Seattle
To get to Seattle I had to go through Heathrow. Now I know that there’s been a lot in the press about the problems with Terminal 5, but I didn’t experience any of that. What I can tell you is that Terminal 4 is just plain horrible. A commercial void with no place to sit and so far from the plane that you have to get a bus to it…
The flight itself was fine, even if it was a bit late in arriving into Seattle, meaning extra time in immigration as they were handling two flights at once.
So I arrived on the Monday about 5pm and after leaving my things at my friend’s house we headed to a bar on Capitol Hill to get something to eat. It was nice to relax in good company after the hours stuck on a plane.
On Tuesday we headed to the Olympic Sculpture Park and visited the International District. A visit to the arboretum was followed by some tasty home cooking by my host that night.
Wednesday we headed down towards Mt Rainier. It was a fascinating drive through rural America and some astonishing scenery as we headed up into the Cascades. The dog loved it. Once back in the city we headed out for a couple of drinks and some good conversation.
Thursday morning was spent watching some football. Americans really haven’t worked out how to commentate on it at all. Zenit St Petersburg were well worth their win though. After that we headed out to the Seattle Center and the Science Fiction Museum / Experience Music Project. The Sci-Fi museum was really interesting with a mix of TV & Film props, first edition books and author’s manuscripts. The music side was interesting but was more about interactive stuff and while I would have had a bit of a muck about on guitar it was too busy with kids to do so. Next we visited the Koolhaas designed Seattle Public Library. It’s a really interesting space, but a bit too high for me inside. Then I was taken to Half Price Books, which was tempting beyond belief. I had enough self control to only buy 5 books! That night we went to a restaurant called JaKs where we had mind-blowingly good steaks. Oh and 18yr old Macallan smells amazing.
On Friday we took the dog for a walk in the neighbourhood. After that we took a walk down Broadway in Capitol Hill, interrupted by lunch and later on a couple of beers, into the city proper. We had a light meal at a French restaurant at Pike Place Market overlooking Puget Sound. That night we went to see Colin Meloy at the Showbox (a review of which is forthcoming).
Saturday was getting my stuff together and heading to the airport.
I really enjoyed the stay in Seattle and I especially enjoyed the good company and gracious hospitality of my hosts. Thanks you guys!