After we decided we are not jet lagged in the second day, we went to spend time in Seattle. To be completely honest, all I knew of Seattle was that: this is the city with the Space Needle, it is where my beloved Starbucks was born and it’s close to where my friends live.
I should have done a little research before going there, because it is quite clear I knew close to nothing about this beautiful American city. But I work and study and have tons of things to think about so I kept postponing it until the boyfriend decided it’s time to take over.
To be truly honest, ever since I can remember I wanted to visit USA, I knew I wanted to see New York and the East coast. I went to Seattle because I wanted to visit my friends and they happen to live next to this city [while writing this I wonder if I can be even more ignorant than this and, even though I am quite sure I can be, I will not try to make this any prettier. It’s what it is and I accept that this is one of my limits]. So, let’s just say that I was interested, quite confident I’ll like it and open to the unknown.
And it was amazing.
My biggest surprise: The Pacific Science Center. Boyfriend wanted to go and I actually tried to persuade him to skip it. In the end, because we did only the things I wanted to do during the first day [and it was not as fun as expected, which actually impacted my decision], I gave in and went on the second day.
I will not describe our experience in the museum, but I’ll just go ahead and say that we spent about five hours there and we were not bored. We played tons on games related to music, body and health and learned about nature and fires in forests. We also watched a laser show and spent time in the yard, by the water. A totally great surprise. We learned while having fun.
My biggest disappointment: Pike Place Market. This is determined by my ignorance, once again, but I expected to go see a market place. Like an outdoors paved space with benches and trees and a fountain or a building in the middle. I did not expect a market with products for sale inside a building [I am really not a shopper. Sure I buy things, but I don’t enjoy it. Except for books and stationary. But I derail. Again]. After the shock wore off, I kinda liked the inside, especially the top floor of the market, where all the fish, flower and lots of hand-made products were sold.
Other than that, we visited the Aquarium and found it less impressive than expected, but quite cool [After being at the Pacific Ocean, which will be posted next, I developed a new level of admiration for the fish in the Aquarium, with a special layer of affection for the Octopus]. Just look at these colours. So bright! So pretty! Lovely fishy fish.
We went to the Starbucks in the Pike Place Market, allegedly the first one, but not really, and the line was way too long so we took a picture in front of the store and left.
We visited the Seattle Reserved Roastery of Starbucks, [where we actually got in and ordered a cup of coffee], where we drank one of the best coffees we had while in the US. Really tasty and clean. And the space felt welcoming, while professional. We spend an hour here, looking around and talking.
We could not leave the city without spending an hour or so in the public library. We checked out the Sociology section at the 7th floor and than went up to the 10th to enjoy the view and browse through two books which caught my eye.
We also ate out and drank some coffee [yes, from a regular Starbucks, just to check it out. Only if I knew most places work with Starbucks and there will be so much tasting in the days to follow that by the time we are on the way back to Bucharest, we’ll be looking precisely for a non-Starbucks coffee place]. But nothing notable though. Maybe the onion rings, those were delish!
On Friday we had a special day, because we went to Bellevue and Redmond and had what we now call Microsoft-day. So, the highlight of the day was that we went on Microsoft land and visited buildings and the museum [Visitor Center, but it’s like a small museum, really; one learns so much, plays with devices and there’s even a gift shop] and I am impressed that there are companies offering so many benefits. I had an amazing time observing it all. My favourite part: to take pictures at the Linkedin booth at the Visitor Center.
On Saturday, we had Relaxation by the lake day. We spent the morning admiring Washington lake [from Kirkland this time (we saw it from Bellevue the day before), where we had a great Cafe latte from this small place close to the park] and Lake Sammamish in the afternoon. We had a family and friends day and it was such an amazing glimpse into the next four days.
The week’s not over yet, there is more to follow. Stay tuned and make the day count!
Like!! Thank you for publishing this awesome article.