Blogs from Washington, United States, North America - page 222

I figured I'd get this journal started even though my real travel won't start for 6 months. To some extent or another, I've been planning this trip months already, maybe parts of it for a year. All the random google searches on Eastern Europe would create itineraries in my head and the more I read, the bigger the map became. At first it was just "I really need to see Prague. Everyone says it's gorgeous." And then I would see something about Budapest, and wow doesn't that look beautiful? If I do those two places, Krakow makes a nice little triangle of cities, doesn't it? Then I start reading about Romania, well southeast of my current obsessive google subjects. But the more and more I look into Romania, I become so enthralled I consider scrapping the ... read more

This town is called little Bavaria. I recommend to all you Germans reading this to pay a visit to this town. This town used to thrive on loggong and business brought by the advent of the railroad. However once the trees became scarce, the town found itself in a deep depression. Not knowing what to do, the town aldermen got together and came up with the controversial idea of remodeling the town after the bavarian theme. In the end, everyone ended up remodeling their building like a chalet without having to be forced to do it. Street names are in german and you can also hear german music playing all day long. ... read more

We decided to go on an expedition to watch some whales today. So we set out to sea on a ferry north of Seattle, to the San Juan Islands. We were told that it was one of the best places to go whale watching and that there was quite a possibilty of seeing killer whales. After a nice and pricey ferry ride to the islands we went on a 3 hour whale watching experience. The weather was freezing so we had to wear 3-4 layers of clothes plus our raincoats. The ocean was quite choppy and at a speed of 25-30 miles, there was a distinct possibilty of getting quite wet. The captain said that the 'residents', the whales that normally call the San Juans home had not been seen in a while but that the ... read more

We got really really lucky in Seattle: blue skies, sun shining... we heard that is exceptional here! We managed to figure out how the bus system worked so we didn't have to drive. First stop: The Public Market. This is a very special place.... they sell all kinds of fresh seafood, humongous crabs, meat and beautiful flowers. We were impressed by the liveliness of it. We probably would shop there every other day if we lived there! From there we went to the space needle and surroundings. It was fun walking around the parks and fountain surrounding it. We were then off to the underground tour where we learned that Seattle streets were actually raised quite a bit to prevent flooding and allow for the sewer system. However, the streets were raised after the buildings were ... read more

Five years ago to this day, our world changed forever. The terrorist attacks in NY changed the way we live and the way we see our world. Today, I decided I was going right up the Space Needle. Not that anything bad was going to happen… I slept in quite well and decided not only to fit in the Space Needle but a visit to the Experience Music Project (EMP) as well. Unfortunately, a visit into the sewers of Seattle had to be missed out on, as well as the Microsoft Museum. I didn’t get a chance to venture into the Portland sewers but I did come to Seattle for the music. The bus system is very easy to figure out in Seattle. I’m in the free zone anyway so I don’t have to pay. ... read more