So it turns out i was horribly wrong when i said 'colder' about Seattle, it's really super hot! Which is a nice change but also means i'm going to have to wash my clothes more regularly before that all get too sweaty. So i apologise to all Seattlites i may have offended. But i'm jumping ahead.
On our last day in San Francisco we visited the SFMOMA (Museum of Modern Art) which was great, then checked out of Geo's place, which was kind of sad. He's such a nice man and we really enjoyed our stay with him. Got some dinner and eventually headed for the train. I had to catch a bus from SF to Emeryville where the train station is, the train was an hour and a half late and this man from Seattle got chatting to me, which was fine until he suggested we sit next to each other and then wanted to chat at various points along the way. The twenty three hour train ride was fairly comfortable, although people who complain about plane food obviously haven't tried train food, bleck! The train driver managed to catch up some time and we rolled in Seattle according to schedule. I headed to the hostel and went pretty much straight to bed.
The next day (and my first official one in this city) was kind of mega. I embarked on an easy walk around town to get my bearings but it turned out to be very eventful. Seattle is quite like Brisbane in a lot of ways. It's on the water, there's loads of brickwork and they both have a kind of industrial vibe, it's kind of nice being in a sort of familiar kind of setup. I headed down 1st street and came across Pike Place Market. These really old markets inside a three level building right on the waterfront. It wasn't actually open yet so i wandered around and found
the original Starbucks. I bought a coffee and took it down to the water. It wasn't great but i guess that's the Starbuck's legacy, and it was kool to experience some coffee history. When i went back the markets were buzzing with people and
there were a tonne of fruit, vege, flower, jewellery and fresh fish stalls. Also used book shops, joke shops, souvenier stalls and many others. It was really nice. I kept walking south through Pioneer Square towards the two massive football and baseball stadiums. Then diverted and had lunch in another square then went back into the city. Seattle is having a Summer Lunchtime concerts thing and i watched a band play at City Hall then wondered through the city centre, where all the big shops and peop
le are, before heading back to the hostel. The Space Needle is right near the hostel which is very central. Also there's a weird skeleton/death thing painted in my room, it looks a little like something out of Pan's Labyrinth but is pretty sweet. It was still early afternoon so i figured I'd head to the Space Needle and the Seattle centre. As i approached i heard this tour guide on one of the duck buses the drive into the water mention that a certain building was used for the external shot in Grey's Anatomy (i don't really watch it but i took a photo anyway). The tower is very impressive. Strolling through the Seattle Centre which is guess was the the site of the World's Fair back in 1960-something (2 maybe)
i found the International Fountain, which i knew from the little known movie Highway. It's this massive dome that shoots water out in many directions and in differentpatterns and there were a bunch of kinds playing in it. It looked like fun and i managed to catch some spray by sitting on the edge of the steep walls that lead down to the fountain. From there i went back to the Needle. I had planned to save this for later in the trip but decided now was a good time to go up the Needle and so i did. The views were pretty spectacular and i had a Jessica Alba moment at the top. I finished my first day in Seattle by walking back to the water and heading along to the boardwalk and having fish 'n' chips by Puget Sound (my favourite part was the 'n'). When i got back to the hostel there were two people sleeping in my room and it wasn't dark yet so i did some internet things then decided to go back out for a night tim stroll. I ended up back at the Needle which looks kool in the dark as well.
Day one turned out to be pretty massive so i slept in a little on day two. Although when there are three other people moving about in the room it's hard to sleep past 9, unlike my 11 o'clock sleep ins in SF. Today i visited Seattle's Art museum where they were featuring an exhibit of art pertaining to Kurt Cobain and an Andy Warhol show. I enjoyed the 'Kurt' exhibit although some of the art wasn't spectacular, except this one piece which was a sculpture of his head made out of cardboard, and very realistic. The rest of the gallery was really neat. I had lunch at bagel shop and went walking towards Cal Anderson park which has a kool fountain. It was super hot today so i lay in the sun for a while then waded in the fountain, which was a popular thing to do. That was day two so far. I think Justin is coming up tonight for the weekend then heading back down to SF, so that should be fun. I haven't had a beer in a little while and would really like one in this heat so that's probably where i'm headed now. So far apart from adjusting to hostel living Seattle has been really fun and the heat is glor-horious!
Oh, on a side note: i saw these kids (like teenagers i guess) at the International Fountain and they went up the Space Needle in my group on Thursday and then today i saw them again at the gallery. Weird. We must have similar timetables, hehe.
Miss ya faces!
Josh... (and Justin from SF)
This is what i sleep with...
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