Seattle

After 4 days on two trains I arrived at the hostel just as the Thanksgiving meal had finished. But I met Caitlin, who was also at the Austin hostel, who made me up a plate of turkey, mash and stuffing, plus a slice each of pumpkin and pecan pie. It was just what I needed after the train journey, proper hot, homemade food.

The Green Tortoise hostel is opposite the famous Pike Place Market, so that was my first stop the next day.
I saw the fishmongers flinging the fish about, much to the delight of the crowd and a monkfish who moved. I wandered around some parts of the market, which is huge and has an eclectic selection of stalls, from dried chillies to old posters. It’s right on the water, so you can get good views of Elliott Bay as well.

I then headed to the Space Needle, not one of the largest buildings in the world, but one of the highest in Seattle and the sky was clear so I was able to get an excellent view from the top, plus see Santa Claus who was handing out presents to the kids at the top. I then walked through the park and back down to the waterfront and Olympic Park.

Olympic Park has a large selection of sculptures from the famous Eagle to less obvious ones, like Love & Loss and a strange dart thing. One part is also named Moseley Path, which reminded me of home. It was then another walk along the waterfront, past all the piers to the boat cruise of the bay. The Waterfront walk also has lots of art and as long as it’s not raining is a pleasant stroll, there are also numerous plaques pointing out points of historical interest, which seemed to mainly involve various ships, either docking or departing from the piers, setting off or returning from great adventures.

The bay cruise, was just an hour long, which was a good thing as it was pretty chilly on the outer deck of the boat. It had a commentary, where the chap actually spoke for most of it, unlike a lot of open bus tours I’ve been on, so that was good. I got to see sealions, container ships, tugboats, scientific vessels, a police boat with a super, whizzy machine gun and lots of other aquatic things, plus amazing views of Seattle from the water. But it was cold, so I escaped to the warmth of the Seattle Aquarium afterwards. The aquarium has different parts, but I loved the starfish pool, where you can touch the starfish, sea anemones and whatever else is in them. Plus the giant octopus I’m sure was giving me the evil eye. They also have an outside section, with sea otters, fur seals, harbour seals and birds that they’ve rescued, like puffins.

Seattle seems to be a good town, even has less rain than California in volume, though it is pretty constant, plus rather chilly. I guess if I’d had more time it could be a place I’d return to, but I wasn’t blown away by it. But I am glad I went!

Next stop: Portland, Oregon