We arrived in Seattle feeling somewhat washed out after
starting the day early Wednesday morning and finally arriving some 30 hours
later. The city of Seattle is reminiscent of Melbourne - tree lined streets and
vibrant - but you can't get a good coffee for love nor money! Neither of us can
rationalise that we are standing in the city of Seattle, home of Nirvana,
Frasier and Grey's Anatomy. Actually, we still cannot believe that we are in
the US of A!
A quick fact about Seattle - the old part of the city was
rebuilt several metres higher in the late 1890s after a fire tore through the
city, razing Seattle across 25 blocks. After the fire which destroyed mostly
wooden buildings in the heart of Seattle, all new construction must be of stone
or brick masonry. The old city was marginally higher than sea level, so a
decent rainfall and high tide, sewage would flow back into houses and into the
streets.
Regardless, building owners were eager to capitalize on an
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 because the city also decided to raise the
ground level from which its original streets lay. The city was rebuilt using
retaining walls, 3 metres or higher, on either side of the old streets. They
then filled in the space between the walls, and paved over the fill to
effectively raise the streets, making the street one storey higher than the old
footpaths that still ran alongside them. You can actually tour the underground
city of Seattle - it was very interesting and an amazing feat of engineering
for its time.
The streets of downtown Seattle are not as congested as any
of our major cities, probably due to how well this city has been planned - wide
multi-lane one way streets which criss cross across the city centre. And San Francisco is not the only city with
killer hills - Seattle has its fair share.
Every street from the waterfront climbs several blocks. Even mountain goats need a rest along the
way!
Seattle has a lot to offer - good food, lovely accommodating
people and beautiful surrounds. After
completing the must see visits to the Space Needle, Pioneer Square, the
waterfront and Pike Place Market (where the fishos throw Salmon over the
counters at each other like they are small trout), we ventured to the Boeing
factory for some plane spotting. Here we
saw the production facility in full swing - 2 completed and 2 partially
completed 747s, at least 5 737s and 5 new 787 Dreamliners (including Qantas' first
delivery, complete with the red tail). All
this under the one roof. The facility
will house 12 eiffel towers (laying down) and each hangar door is the size of
one football field.
And sometimes you just see the most extraordinary street side dining options - this sure beats the Dolly's van in Phillip at midnight...
And this is where it all began in the 1970s, bayside Seattle...the great curse to all coffee drinkers worldwide. The original Starbucks 'cawfee' store and people were lined up to buy their coffee, all the time entertained by a jazz band.
So, Seattle is definitely a place to include on the visit
list. It has a good look and feel about
it, especially Pike Place market and is a laid back kind of place. A very pleasant city to sit back and absorb.
And here are a few additional photos of our time in Seattle...
The above park which is adjacent to the Seattle Space Needle..
...a view from the Smith Building downtown to the Space needle in the background...
...Seattle from the Space Needle...
...and the Pike Place Markets...
...and finally the Boeing factory.
Frasier has left the building!
