Seattle - USA
Seattle was my, or our, first trip outside of Canada this year. We went the last weekend of February 2020 and now I know that this was the best timing ever considering that not too long after that Corona evolved into a Pandemic. The borders to the USA were closed and travel was not recommended anyway. We went only for two days and took the first bus Saturday morning and the last one Sunday night. It was cheap and super quick to travel there from Vancouver. Even the border crossing was very convenient. As we already had an ESTA it was even quicker as we did not need to fill out a bigger form.
Travel buddies
Who the one by my side was is what I keep to myself, as he does stay very private and does not share pictures or details of himself in social media. But it was great to travel with someone else after all the solo travels I did. On the second day he met an acquaintance from years ago form another trip. That guy accompanied us and thus tree travelers explored Seattle together which was loads of fun. Social interactions are what makes travel even better, no matter if planned for or not. I felt really inspired as the new friend is already in retirement but still decided to travel the world during the last few years and was fit and healthy physically as well as mentally. Not many people in that age group can say that from themselves and are willing to give up their routines and homes to explore the world. Stunning and something I would aspire to myself. Maybe not fulltime, but definitely exploring on a regular basis, even more when I have time and hopefully some money saved up. It was so interesting to hear from his view at life and I was happy that we met him!
Seattle is underrated
Apart from social life, Seattle itself was way better as I have expected. The city, at least in Europe, is not known as a city to travel to, there are more stunning cities on the west coast, but I must say, I really enjoyed it. Seattle has older as well as very modern architecture, busy streets, especially at the Pike Place Market, but also a more relaxing waterfront. Also, the creativity of the city is great, may it be sculptures or graffiti, I really enjoyed it. The location, like Vancouver, with mountains in the background, sea water in front and a mild climate make Seattle very appealing to me. This city is definitely worth more than just a two-day trip. I hope, that when this pandemic is over or at least under control, that we can do at another weekend trip to explore places we missed out and enjoy some more tastiness at the Pike Place Market 😉 Btw. for only two days I did quite a lot of photographs and sorted out many more. So here you go with my impressions.
Pike Place Market
We did two tours in Seattle through Seattle Free Walking Tours, one was a Pike Place Market tour with samples and the other one the 101 Seattle tour with details about history and more. We enjoyed both a lot but the best by far was the second one given by the founder of the company. Highly recommend taking a tour with them as you decide yourself how much you tip or if you pay at all. In general, if I just stay somewhere short I try to do free walking tours as I feel the guides always gives their best, as they depend on tips and you see a lot in a short time.
Pioneer Square
Waterfront
No clue what this statue is called like. It marks the start of the Elliott Bay Trail. Depending on the time you see an adult or the kid, we experienced both, one on the way further and one on the way back. In this perspective it looks as if they are praising the Space Needle.
Seattle Public Library
Wow! I just saw online that people recommend to go there and yes, I do recommend this 100% as well! What an incredible building. Older than it looks like but beautiful in its unique architecture and design. Almost each level looks different and we spent way more time in this library than expected. We were just strolling through and were surprised in each new level! A must see!
The books in this library are definetly not the main part, even me as someone who does love to read only admit such hardly.
Hey there ;)
Downtown
Smith Tower and Columbia Center photographed from China town.