Blogs from Seattle, Washington, United States, North America - page 9

Geo: 47.6353, -122.302My Hilton room was nice: large room, good-sized bathroom, all the usual amenities. But this morning I couldn't get any hot water. The shower started out warmish and I figured it would keep warming up, but no. After maybe 20 seconds, the water turned freezing. Talk about a shock to the system! I turned the water off and washed and then turned the water back on hoping it would at least get warm again, but no. Sigh … Still, if that's the only time that happened on my trip, I think I did okay.Checked out of the hotel just before noon and then hiked back to the airport (via a handy but long covered walkway that leads directly into Terminal 4), where I hung around for the next three hours. The time it took ... read more

Geo: 47.6353, -122.302The Columbia in the title is the Columbia Center and the Japan is the Seattle Japanese Garden.The Columbia Center, built in 1985 and at 937ft (286m) is the tallest building in Seattle. It has an observatory on the 75th floor with unparallelled panoramic views of the city. There is a Starbucks on the 40th floor, the highest Starbucks in the world. On a clear day, you can see for miles and miles. The airport is not that far away, so it offers plane spotters wonderful views of aircraft flying by still at fairly low altitude.The Seattle Japanese Garden is part of the Washington Park Arboretum. Its history goes back slightly further than then one in Portland. Plans were laid in 1959 and construction began in 1960. It was managed by the University of Washington ... read more

Geo: 47.6353, -122.302The Space Needle is the most recognised structure in Seattle and a stay in the city must include a visit to this icon. But first we went to Pike Place Market. It is a public market for farmers to sell direct to the public, thereby cutting out the middleman, known as the jobber, and securing a more reasonable return for their hard work. We saw the fishmongers tossing fish from one person to another, often with customers sitting under the "flight path" to cheering, and less courageous, crowds. One hopes that they only throw the same fish, or perhaps it will be sold at a knock down price at the end of the day; slightly handled.The Space Needle, although looking a bit retro nowadays, is still an impressive structure. Built in 1962 for the ... read more

Geo: 47.6353, -122.302Time to bid farewell to the Arlington Club, to Portland and to Oregon as we headed north to Seattle. Sadly our plan to explore some of the coast were wildly optimistic in terms of time and distance so we had to rethink. We decided to visit Olympia, capital of Washington state. It always comes as a surprise to slightly dim Brits like me that the capital of a state is often not its most famous/largest city. Think Albany (NJ), Sacramento (CA), Harrisburg (PA). In fact that is the case in 33 states. So Olympia has a very impressive Capitol building and Temple of Justice but is otherwise unremarkable with a 'small town' feel. Today's fascinating fact: Olympia is only the 22nd most populous city in Washington. We did find a good Hawaiian restaurant, though ... read more

I stayed in The Green Tortoise Hostel last time I was in Seattle seven years ago and in my opinion it’s still the best hostel I’ve stayed in. I’m not sure what it is, but something about the atmosphere in that place makes people a lot more welcoming (this may have something to do with the designated weed smoking room at the back of the common room). Within two minutes of my 11pm arrival I was playing Cards against Humanity with a random assortment of Swiss, Germans, Austrians and a guy from Cambridge. If you've never played it before, it’s a really offensive and hilarious card game in which everyone matches a different answer card to a statement card. Funniest one wins (although one or two of the answers were lost on some of the non ... read more