5 photos a day

For this next series of photos of my trip to Seattle, I will show the downtown, parts of Bell town and Pioneer Square.

SAM - Seattle Art Museum. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit.

Large Sculpture in front of the Seattle Art Museum.

The library downtown is quite an impressive glass building.

Pioneer Square can lay claim to being the city’s “first neighborhood, and has one of the nation's best preserved examples of the Victorian era . This is the Smith building, built in 1914, and was the tallest building west of the Mississippi for quite some time.

and here's a few more photos of downtown:

I was very interested to learn that Seattle was built up after a terrible fire back in the 1880s's. Much of the city was destroyed and they built the city up on top of the old city. There is an underground tour, that i would have like to have taken. Here is some info about it:

The Great Seattle Fire of 1889, a town founded on mostly soggy tide flats whose streets would, whenever the rains came, bloat deep enough with mud to consume dogs and small children.

After the fire, which destroyed some 25 square blocks of mostly wooden buildings in the heart of Seattle, it was unanimously decided that all new construction must be of stone or brick masonry. The city also decided to rise up from the muck in which its original streets lay.
It was this decision that created the Underground: The city built retaining walls, eight feet or higher, on either side of the old streets, filled in the space between the walls, and paved over the fill to effectively raise the streets, making them one story higher than the old sidewalks that still ran alongside them.

Building owners, eager to capitalize on an 1890s economic boom, quickly rebuilt on the old, low, muddy ground where they had been before, unmindful of the fact that their first floor display windows and lobbies soon would become basements. Eventually, sidewalks bridged the gap between the new streets and the second story of buildings, leaving hollow tunnels (as high as 35 feet in some places) between the old and new sidewalks, and creating the passageways of today’s Underground.

Tomorrow's photos: Bainbridge Island. It was a 30 minute ferry from Seattle, a lovely island community.

Seattle Trip: 5 photos a day

This next series of photos are of the Space Needle. It is the American version of Toronto, Canada's CN tower, which is somewhat similiar, in shape and form. I always think of the tv show 'Fraser' when i see it.


A few facts:

The Space Needle is a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and a symbol of Seattle.

Views from the Observation Deck. This is facing a mountain range...i'm not sure if it's Mt. Helen or Rainier.

The Space Needle was built to withstand severe earthquakes by doubling the building code of 1962. But an earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter Scale jolted the Needle enough in 2001 for water to slosh out of the toilets in the restrooms. The Space Needle can escape serious structural damage during earthquakes of magnitudes below 9.

Here is a video i shot from the Observation Deck:

5 + photos a day

This next series of photos are of the wonderful coffee in Seattle! I originally was just going to show 5 photos a day of my trip....but i added some more today since i had many shots of coffee...um, no pun intended!

Some of the coffee places are nameless, and i apologize since i forgot to get a card or remember the names of places.

This coffee shop had a french flair...oui oui! It had amazing sweet buns and every day they feature a bun of a certain flavour.

This was a great afternoon pick-me-up....a delicious bun and a mochachino made with a homemade dark chocolate syrup...it was gooooood!

How do you spell coffee? Does it start with an 'S'?

This is the original Starbucks coffee shop, started in 1971 i was told. They started out just selling just the beans back then. I went inside but didn't order anything, as i had just finished a mochachino at Stella's on 1st Ave.

Across from Pike Place Market.

Inside the original Starbucks. i was going to buy a mug for a souvenir..but didn't want to carry it around all day, so i didn't get one...darn darn darn!

One morning we walked to Pike Place Mk. and had a latte and some french pastries for a decadent breakie! Tarts, croissants and neapolitan.

Stella coffee house was my fave! It was on 1st Ave on the way to Pike Place Mk and it was the perfect coffee place...great music, nice baristas, and a cool vibe. Brick walls, hardwood floors, a fabulous chandelier, marble tables and red walls. Plus i got to chat with the owner, who witnessed me snapping photos and asked me if i was working for Starbucks..hehe.

2 mochachino's for pick-up

We asked the barrista why there were so many coffee houses in Seattle. She said the rainy weather was a definite factor. We were lucky, since we had two full days of sun though, but our last day was rainy, blustery and destroyed my favorite umbrella.

Tomorrow's photos: The Space Needle!

5 photos a day

Here are the food photos of my Seattle trip. I wish i had taken more food photos, but once the food was in front of me, i noshed immediately, and forgot to take the photo. Ah well! My sister and I also went on a 3-hour culinary nosh with the Seattle Savour Food Tour. We sampled food and beverage from lots of interesting restaurants which included a tour of the Pike brewery, Frans chocolate shop and Gelatiamo.

(*Tip: I highly recommend clicking on each image to get a better view.)

Fran's Chocolates.
We loved the grey salt caramel the best!
Glad i got some to bring home. The caramel doesn't stick to your teeth, it is a softer kind.

The gelato at Gelatiamo was great...so many flavors.... we tried the Raspberry and the Chocolate chip...they were tres scrumptous!

Dungeness crab sandwich...tons of crabmeat with organic tomatoes and lots of cheddar on a homemade bun...wow! So filling and delicious!

This was a very decadent version of mac and cheese with lots of crabmeat on top. It was also very good! At a nice cafe on Bainbridge Island.

If you are familiar with local chef Tom Douglas, he owns about 6 restaurants in Seattle...his latest resto is 'Serious Pie' and folks, this pizza pie was seriously one of the best pies i have ever had the pleasure of eating. The dough was unlike anything i had ever had, light enough to float off the plate. This was some amazing pie!!!

*Other food worthy of mention, the risotto with clams at II Bistro right in Pikes Place Market.
*The best chili in the city at The Hole in the Wall, located just near the Smith Building.

Tommorrow's photos: Coffee!!! You probably know that Seattle is the coffee mecca of the USA. There certainly was no shortage of coffee shops there!

5 photos a day

This is the next series of photos of my recent trip to Seattle.

On this next batch of photos is more of The Pike Place Market:

pretty peppers

yummy fruit candy

chocolate pasta!!!!
(we tasted it raw..you could really taste the cocoa)

Truffles (tres expensivo!)

Dungeness Crab...i had a delicous hot sandwich on Bainbridge Island.
Tomorrow will be food photos!!!

and here is a video of the fish throwers at the fish part of the market...a fun experience!

5 photos a day

Of my trip to:

SEAttLE

view from the back of the market.

piggy bank...money donated to ...um.. sorry forgot.

dinner plate clock

Our first day started at The Pike Place Market. It was huge! The market includes 4 or 5 levels below the open air street level marketplace.

Stay tuned for tomorrow where i showcase some delicious food!