Summary of time:
· Getting through immigration
· Meeting up with old friends
· Clouds and rain
· Hop on/off bus
· Space Needle
· Public Market and the Fish throwers
Handy hints –
§ Get a map of the city, and take the hop on/off to help get bearings, or talk to other people for ideas.
I was told i should have surrendered the visa when i left the states, but just to fill out another form and it would be ok. The bus driver had said i didn’t need to, so i hadn’t done one whilst on the bus! So i went to complete one, and went back to a different desk, and explained i was travelling, leaving on 1st Dec, and it was all ok. I paid my fee, and passed my bags through customs. I didn’t have all of this at the other customs stop. I was 3rd one though.
Phew.
It was then just to wait for everyone else. We left about 45 mins behind schedule – much better than mum and dad’s experience at this stop, they had taken 2/3 hours!!!
We got into a cloudy Seattle, and i got myself a taxi....i know it’s more expensive than the bus (its free through downtown, although the greyhound is actually out of downtown!), i just didn’t want the hassle, although i had to haggle the price with drivers, they did fixed price trips and not on a meter.
Seattle – a brief history
This city is named after Chief Sealth, whose tribe inhabited the area when the first white settlers arrived here is 1851. The railway arrived in 1893, linking Seattle with the rest of the country. For many years prospectors stopped at Seattle to stock up before they headed up to the Yukon for the gold.
In 1909, whilst the fire chief was away learning what to do if there was a big city fire, he had left his brother in charge and there was a big fire, destroying all downtown. Over the next few weeks the city was rebuilt, and in the Pioneer Square area of downtown, they are slowly renovating the old buildings.
Seattle was a big lumber area, with logs coming in, milled and shipped out.
There were many issues for the people of Seattle, including clean water and sewerage, and this was before the fire. The city built round pipes to move clean water, and square box pipes to remove sewerage, but the sewerage was just going down into the bay and with the tidal movements, those lower down found out about the back flow. There was a few attempts in trying to solve the problem, including improving the pipe system. There is also the story, much loved by 3rd graders, of people who lived in the higher parts of town, flushing, and those in lower areas, having exploding toilets.
When the city was building rebuilt following the fire in 1909, 2 things happened, 1 the city was rebuilt very quickly, easing an unemployment issue, but recognising some of the issues, the decision was made that the street level would need to be increased. See the Underground tour to see what they did to resolve this.
A lot of businesses were up and running only a couple of months in new properties after this fire.
The changing landscape of the city, also gave it a change in its identity.
In 1916 William Boeing founded his aircraft manufacturing business, which became one of the largest employers in Seattle, attracting thousands of newcomers during WWII. The factory still exists outside of Seattle, which you can take a tour round.
Arriving at the hostel, i was greeted with “Hello, how are you? I didn’t know i would see you”, a familiar face, but couldn’t quite place her, i knew i had met her, but not when or where. I was soon settled in my room, then i remembered it was Theresa, the girl who i had met waiting for the San Francisco to Portland train over 5 weeks ago.
We had a lot to catch up, where we’d been, what we’d been up to...... Theresa had got a ticket for the Mariners baseball game the next night, so i said i would get one the next day and go with her. We met up with someone else Theresa knew, with the intention of catching a water taxi and going off for a walk and dinner, but with the water taxi times had changed with the end of season, and unless there was a game on then no taxis ran during the week after 6pm. It was past that.
We headed back, towards the hostel, Theresa and I went for a sushi, whilst the other friend not a sushi lover, said they would meet us for a pint later. Plenty of time for us to chat, and talk more about what we’d done, and what we were planning to do over the next few weeks. Theresa had a couple of friends from home coming over to meet up with her....at different times.
Next morning, Theresa had finally worked out her plans before she was meeting her friend in LA, so we headed off to the station to get her ticket to Portland, and for me to get mine to San Francisco in 2 days. That meant Theresa was leaving in an hour or so, and wouldn’t be able to use her ticket, so she gave it to me.
I saw her off at the train station, before heading out to explore Seattle. It was cloudy, overcast, cold and felt like it was going to rain, not the best way to see a city. I walked along the waterfront, and got to the stop of the hop on/off bus as one was just pulling up. There was only 1 couple besides the driver and tour guide to start off with so it was a bit more of an intimate tour. Others did join us later.
We saw the cranes at the commercial harbour that had inspired George Lucas in the design of some of his storm trooper carriers.
We learnt about the building policy, which is for new and renovated buildings in the city, 1% of the cost of the buildings was to be used for art, something was to be built on or besides the building of an artistic nature. It was interesting to learn of the tongue in cheek pieces that the artistes designed. A series of steps and seating areas, that is next to the Federal that doesn’t really go anywhere. A gloved hand with a hole in it, near the Safeco Ballpark, and the Mariners have not won a major league since then, and the city (and tourists) are still paying for the stadium after 10 years (tourists are paying it in higher taxes on all restaurant meals!!).
We saw the Smith Tower, a white building, where the top couple of floors are in a pyramid, with a glass globe on top. The lady, who rents that apartment, was proposed to by her husband in that globe.
Seattle is the birth place of Starbucks, and in the downtown area there is 164 Starbucks, (and only 3 McDonalds), and there was 1 mile stretch of Belltown where there was no Starbucks! There are also several other chains and independent coffee houses – these Seattle people really do like their coffee, they consume a lot of it.
Nordstrom’s, a national chain selling slightly more expensive stuff, started here in Seattle as a shoe store, with a great Refund / Return policy still in existence today. They also have “The Rack” which has their end of season stock, where you can get some great deals.
In the shopping district you may not see too many shops, but that may be because it’s biggest mall is mainly underground!
I did the full loop around of the bus, so i could find out what was where and where i wanted to go. Early afternoon the sky had cleared a bit, so i decided to get off the bus at the Space Needle.
This is at Seattle Centre, which is where Seattle hosted the World Fair in 1962, showing the future, Seattle style. Parts of this are still there now, including the iconic Space Needle, which is a 605ft high observation tower with a revolving restaurant.
Although it was clear, it was still not clear enough to see the Olympic Mountains or Mt Rainier. To the north of the tower, you can see 3 telephone masts, and if you were in Fraser’s apartment you would be at the top of one of those masts....the view from the window is not possible from a proper window, as there are no apartment blocks in that area!!!
Looking down from the needle you can see the Experience Music Project building, whose design is best seen from above. The architecture took several guitars, smashed them and put them in a pile, which is the building design, it is not obvious at street level, it just looks a bit bizarre. The Science Fiction Museum is next door to EMP. You can get a deal to see both museums, but many museums have free admission times on Thursday, so check them out.
I then took the monorail, which is only 1.5 miles through a crumple part of the smashed guitars in the EMP building to 3rd floor of the Westlake Centre. Coming out of the Westlake Centre, you will notice the brick design in the roads, the first nation people did a lot of weaving, with each pattern having a meaning, the coloured bricks are laid to look like a woven pattern symbolising “Welcome”
It was time for a little exercise, so i thought i’d walk back to the hostel. Heading down Pine St, i arrived at Pike Place Market, so i thought i’d go and explore. This market is actually several markets, over 5 blocks and several floors. You will find a myriad of small enterprises, as well as local fare on sale, as well as plenty of places to stop for a drink or a snack to revive you. Check out Pike Place Brewery.
One of the famous places is the “fish throwing mongers”. It is one stall – Pike Place Fish Market – where you can choose your fish, let the guys at the front know, he will then call out the fish, all the other fishmongers will respond by calling the name of the fish a couple more times, and the fish is thrown to the guys at the back, where it is prepared, and packed. You then pay the guys at the back.
It is definitely an experience not to miss if you are in Seattle, you can’t miss the place, there are loads of tourists around, waiting to see the fish throwing, you may need to wait awhile, unless you decide to buy fish of course.
I needed to head back so that i could chill out before going to the mariners game.
The city decided to build all properties on the original level, but that at a later time the road would be moved up. Properties were built so that when the road was moved, properties would still have a front entrance, banks, shops, had two levels that looked like the ground floor. Then over the next few years, a wall was built between the sidewalk and the road, and then the road was filled in. Block by block, and for a while before the new sidewalks were but it, if you wanted to cross the road, you had to climb up and down ladders, or go a long way round, but for the ladies of the time this was not the best option, although some men may have thought so. Also there was issue of horses and wagons potentially slipping down, or even horse muck!!! Replacement sidewalks were then installed, and businesses moved up one floor, creating a basement, or even an underground city! It was great for storage of wares, or illicit drinking dens during prohibition.
· Getting through immigration
· Meeting up with old friends
· Clouds and rain
· Hop on/off bus
· Space Needle
· Public Market and the Fish throwers
Handy hints –
§ Get a map of the city, and take the hop on/off to help get bearings, or talk to other people for ideas.
I was told i should have surrendered the visa when i left the states, but just to fill out another form and it would be ok. The bus driver had said i didn’t need to, so i hadn’t done one whilst on the bus! So i went to complete one, and went back to a different desk, and explained i was travelling, leaving on 1st Dec, and it was all ok. I paid my fee, and passed my bags through customs. I didn’t have all of this at the other customs stop. I was 3rd one though.
Phew.
It was then just to wait for everyone else. We left about 45 mins behind schedule – much better than mum and dad’s experience at this stop, they had taken 2/3 hours!!!
We got into a cloudy Seattle, and i got myself a taxi....i know it’s more expensive than the bus (its free through downtown, although the greyhound is actually out of downtown!), i just didn’t want the hassle, although i had to haggle the price with drivers, they did fixed price trips and not on a meter.
Seattle – a brief history
This city is named after Chief Sealth, whose tribe inhabited the area when the first white settlers arrived here is 1851. The railway arrived in 1893, linking Seattle with the rest of the country. For many years prospectors stopped at Seattle to stock up before they headed up to the Yukon for the gold.
In 1909, whilst the fire chief was away learning what to do if there was a big city fire, he had left his brother in charge and there was a big fire, destroying all downtown. Over the next few weeks the city was rebuilt, and in the Pioneer Square area of downtown, they are slowly renovating the old buildings.
Seattle was a big lumber area, with logs coming in, milled and shipped out.
There were many issues for the people of Seattle, including clean water and sewerage, and this was before the fire. The city built round pipes to move clean water, and square box pipes to remove sewerage, but the sewerage was just going down into the bay and with the tidal movements, those lower down found out about the back flow. There was a few attempts in trying to solve the problem, including improving the pipe system. There is also the story, much loved by 3rd graders, of people who lived in the higher parts of town, flushing, and those in lower areas, having exploding toilets.
When the city was building rebuilt following the fire in 1909, 2 things happened, 1 the city was rebuilt very quickly, easing an unemployment issue, but recognising some of the issues, the decision was made that the street level would need to be increased. See the Underground tour to see what they did to resolve this.
A lot of businesses were up and running only a couple of months in new properties after this fire.
The changing landscape of the city, also gave it a change in its identity.
In 1916 William Boeing founded his aircraft manufacturing business, which became one of the largest employers in Seattle, attracting thousands of newcomers during WWII. The factory still exists outside of Seattle, which you can take a tour round.
Arriving at the hostel, i was greeted with “Hello, how are you? I didn’t know i would see you”, a familiar face, but couldn’t quite place her, i knew i had met her, but not when or where. I was soon settled in my room, then i remembered it was Theresa, the girl who i had met waiting for the San Francisco to Portland train over 5 weeks ago.
We had a lot to catch up, where we’d been, what we’d been up to...... Theresa had got a ticket for the Mariners baseball game the next night, so i said i would get one the next day and go with her. We met up with someone else Theresa knew, with the intention of catching a water taxi and going off for a walk and dinner, but with the water taxi times had changed with the end of season, and unless there was a game on then no taxis ran during the week after 6pm. It was past that.
We headed back, towards the hostel, Theresa and I went for a sushi, whilst the other friend not a sushi lover, said they would meet us for a pint later. Plenty of time for us to chat, and talk more about what we’d done, and what we were planning to do over the next few weeks. Theresa had a couple of friends from home coming over to meet up with her....at different times.
Next morning, Theresa had finally worked out her plans before she was meeting her friend in LA, so we headed off to the station to get her ticket to Portland, and for me to get mine to San Francisco in 2 days. That meant Theresa was leaving in an hour or so, and wouldn’t be able to use her ticket, so she gave it to me.
I saw her off at the train station, before heading out to explore Seattle. It was cloudy, overcast, cold and felt like it was going to rain, not the best way to see a city. I walked along the waterfront, and got to the stop of the hop on/off bus as one was just pulling up. There was only 1 couple besides the driver and tour guide to start off with so it was a bit more of an intimate tour. Others did join us later.
We saw the cranes at the commercial harbour that had inspired George Lucas in the design of some of his storm trooper carriers.
We learnt about the building policy, which is for new and renovated buildings in the city, 1% of the cost of the buildings was to be used for art, something was to be built on or besides the building of an artistic nature. It was interesting to learn of the tongue in cheek pieces that the artistes designed. A series of steps and seating areas, that is next to the Federal that doesn’t really go anywhere. A gloved hand with a hole in it, near the Safeco Ballpark, and the Mariners have not won a major league since then, and the city (and tourists) are still paying for the stadium after 10 years (tourists are paying it in higher taxes on all restaurant meals!!).
We saw the Smith Tower, a white building, where the top couple of floors are in a pyramid, with a glass globe on top. The lady, who rents that apartment, was proposed to by her husband in that globe.
Seattle is the birth place of Starbucks, and in the downtown area there is 164 Starbucks, (and only 3 McDonalds), and there was 1 mile stretch of Belltown where there was no Starbucks! There are also several other chains and independent coffee houses – these Seattle people really do like their coffee, they consume a lot of it.
Nordstrom’s, a national chain selling slightly more expensive stuff, started here in Seattle as a shoe store, with a great Refund / Return policy still in existence today. They also have “The Rack” which has their end of season stock, where you can get some great deals.
In the shopping district you may not see too many shops, but that may be because it’s biggest mall is mainly underground!
I did the full loop around of the bus, so i could find out what was where and where i wanted to go. Early afternoon the sky had cleared a bit, so i decided to get off the bus at the Space Needle.
This is at Seattle Centre, which is where Seattle hosted the World Fair in 1962, showing the future, Seattle style. Parts of this are still there now, including the iconic Space Needle, which is a 605ft high observation tower with a revolving restaurant.
Although it was clear, it was still not clear enough to see the Olympic Mountains or Mt Rainier. To the north of the tower, you can see 3 telephone masts, and if you were in Fraser’s apartment you would be at the top of one of those masts....the view from the window is not possible from a proper window, as there are no apartment blocks in that area!!!
Looking down from the needle you can see the Experience Music Project building, whose design is best seen from above. The architecture took several guitars, smashed them and put them in a pile, which is the building design, it is not obvious at street level, it just looks a bit bizarre. The Science Fiction Museum is next door to EMP. You can get a deal to see both museums, but many museums have free admission times on Thursday, so check them out.
I then took the monorail, which is only 1.5 miles through a crumple part of the smashed guitars in the EMP building to 3rd floor of the Westlake Centre. Coming out of the Westlake Centre, you will notice the brick design in the roads, the first nation people did a lot of weaving, with each pattern having a meaning, the coloured bricks are laid to look like a woven pattern symbolising “Welcome”
It was time for a little exercise, so i thought i’d walk back to the hostel. Heading down Pine St, i arrived at Pike Place Market, so i thought i’d go and explore. This market is actually several markets, over 5 blocks and several floors. You will find a myriad of small enterprises, as well as local fare on sale, as well as plenty of places to stop for a drink or a snack to revive you. Check out Pike Place Brewery.
One of the famous places is the “fish throwing mongers”. It is one stall – Pike Place Fish Market – where you can choose your fish, let the guys at the front know, he will then call out the fish, all the other fishmongers will respond by calling the name of the fish a couple more times, and the fish is thrown to the guys at the back, where it is prepared, and packed. You then pay the guys at the back.
It is definitely an experience not to miss if you are in Seattle, you can’t miss the place, there are loads of tourists around, waiting to see the fish throwing, you may need to wait awhile, unless you decide to buy fish of course.
I needed to head back so that i could chill out before going to the mariners game.
The city decided to build all properties on the original level, but that at a later time the road would be moved up. Properties were built so that when the road was moved, properties would still have a front entrance, banks, shops, had two levels that looked like the ground floor. Then over the next few years, a wall was built between the sidewalk and the road, and then the road was filled in. Block by block, and for a while before the new sidewalks were but it, if you wanted to cross the road, you had to climb up and down ladders, or go a long way round, but for the ladies of the time this was not the best option, although some men may have thought so. Also there was issue of horses and wagons potentially slipping down, or even horse muck!!! Replacement sidewalks were then installed, and businesses moved up one floor, creating a basement, or even an underground city! It was great for storage of wares, or illicit drinking dens during prohibition.
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