Seattle

As mentioned we took the ferry directly into Seattle. They leave from many points as there is alot of water around Seattle.

We leftfrom Bainbridge Island and it was only a 35 min trip.We arrived around 4pm, found the hotel fairly easily and were checked in, and out wandering the streets of the City before we knew it. It was surprisingly quiet for late afternoon. This city is about the size of Brisbane and is kept very clean. I saw someone steam cleaning the cement footpaths to remove grease & gum as well as any moss that may make it slippery.

The next morning we headed down to Pike St Market. Mark was very keen to see the icon fish stands. They were lots of fun to watch.

When someone ordered something, say 2 lb of sockeye salmon, the salesperson called out "2 lb sockeye salmon" then ALL the staff shouted out "2 lb sockeye salmon". This is then tossed by one salesperson from the front to someone behind the counter who preps and wraps it ready to take.

From there we wandered about 12 blocks to the old Expo district which has the Experience Music Project, which I was very keen to see. In particular it was the building that I was interested in. Another example of amazing architecture by Frank Gehry. It was like a rippled piece of metal that seemed to change in colour as you looked at it from different angles. Each piece was also slightly different in shape and size. Internally it had a strong feel of Federation Square for those who have been there.

It houses a museum providing opportunities for musical experiences as well as the Science Fiction Museum.

You can see in this picture that the building has several coloured 'pods' that are joined to make one building.

We took the elevator to the top of the sky needle to get a view of Seattle from high. It was surprising to see that the city didnt stretch too far. I was a little disappointed not the be able to see Mt Ranier due to heavy cloudy weather. (OUr days have been around 7C - 16C) Not particularly warm but Mark and I quite like that.

We caught the monorail back to the city centre. I spotted this guy offering shoe shines and grabbed the chance to have my very scratched and dusty shoes cleaned. He layered no less than 5 products on my boots. Rubbing them in with his hands as he said it helps the waxes warm and melt into the leather. When I asked the cost (half way through...) he said "just give me something to live on"! Lovely guy! Tina had hers done too.

The 'men' decided to buy American belt buckles. We left them to it and this is what they came back with. They were so proud with thier choices but were soon brought down to earth when the lady running the market stall handed them a mirror on a stick to hold out so they could see the buckles, as they could not see past their 'holiday guts'!!!

At one end of the city centre is Union Lake. We went for a drive in the afternoon and ended up having dinner at a lakeside restaurant. We were all keen to be sure we ate Dungeness Crab as it is a local delicacy. Between Crab bisque, crab & shrimp & artichoke dip, and crab cakes we soon had it covered.

Approx one quarter of Union Lake has house boat estates. They were so darn cute. Like real houses just floating on the water. They were mostly 3 or 4 deep from the shore.

For movie fans this is where Tom Hanks character lived when they filmed "Sleepless in Seattle".

Today Tina & I have shoppped us a storm and the boys went to the Boeing factory. They came back quoting things like "they make a 7?? in 3 days ready for painting".. I will leave it to you to ask for details if you want!!

This evening they are off to the Baseball at Safeco Field. (Mark is very excited and John keeps thinking its football he is going to, so may be disappointed!) Tina and I have happily had an hour or so break and will head out to find somewhere for dinner and a drink that hopefully also has some live music.

Wish us luck!

We leave very early tomorrow from the hotel, return the car and fly back to San Francisco. Tina & John have friends there who are picking us up. (Very kind of them) We will be staying in REdwood City for one night and fly back home late the following day.

We arrive home Tuesday morning, EST. If I dont blog again before them, I will finish up this trip when I am back.

Hope all are well and happy. Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

xxx D&M (& T&J)