It was with a sense of autumnal melancholia that we headed out into cool breezes looking for sure signs of the season. As a native New Englander, something in me this time of year stirs. It is more than just the cliche memories of crisp fall days running around in the front yard, the smell of fallen leaves in the wind and the sound of footballs thudding off of hyper-extended, swelling thumbs. It is perhaps the beauty and foreboding of the season, juxtaposed, providing the last refuge for life before the long, dreary winter takes hold. Nowhere is this more true than in Korea where once the winter sets in it does not want to give up its grasp until late into spring.
It was with this sense in heart that we fell upon Deoksugung Palace in central Seoul. Deoksugung gave me that natsukashi kanji (melancholy feeling) of Shinjuku Gyoen, although much smaller in scale then my former Tokyo autumn refuge. It is a splendid spot to take a stroll when the weather is nice, particularly in autumn when the sweltering smoggy summer has faded into distant memory and the clutching cold of winter has not yet revealed its icy fingers.
Ample rewards await the traveler at Deoksugung, from the few splendid maple trees to the interesting buildings while although reproductions, convey the spirit of a royal Korean court-compound. For a nice day out consider taking Line 1 of the Seoul Metro to City Hall Station (exit 2); then after you are done, walking to Namdaemun Market and having lunch at a market restaurant. Get over your initial concerns that it is market food and enjoy traditional Korean dishes from mandu kuk (dumpling soup) to pajeon (Korean Pancake usually containing seafood and onions). That set will run you about $14 and fill the bellies of two grown humans; not bad. When you are done get back on the Metro at Hoehyeon Station in the middle of the market and return from whence you came.
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