There are several videos in this post so do click the invitation to read on the blog (usually at the top of the email you received) or click here to take you to the blog.
I realise that I forgot to show you, dear reader, where we were yesterday – we could not make sense of what was going on at this beautiful spot with literally hundreds of people storming up the incline to the sound of this incongruous and very loud live music:
I also forgot to post yet another of our beautiful meals – this time a seafood hotpot with dumplings – note how stylishly the mushroom has been labelled:
We woke to wind and rain this morning so had to forget about walks beside the sea and we sought out first the botanical gardens which are a must for Sue wherever we go. This one, on a very large scale, had an odd entrance:
A number of gardens surrounded this very large hall, some more whimsical/nauseating than others although the whole enterprise seemed rather serious:
The planting was superb. Not a leaf (or spike) out of place and all in peak condition:
We spied a gardener tidying everything up, but there should have been armies, given how large the place was:
We tried to go to one of the many outside gardens but quickly gave up:
So there was nothing for it but to go to the Teddy Bear Museum (the things we do in the name of travel!). After being told we had free parking for two hours (we were concerned it wasn’t enough), we launched into the museum which turned out to be no laughing matter.
After a detailed history of the origins of teddy bears (Roosevelt since you ask although Stieff in Germany was on to them earlier), we moved on to the displays which were pretty startling.
There were a number of historical tableaux including the Normandy landings, the Moon landing and the Titanic:
I just loved the fall of the Berlin Wall:
And all of this before we got to the Art floor where we’ll leave you to work out what famous paintings these are supposed to represent:
We decided against the Elvis Presley film (we guessed what might be in it) for fear that our parking might run out …
What else to do? Go and see the largest Buddha in Korea of course – except we weren’t allowed to take photos, though one or two might have snuck in:
The place had thousands and thousands of gold Buddhas everywhere:
And it offered us the opportunity to buy sacks of rice to offer to the Buddha as well as various other shopping opportunities:
The teddy bear museum looks seriously bonkers. How on earth did they think up something like this. I have to admit it doesn’t make my bucket list. Botanical gardens however…
Well you managed to pack a lot into your wet Wednesday – presumably the alternative would have been to lie in your bath-with-a-view and watch the water both horizontal and vertical. Hope you managed to keep a straight face in the Teddy Bear Museum?