Sleepless in Seattle

Actually, thats a lie, I got plenty of sleep in my wonderful sofa bed. I stayed with Chris who lives in an awesome, swanky condo in Belltown . For you Perthians/Perthites/Perthies (do we even have an official name?), its comparative to East Perth - filled with new high rise apartments, just a few blocks away from Downtown. Did I mention it was right across the street from Olympic Structure Park?



Free public chairs! If we did this in Perth, they'd go missing



Wavesssss



 



What a strange sculpture..

 

I didn't end up taking a lot of photos given that I didn't really appreciate the artistic value of some of these 'structures'. But really, a washing machine in the middle of the park? Can someone please explain to me how that is suppose to be artistic? However, the beauty of Olympic Park isn't found in the man made structures but rather, the natural surroundings of the place. Its so just green and nice.

 



So sunny it hurts

Small quiet beach

 

 

Where the city meets the sea

 

Yep, just a gorgeous place. Imagine living across the street from this! I had it pretty good. And due to my immaculate timing, I arrived on the weekend when the Salmon Festival in Issaquah was held. Basically the festival celebrates the annual return of the salmon from lakes, streams etc as they swim upstream.

 

I rode on a yellow school bus!!!! Just like on the Simpsons! It made my day ^^

 

You can see the mountains in the background

Lots and lots of salmon...too bad we weren't allowed to fish here.

 



Guess what the salmon festival had me craving for dinner...

 

One thing I noticed about Seattle is that everyone is environmentally friendly and extremely aware of their surroundings. Everybody walks or cycles to places - yep, I'm still very weary when it comes to cyclists so I'm very slow at crossing the streets. Doesn't exactly help that the cars are coming from the opposite direction of what I'm use to but the funny thing is, the pedestrian always has the right of way.  That shouldn't give you the license  to go running across the highway though!

 

Seattlites are very health conscious too. I had my first vegan meal here and it was soooooooooooooooooooo good...*drools just thinking about it*



OK, maybe it doesn't look so appetizing here but it was GOOD



That was also the first time I had Kale too..and now I'm hooked on it! By the way, Kale is a vegetable..not a drug. Something equally as good were tacos. It was authentic Mexican food straight from a Mexican van.

 

See! It says authentic Mexican on it!

Don't shoot me for not knowing this, but I only found out when I was in Seattle that it was actually the home to the first Starbucks. I had no idea! I never use to drink coffee but now I have to have at least one a day. And not just the instant stuff, it has to be good. I've turned into a coffee snob =( No thanks to some certain influences around me. You know who you are!

 

In the evenings, Chris took me out to experience the nightlife of Seattle. We bar/club hopped with some of his mates and some other couchsurfing friends until the wee hours of the morning. Wasn't too late though considering that most of the bars/clubs close at 2am.    



I actually ended up staying in Seattle for two extra days before booking my train ticket to Vancouver. It was a morning train so I had to get up at 6am to pack and leave. Chris offered to take me to the train station so he also had to get up extra early too. It was sad leaving Seattle, actually I feel a little sad every time I leave a city. But then I think about what lies ahead and more exciting fun things I get to experience. Anyway, I know I'll be heading back to Seattle in the next few weeks for some much needed retail therapyyyyyyyyyyyyyy (you try living with just 2 pairs of jeans for 5 weeks!) with the girls..so its not going to be a final goodbye just yet!