January 24, 2012

Seattle Diaries

I am no travel expert but yes I am the opportune traveller. And this post talks about my weekend trip to Seattle, WA, USA. (Phew!) So I would call an ideal journey as reaching Seattle on a Friday noon. Seattle's airport - Tacoma International is well connected unless you choose to drive. From the airport, there are transit buses to downtown. I liked the city's downtown worth staying. It is not as crowded as Chicago, LA or NYC but is equally beautiful. There are some good places to put up. I stayed at The Westin. My first suggestion would be after you reach your hotel, to relax yourself and have a good dinner at the Waterfront. There are some good options, my choice was Elliott's Oyster House. Caution: It is a bit on the expensive side and almost a NO option place for vegetarians like me but then it is those perfect fine dining, great ambience places that you want to go to. Another thing to do on waterfront is walk; it's fun! Or you can always come back and blame my sun-sign, the water sign, Cancer for this. To me, the best way to start your Saturday is with a coffee at the original Starbucks right next to the Pike Place Market followed by buying fresh flowers from the locals. There is nothing like self-pampering and Seattle offers that well. From fresh produce of fruits and vegetables (trust me the strawberries, cherries and apples are must try) to bakeries (oh! the cakes) to sea-food vendors to the most remarkable artists - all on one street at Pike Place Market. Yes, I am a coffee person. So like me if you need to have another coffee after all this shopping, check out this place called Local Color. To be honest, I was attracted by the line 'Art, Coffee & more..' - well I needed to find out what more was. It was nice - good music, nice decor and wonderful hospitality. I liked the sandwich as well as the coffee. Oh! And they had free Wi-Fi! That's bingo for me. Following this, one could either go back and relax or take a ride on one of those ferries. As one of the local pointed out, no trip goes complete without them! There are a good number of museums like Seattle Art Museum, Museum of Flight. Also, the Aquarium and the Public Library are much talked about places but I am really not into all this so I skipped my knowledge gathering part. The evening to night transition would be incomplete without a trip to Space Needle and then a feast dinner. Sunday mornings can be left for the choosy option - while I choose to laze around, one can go to numerous parks that Seattle has to offer or hey! a stress buster could be to shop around. They have good stores too. Amidst all, don't forget to take your flight back home.. because I almost did! =)

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