9:30a start to the day. With weather continuing to be burning hot, we decided that one palace was enough and took the subway to the largest of the 5 palaces in Seoul, Gyeongbokgung Palace, in west part of Seoul. Many tourists here – busloads of Chinese visitors, and despite the sweltering heat, many chose to wear hambok (Korean traditional dress). In the back garden of the palace is Hyangwonjeong Pavilion and Pond. Many parties were apparently held here by King Gojong. After Gyeongbokgung, we too subway to Namsangol Hanok Village. “Hanok” means traditional Korean house. There are several such hanok villages throughout Korea. This one is very beautiful with lots of gorgeous landscapes and magnificently recreated traditional buildings. The entire area would take 3 hours to cover. We did about half. We decided to go back ... read more

Another early start. This time headed to South Gate. Despite all the years Halahbujee lived in Korea, this was his first time seeing the South Gate up close. Around the corner from South Gate is Namdaemun Market, largest traditional market in Korea. So many different things to see and buy! The hunt was on for sunglasses as Sophie has been wanting to buy a pair for a couple of months. Passed on the German made 250,000 KRW pair and settled on the Korean made 10,000 KRW from another vendor. This market is huge. We only covered a small area and it was tiring. Stopped for some Korean donuts, which are deep fried but not as sweet as the Canadian version, and some freshly made Korean peach juice. Absolutely the best peach juice we’ve ever had! Today ... read more

Toronto to Vancouver to Incheon airport in Seoul = 19 hours of travel (not including the 4a wakeup to get to the airport). Loooong day of planes, trains and automobiles. Dark side of travel: "Dank" toenails (Jon's seatmate to his right on plane), rude people pushing and shoving (Sophia's seatmate behind her on plane), and blood and gore (lady behind Robb got her toe gashed by cart requiring at least one extra large bandaid!). Light side of travel: My dad's face lighting up when he saw Korea and had memories coming back about his leaving in 1972 to bring his 7 month old pregnant wife and 2 daughters with him to Canada. Mom would have been thrilled to do this trip. We are all holding her dear and weaving her expressions and gestures as we experience ... read more

We decided to walk Brighton beach early before being on our way to Dover. We enjoyed the tide coming in and searched for unique shells and stones. Such an old area of growth, so many structures around which lost use 100's of years ago but still exist. On the road again, we thought we'd stay off the motor way and take the scenic route. More narrow roads and crazy steep hills, the poor diesel is really getting a workout. We've seen so many beautiful parts of England and will never get sick of it although we can't believe the number of sheep here. Some fields have thousands of them. We stopped at the water edge at Dymchurch. This is another town of rich history. It also has a 4 mile long wall along the English Channel ... read more

Left London Sunday morning to head to Bath and kick off the roadtrip portion of our trip. We stopped at Stonehenge along the way. It's surreal seeing something so historical and considered a wonder of the world, in real life. The countryside around it is breathtaking so there's more to see than just the stones. We arrived in Bath Sunday afternoon. Beautiful, old English town. But we had Mexican food for dinner! It was great. Two for one PITCHERS of cocktails (we had 4!) and the best cheesecake we've ever had. Monday morning, we decided to do as the Romans did in 800 AD ... took a bath in Bath! There are three spas in Bath that take advantage of the healing power of natural mineral springs in the area. Never swam in warm mineral water ... read more