes and the leaves change color in the palace grounds our little prince wonders how many warm days will be left before the snow falls on the city. Leaving the palace grounds the prince makes his way to small mountain overlooking his kingdom.
He stands on a rock watching the sun set and the feeling the wind blow the leaves away. On the walk home he says to me,
Next time I just want to stay home.
I brought my son to this palace because I had the afternoon off and it was next to his school. The thing is we had never gone to this palace before and among all the palaces in Seoul it was the smallest and the most boring palace. He expected some cool gardens and more trees to run around.
As we walked about this Palace we learned that it was more of a Gazebo to welcome guests for a garden party in the middle of the city. This palace is called "Deoksugung". It means the “palace of virtuous longevity.” It was the palace of Prince Wolsan the brother of the Great King Sejong during the fifteenth century. At that time the palace was massive and covered a lot more area. Today those areas are occupied by Embassies of certain countries and one of those lands is the private living quarters of one wealthy county's ambassador. Land that used to be part of the palace are now hotels.
At least part of the original palace was maintained and my little prince could explore the palace in the most beautiful season of the year.
