City of Seattle

I recently took a mini-vacation to Seattle, Washington. I had a work training to attend, plus I have a friend who lives out there that I haven't seen in ages, so I stayed an extra day for a little sight-seeing.

Seattle is an interesting city. It's true what they say, that it's cloudy and rains a lot, although when the sunshine does peak out and sparkle over the water and mountains, it's quite majestic. One morning I watched fog crawl in between mountain peaks past the city skyline from my hotel window (pics below) and found it to be absolutely beautiful. If I'd had more time, I would have tried to get a little closer to the mountains and actually do some hinking. Also unique to Seattle were the people. They are cyclists, organic/vegan food and coffee enthusiasts, and music lovers. In Seattle, it's okay to be different or not the average American "Joe." In fact, I think everyone is expected to be a little different, and if you're not different than your obviously an outsider. I knew I stood out like a sore thumb when I walked to Nordstrom's in my work attire and a man carrying a skateboard jeered at me: "Hey lady you look fancy, you look good. Niiiiice."

It's not uncommon in Seattle to get served coffee by a tattooed lady with a mohawk, or to live by the waters' edge in a floating house covered in artwork and statues. The guys sport beards and the local newspaper peddles medical marijuana in its ads. Everyone stops for pedestrians and cyclists, even if you are a ways down the street from the car. Cats seem to randomly wander the streets.

People (like my friend) often live in neighborhoods with steep hills that close down on Seattle's few icy days. There is also some GREAT food in Seattle, much of it from small coffeeshops and family owned neighborhood sandwich joints. Below are some pictures I took. Enjoy.

The mountains encased by morning fog and sunrise...taken from Renaissance Hotel downtown.

The city, and some notable signs.

bauhaus cafe: Best cafe mocha ever! And they have Koolaid on the menu (for $1.50 lol!)

Seattle Art Museum.

Pike Place Fish market: famous for fish-throwing. And for using too many exclamation points.

Piroshkis at Pike Place...I didn't try but a friend said they are AMAZING. The line to get one was like an hour long.

First Starbucks ever. Again, the line was too long so I didn't go in. But, notice how different the Starbucks symbol is. They must have opted to go with a more culturally acceptable logo than this old one in which my friend calls a "vag-tail."

This potato looked amazing so I thought it deserved a picture although I did not eat it :)

by the ocean...

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company....all I can say is yum

Below are Seattle's floating houses and the boardwalks/area around them. Beautiful and unique.

I want one.

I like Thai food and Seattle has lots of Thai and Asian-inspired restaurants. There is also LOTS of sushi if you are a sushi fan. Below is Prik King Chicken from the restaurant Rom Mai Thai. Very good, even though I asked for a "1" spicy on a scale from 1 to 5, and actually got more like a "4."

Best crab wontons EVER. All home-made. Not a good picture because we ravenously started devouring them before I could stop to get the camera out.

Picture taken from inside my friend's house on a hill, where she has to put her parking brake on every time she parks and swears she got so skinny from pushing babies in a stroller up and down the street. I need a new occupation. ;)

Great city! Will go back and next time visit the mountains, and maybe Portland as well. Hopefully next time I won't come back with a sinus infection :(