On the day we arrived, we took the light rail from our hotel (that had a strong resemblance to the original Twin Peaks hotel: the Great Northern Hotel - love that series!) to downtown Seattle.
We had some pretty spectaculair views on the way that I unfortunately didn't really manage to capture with the speed and through the dirty glass... Luckily, I managed to take loads of other snaps once we arrived.
We walked down to Pike Place Market overlooking the Elliott Bay and which during the day is a busy farmers market.
One of its attractions is the fish market where fishmongers throw fish around.
I managed to find a few videos on YouTube demonstrating the fish throwing. This one was the best:
We explored Pike Place Market and the surrounding areas and had a little stroll along the Gum Wall. And yes, this is an area solely dedicated to people sticking their chewing gum against the wall. The result is somehow strangely fascinating if you can get over your initial discomfort.
The gum was removed in 2015 for the first time in 20 years due to concern about the bricks degenerating due to the sugar in the chewing gum! Think about that when you next feel like eating a Mars bar, jarred pasta sauce or really anything for that matter... I know, it's depressing. If it makes you feel any better, watch this time lapse video of how the city of Seattle combats sugar:
Back to awe and wonder. As we continued walking, I noticed that there is an absolute abundance of street art and sculpture in downtown Seattle. A big part of it seemed aquatic inspired, but I also encountered a giant hammering man statue (with actual hammering in motion) and a larger than life upturned red umbrella.
We made our way to the Space Needle which is a pretty clever piece of architecture that was built in 1962 and has since become the icon of Seattle. You can go up to the observation deck and there is a rotating restaurant. I didn't go up, but the view from the ground was probably equally impressive as the lit needle looked like some setting out of Star Wars.
We then went to see a show at the Laser Dome in the Pacific Science Center. LASER GAGA, not even joking. Best experienced laying on the floor in the middle of the dome preferably with duvet and pillow (we weren't as prepared). It was definitely interesting and probably slightly more enjoyable when no one in your vicinity is channelling an off tune Lady Gaga, also not joking.
You name it and it's on YouTube so it seems, even Laser Gaga complete with off tune singing. So just because I love you all so much, from me to you with much Gaga love:
I know, quite something, huh? After this performance where half of my travel companions may or may not have dozed off, it was definitely time to catch the Monorail to catch the Light Rail to catch the Shuttle back to the hotel. Luckily the hotel serves warm chocolate chip cookies, complementary and around the clock, the thought of which makes most anything bearable.
Stay tuned for part two, as I've got still more great views and more lovely art than my phone storage management application knows what to do with. As always, all footage is taken by me with my delightful Android phone apart from the YouTube videos.
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