A hodge-podge sort of day: Seattle, Day 3 (7 July 2017)

With jetlag almost, but not quite, under control, and a planned dinner with friends in the evening, we decided to make today quieter than yesterday, though as it turns out we still managed, according to Garmin, to walk over 11kms.

When in Seattle …

We started the day by checking out that Starbucks Roastery and Tasting Room we mentioned in our Day 1 post, because, you know, when in Seattle …

Len did battle with the coffee order and it was a bit of a challenge having to confront both the myriad options available and our different coffee cultures. In the end though, we ended up pretty much with what we wanted – me an Americano (long black, albeit 80z and too much for me to drink) and Len a PNG-blend brewed coffee (with cream – well, milk, but you know what I mean). We had a breakfast snack too – Len a chocolate almond croissant and me a little gluten-free chocolate bundt cake! Yes, I know, not exactly breakfast, but I must say the bundt cake was one of the best commercial gf cakes I’ve had. It was soft, moist and flavourful.

General sightseeing, etc

Before the day’s sightseeing started, we caught the light rail to the Greyhound depot to pick up our tickets for Monday’s excursion (about which you’ll hear on Monday). When Len booked the tickets, he had to provide a password to give when collecting the ticket – a new technique to us, but it worked.

With public transport being a hot issue in Canberra, and almost non-existent where we’ll end up in Yorba Linda, we’ve been checking out Seattle’s solution. We’ve seen light rail, trains, buses and trolley buses, making the city feel well-served. We were intrigued to discover that, at the underground station where we caught our light rail, the same stop was used for the bus. Seemed efficient, though above-ground the bus route diverged to the roads, of course.

Anyhow, we got the light rail back from the Greyhound depot to Pioneer Square, where Seattle’s white settlement started. It’s an attractive little square, with a bust of Chief Seattle, a northwest totem pole, and some lovely old buildings. Chief Seattle (c.1786-1866) was a local chief, whose approach was to be accommodating to the white settlers. Twenty or so years ago, when we were living in Southern California (and before the age of Google), I was the PTA Environmental Awareness Chairperson at Evan and Hannah’s school. I remember quoting Chief Seattle on nature and the environment, but have discovered that much of what was attributed to him is now viewed as doubtful. Perhaps if Wikipedia, which describes the history of his statement had been around then, I may have known better. It felt had good, though, quoting a Native American chief!

After Pioneer Square, we checked out a few other historic squares and sights in the general area, including the moving Fallen Firefighter’s Memorial in Occidental Park and the lovely little Waterfall Park, which is a tiny little oasis park with an artificial waterfall. Would you call it a fountain? We were surprised to see that this little park had a security officer on duty.

Next stop was the Seattle Central Library, which I was keen to see, having come across it during one of my post-retirement contract jobs for Charles Sturt University. Opened in 2004, it was designed by Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus. It’s an 11-storey, rather astonishingly-shaped, glass and steel building. In 2007, says Wikipedia, it was voted 108th on the American Institute of Architects‘ list of Americans’ 150 favourite structures in the US. 

We went up to the 10th floor, the highest publicly accessible floor, and made our way down. Len found the higher floors disconcerting with their vertigo-producing vistas across and down floors, as you’ll see in the photos. It is certainly an intriguing building. I liked all the lovely well-lit areas for readers – and its provision for readers with computers. How well it works as a library, though, we don’t know, though heard at dinner that there are criticisms.

Given we were dining out at night, we had a light but tasty lunch at a Japanese food chain, Sushi Kudasai, before heading home for a quiet afternoon.

Dinner with Betsy and Phil

I “met” Phil, then Betsy, through my internet reading group, probably around 2000, give or take a year or so. We were very grateful when they had our young 20-year-old Hannah stay with them during her first big solo overseas trip. 

We met at a perfect place for us, an Asian/Pacific Rim-type place called Wild Ginger (and loved that Betsy and Phil were drinking a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc). The food was tasty, and our booth seating gave us the quietness needed for a good conversation about this, and that, like life, politics, and books! These sorts of meetings with people first met on-line are special – and so easy, because we’ve communicated so extensively over the years, via bookgroup listservs and then Facebook. Phil and Betsy were just as I expected – warm, friendly, interested and interesting, open people. When you start talking books, as most of you know, you can’t help getting to know people. It goes with the territory.

(Oh, and we loved the fact that Betsy enjoys watching Australian TV shows like A place to call home and The Doctor Blake Mysteries. Who would have thought these were on American TV.)

All up, another lovely day in balmy Seattle … with more to come. I could live here, in July, anyhow!

Today’s images

Still

Note that we were challenged by light with many of today’s photos – it wasn’t where we wanted it to be!

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Moving

Starbucks Roastery and Tasting Room (Spot Sue)