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

Hallim Park

Day 9 of Quiring-family visit

Friday, July 6, we decided to visit the west side of the island. (Jeju-si, where we were staying, is at the top middle of Jeju Island. If you remember, the day before we had explored the southern part of Jeju Island, and two days earlier we had visited the eastern side.) Hallim Park seemed a perfect destination. We made our now-familiar trek to the city bus station and jumped on a bus heading westward. (By the way, we highly recommend renting a car while on Jeju Island, especially if your group includes more than four people, since traveling by taxi with five or more means you need to use two taxis...) After about an hour of driving we arrived at Hallim Park. The park was extensive and so diverse. We enjoyed seeing the botanical and bonsai gardens, exploring a mini folk village, and walking through two lava tube caves. It was a great way to see a lot of local plants, flowers, and culture all in one place!

Jeju "grandfather" statues were all over the park

This little tour guide was too cute to ignore

Friendly Korean statue-man

The day was very hot and humid, but lucky for us the park grounds contain two lava tubes. We were glad to escape the muggy air for a few minutes, and walked as slow as possible through these cool, damp lava-made caves. Later we were very glad we had experienced these lava tubes at Hallim Park since we didn't have enough time to make it to the more famous lava tubes in another part of the island.

Field of mini Jeju statues

Volcanic rocks made into small statues

It was so humid that Jonathan's camera lens fogged up for a few minutes. No, the air didn't really look like this...

Huge volcanic rock with a natural seat

Dress-up in the middle-of-the-park gift shop

Ali is a haenyeo (More about these Jeju women divers on our Seongsan Ilchulbong post)

After a Korean lunch in the Hallim Park "food court" we visited the aviaries. People were allowed to enter one cage of lovebirds and feed them from your hands. My dad did this, but only my mum got pictures of him. Next we came to peacock cages, and then we walked along a boardwalk with ostrich enclosures on either side.

After seeing the peacocks in their cages, it was surprising to encounter one on the walkway

Once we had our fill of birds, we took a few minutes break at an open-air bungalow before making our way out of the park. Our plan for the afternoon was to visit the nearby Glass Castle. Watch for those pictures next!

Next up: the Glass Castle!