Pictures at long last

At long last, I have some pictures from the trip I took to Korea and Southern Japan.

The first picture is a cool changing of the guard ceremony at Gyeoungbokgung Palace in Seoul. This feudal palace was destroyed not once, but twice by the Japanese, a fact driven home by the Korean guide posts. Like the Atomic Bomb dome, all marks of tragedy and war are gone. But the Koreans are understandably still upset about it.

The iconic Atomic Bomb Dome memorial on a chilly December morning. Now a thriving city, this building and a sleek modern museum are the only reminders of the tragedy. Walking through Hiroshima's busy streets, it is difficult to believe the planet's first nuclear attack ever took place here.

And as we're doing these in reverse chronological order, you can see mountains in Japan's Nagano Prefecture where I went skiing in the town of Hakuba. This was were they held skiing for the Winter Olympics back in the day. Pretty Mountains, but lousy skiing conditions that day.