Seattle, USA, 10.-12.6. 2011, Day 1

Alright, Seattle. Let's go back in time a little; we went to Vancouver because we changed planes there in 2010 and wanted to go back to actually visit the city, right? Well, Seattle is so close to Vancouver that it would've felt stupid if we'd given it a miss, so we decided to include it in our itinerary and spend two nights there. I wanted to go to Bainbridge Island to see where my darling Elizabeth Mitchell lives, and I was kind of intrigued by the city because I watch Grey's Anatomy as well, but other than that, I had no clue about where I was going, heh.

What was really cool about going to Seattle was that we were going to cross the border between Canada and the USA on foot. Maybe I'm just a big geek but stuff like that makes me really excited! So, we caught the coach from Vancouver to Seattle. The trip takes about 4 hours and in a place called Blaine, you get off the bus with your luggage and basically go through the same routine you would were you arriving by plane. I'd say crossing the border on foot was much nicer and much quicker than when you have to go through immigration at a US airport. The staff were very friendly and the atmosphere was pretty relaxed. There were no queues, either. Though I have to say I've never had any problems with immigration when arriving by plane, either - they just asked me and my friend if we were sisters and then welcomed us to America!

Anyway, my first impression of Seattle was that it was extremely chilly there! I was kind of desperate because when we left Finland, it was really warm and I was expecting it to be warm everywhere else, too. After all, it was the beginning of June. But nope, it was freezing cold and there was no sunshine in sight! We dragged our suitcases all the way to our hotel, which was a Best Western close to the Space Needle and Denny Park, but first stopped at a McDonald's to have lunch. Outside the restaurant, there were lots of druggies, so in that regard, it was a city similar to Vancouver. I have to say that the druggies didn't particularly make me like Seattle...

Right, once we'd checked in, we relaxed for a bit before going out to explore some. The room was pretty nice, and definitely more luxurious than what I'm used to, being the devoted budget traveller that I am. We simply couldn't find any hostels in Seattle so had to go to a hotel, and I have to admit that it was pretty nice to stay at a comfy place like that.

 

When we felt awake enough (which took quite some time, heh), we decided to venture out, and ended up going to Pike Place Market. I guess it's also worth mentioning that we walked everywhere, so that might tell you something about the size of Seattle.

Downtown Seattle.

The Pike Place Market sign and the beautiful Puget Sound.

Rachel the Market Pig.

Pike Place Fish Co. are famous for their crazy sales personnel :)!

Volcanic ash doesn't impress me much as it's been around whenever I've been about to fly across the Atlantic. Luckily none of my flights have ever been cancelled so far!

Washington is the Evergreen State.

Next up was the first Starbucks ever - Seattle's gift to mankind :D.It was also my first time at a Starbucks since we don't have it in Finland, so it's quite cool my first Starbucks experience was at the first Starbucks ever, don't you think?

Accidentally purchased a rather large Strawberry Frappuccino :D.

Right. Then, we decided to go down to Elliott Bay Waterfront, which was a really nice place. Well, apart from the fact that I was freezing my butt off with no jacket of any kind with me. It was a lot like Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, now that I've visited both places. Lots of nice seafood places, little stores and just a really nice feel to it all.

Walking along the Waterfront, we came to the spot where the ferries to Bainbridge Island leave and decided to go there since we were already there. The main reason why it's a good idea to go to Bainbridge Island is that you get the nicest views of the Seattle skyline from the ferry. But, dress up warmly unlike we did! We were SO cold that we couldn't even get off the ferry in the end and just went back to the city straight away.

After this little trip, the rest of the evening was spent in our hotelroom, watching 16 & Pregnant :D.