Glass Castle

Day 9 of Quiring-family visit cont.

Our Lonely Planet guidebook told us that the Glass Castle and grounds "features more than 250 glass sculptures created by worldwide artists, including the world's largest glass ball and the world's largest glass diamond." It sounded interesting to us, so after leaving Hallim Park we caught a couple taxis for the 15-minute drive to the Glass Castle. Immediately upon entering the main building, we were greeted by large windows looking into a glass-blowing studio. We squeezed in with the rest of the crowd to watch the fascinating glass-blowing process. After our fill of watching the glass blobs magically transform into beautiful glass ornaments, we continued through the building and on into the park where everything - I mean everything! - was made of glass. (Well, not the ground, but pretty much everything else.) We enjoyed walking through each amazing display.

Who needs horses when you can use a garden tool?

The bricks weren't made of glass...

Watching the glass-blowing process

One display inside the main building

We made it out of the glass labyrinth!

A tiny glass orchestra!

Stained-glass village

In the mirror room, which is covered in more than 5,000 mirrors

Jonathan trying to get a 100 won coin in each of the three bowls to win us love, health & success!

They looked good (and real) enough to eat!

Still in love after 29 years of marriage

Still in love after nearly one year of marriage (Photo by Glenda Quiring)

After wandering around the grounds and other buildings at the Glass Castle, we finally made our way back to the main building where we visited the gift shop, and took one more look at the glass-blowing studio before leaving. Even as we left, though, we saw more beautiful glass pieces. Such an interesting and beautiful place to spend our afternoon! We headed back to Jeju-si to welcome a much-needed Sabbath rest.

Another peek at the glass-blowing process before we left

Spiny sea creatures outside as we left the park