North America 2

USA (Seattle)

I took the 'red eye' as it was called (night bus) over to Seattle. The journey was through some lovely scenery, but being night time I didn't get to see any of it! 12 hours later I pulled up into the Greyhound station in Seattle, and was met by Fiona, Natalie and the blazing sun. Who said it rains in Seattle all the time?!

Catching up with old friends was lovely. We had a tasty typical American breakfast, (blueberry pancakes!) sitting outside a cafe in Capitol Hill. I think I had finally got used to being in North America and the bigness of things, so actually enjoyed watching all the gay couples walking by and wierdos that lined the streets! The diversity of people was refreshing. I had always liked Seattle, it seemed somehow cleaner and friendlier than other North American cities I had been to. After Breakfast we went to Volunteer Park to lay in the sun. The Museum there was free for the day too so that was a pleasant visit.

That evening we planned our night out at an English themed pub (and there's me trying to get away from it!) I was looking forward to my first (legal) drink in the US. However on producing my drivers licence as ID I was told they couldn't accept it! That was unless I knew any of the British people that worked there. So we left, collected my passport and headed to a different bar. Who accepted my drivers licence! Natalie and Fiona thought it was all crazy, but we ended up having a nice drink. And I guess it is nice being asked for ID!

Hanging around in Seattle was lovely. Fiona and I caught up lots (in between her work and studies) One day we went to Benaroya Hall to see the Count Basie Orchestra, a famous swing band that's been running for 70 years. We also took a trip to Freemont, an exciting district that reminded me of St Pauls in Bristol. Not due to the drugs and violence, but because it had summer solstice festivals, and parades in the streets, and a wide range of cultures living there. We went to the Sunday market, and also saw the Freemont troll that sits under one of the bridges eating a real VW Beetle!

One day was spent going on 'Bill Speidels Underground Tour'. Something I had never heard of previously but loved every minute of. The history of the early Seattle pioneers was explained in a highly entertaining fashion, followed by a walking tour under the sidewalks of the area. I found out that the term 'skid row' originated from Seattle (the loggers used to cover trees in grease so they slid down the hill to the sawmills at the bottom. That part of town was also the most seedy, so 'skid road' turned into skid row for any area that was not nice.) The whole thing was so interesting that I even purchased a book written by Bill Speidel (the man who started the preservation of the area) about the founders of Seattle.

Instead of going up the Space Needle (been there, done that) I chose to go up the lesser known 'Smith Tower'. This tower was built in 1914 and at the time was the 4th tallest building in the world, and the tallest outside of New York. The elevators (sorry, lifts!) were the original ones from when it was first built, and they were even operated by lift attendants in uniform. The view was great, of the bay, city, and new stadiums newly built for the baseball and football teams.

Seattle lived up to its reputation of being the home of coffee, coffee houses lined the streets, and starbucks were on every corner. Shame I didn't like coffee! The Pike Place market was a fun place to visit, with low flying fish and orders shouted out by the fishmongers. There were many craft stores and trinket shops to nose around in. I went over to the Aquarium and um'd and ah'd over the price, and decided to risk it. However the lady was very nice to me and gave me a discount, it ended up costing only one dollar! I saw 2 octopus (octopusses, octopi?!) up really close, and got to see some cute otters. It wasn't worth the full price, but for a dollar it was fantastic!

One evening Natalie and I decided to go to a typical American institution, a baseball game! It was ever so exciting; I wanted to do everything you see in the movies. So I bought a foam finger to wave around, a hotdog, and a beer. The evening seemed much more like a fun night out rather than people going to watch a game, but then it was only the 2nd game of the season. We had lots of fun walking around; Natalie had a few friends sitting front row right at the bottom by the pitch. The view there was amazing! Plus it amused me that when I met them I wasn't asked "so how are you enjoying the game?" they said, "so what have you eaten?!" Natalie explained the rules of the game to me when we were sitting in our seats (right at the top! but there was a spectacular view of the city and sunset) We (the Mariners) didn't win, but I had a great time.