Seeing Seattle All Over Again

I may say this time I experienced Seattle as if I was visiting it for the first time although I had been to Seattle several times before. I visited some places I had been to before, did the things that I had done every other time in Seattle, yet the experience was so different. Of course I also visited some new scenic places. But it was mainly because my sister invited a very good friend of hers to be our best chevalier. Our conversation made during the whole time of sightseeing brought extra delight and joy to my stay in Seattle.

Boing Company and the Space Needle
On my second day in Seattle, We went to the Boing Company first. It was the 1st time I visited the company. They said it's the biggest building in the world which must be so as they have to build so many airplanes. There were quite a lot of tourists even though it was Thursday. We had some confusion when trying to find the way to the visitor center entrance. Other than that the tour was quite fruitful and enjoyable. I'm not an airplane fan, still it was amazing to see how a big airplane company works.

We chose Mexican food for lunch. It was different from what had I tried before. After lunch, we went to the Seattle Center. It was a little bit late to go up to Space Needle. So we walked in the center to see what people could do or see there and around that area to enjoy the quiet afternoon. Not many people at that time, we toured around the children museum, a skate board rink, and the buildings in the center. We decided to go up to the Space Needle early next morning. After watching the elevator going up the Space Needle for a while, I estimated it took 30 sec. for the elevator to go from the ground to the top.

Unexpectedly the next morning when we arrived, the center was packed with a huge crowd. When we went to the booth to buy the ticket, they gave us the tickets free. We realized a company treated all of us tourists to a free ride up to the Space Needle. What a surprise! Yet, we hesitated a while if we should stick to our plan as the waiting line was so long that we wondered if it would take us two hours to get up there. Since we had come twice, I said, “we should stick with it and I made a bet that we could get our turn in an hour to persuade my sister and Robert to follow through our plan. They said at least 1 and half hours. Well, neither of us won, as it took us one hour and twenty min. to get our chance to enter the elevator and enjoy the view up there finally. According to the guide It takes 41 sec. for the elevator to travel from the bottom to the top, quite fast although not as fast as I estimated. There was also a Tattoo Exhibition on that day, too. No wonder the playground and amusement park were full of young people and children. I noticed that most of Seattle’s young people, both men and women have tattoos on their body. A lot of them had tattoos of Chinese letters, very interesting. I used to be against tattoos, but now think one or two small ones are OK, but please don't put them all over your body. We didn't see the Tattoo Exhibition, see them on all these people's bodies is good enough for us.

It was getting dark and it’s time for dinner. We went to the Public Market, pity that there was a wedding party that most of the place was blocked, so we ate in a restaurant on the street. We were not very hungry, didn’t order heavy. Surprisingly the food was different and quite good. It was about ten when we got home. What a wonderful 1st sightseeing day!

Pioneer Square
The 2nd day, we went to the Pioneer Square first. There was a flea market that day and many Indian Artworks there and in the vicinity area. It was such an enjoyment sitting among so many artworks. Goods were nothing particularly interesting. I hadn’t plan on buying anything anyway. Another excitement was that we saw two long sand areas with a lot of color stone balls inside. Some people were playing with these stone balls. It looked very interesting. We decided to play, too, and waited for our turn. What fun it was playing stone balls! We played several rounds to enjoy good exercise and laughter.

Pike Place Market
It was a very beautiful area full of colorful flowers and nice streets. We sat on the bench just to relax and enjoy watching tourists from different countries.

Underground tour
My sister didn't tell me before that there was a underground tour site. It was a very interesting and impressive experience. It gave me a clear idea of Seattle's history. When I was walking around the downtown, I noticed a lot of stairs leading underground and wondered why. After the underground tour, I then understood why. What a small world under the ground with narrow twisting tunnels and dusty, derelict rooms!

Harbor Tour
My sister and I took the harbor tour once before. We did it the 2nd time on the third day. It was not in our 3rd day schedule, but when we saw there was a special rate, only half the original price, especially for that day, we must take it. It was refreshing just sitting on the cruise feeling the breeze caressing our faces. The view of Seattle city from the lake was sensational. The introduction made by the tour guide made the tour informative as well.

To be continued.
Trini