Day 4-- Seoul, Korea

We started off the day at the Korean War Museum... it was SO INTERESTING! When we walked inside from exploring all the monuments, statues and tanks/artillery/missiles, etc., we just happened upon a tour in English that was just starting! We were all completely intrigued and our guides were so good! I now understand the Korean war! It actually started before World War 2 ended because Eisenhower just wanted to drop the bombs in Japan to end the war instead of getting the communists out of Korea beforehand... well things heated up in Korea between the Soviets and China wanting control and so the war started. They finally reached a ceasefire where they decided where the line would be drawn making half of Korea free and the other half communist because the war couldn't be won-- the communists wanted at least half of Korea and weren't going to surrender. That's very oversimplified, but it's still holding today! North Korea v. South Korea--and I guess I'd never put 2 and 2 together that that was the result of the Korean war! It's been divided for roughly 75 years-- that's such a long time! And Korea was occupied by Japan from 1910 (if I'm remembering correctly) until the end of WW2! People have wanted it over the centuries because of where it is located! I hope that one day the nation can be reunited and freed from the horrible and crazy communist regime that controls every aspect of their lives and brainwashes them! Megan got a little tired because it was a long tour and had to go sit down, but we were just so riveted on the tour and all learned so much! We went to a yummy place for lunch near the museum and it was more like the traditional chicken fried in different sauces like what we call honey chicken, etc. It was still very spicy hot, but so good! Again... FULL to the brim! Todd tried several times to win at the claw machine, but it ate all his won! Dang machines! He remembers them being easier than American ones, but as soon as the claw grabbed it, the machine would lift it up and in the process it would fall because it would jerk and lose the prize! Ugh... he tried for a while too! We took the subway to Lotte tower where we enjoyed the rest of the day! It's the highest building in Seoul and in a very swanky area! We went all the way to the top (had to buy tickets, of course) but the view was amazing! Afterward we walked by the lake and everyone was there enjoying the scenery and blossoming cherry trees everywhere! It was gorgeous!! Later, we were walking through the street marked and Megan got "glass fruit". It's fruit dipped in sugar that crystallizes and looks like glass. I had a bite and it's pretty good! We went to dinner and it tasted so good but was really heavy and a lot of food... we didn't end up eating it all because we ordered too much. We walked through the marked again and Brooke and Ben got a huge crepe filled with fruit and Nutella and I just wanted something light-- found some yummy fresh squeezed orange juice and it tasted so good-- almost like a detox that my body was CRAVING! We have eaten such good food but every single meal has been huge and heavy! After that, we headed for the cable car that took us up to the Tokyo tower. It was a looong climb up the hill to the cable car and then an even longer wait in line to go up! BUT... we found Dr. Pepper! More calories to keep us occupied! Sheesh! We got up to the base of the tower and watched a machine make Brooke and Megan some cotton candy! We decided to buy ANOTHER ticket and go all the way up to the top of the tower. The view was spectacular but boy was I exhausted that night! We took the cable car back down and walked down all the steps and hill again and I was so glad to sit on the bus when it came! We got to the hotel and I crashed! We've been eating a lot, but we've also been averaging 7-10 miles of walking per day and 15-20 flights of stairs per day... not going to cancel out the calories or anything, but it does help-- but it also makes for pure exhaustion by the end of the day! I'm going to need a vacation from my vacation!!!