The View from a Drawbridge

This was one busy day! It felt like my old foreign travel, have-to-cram-in-as-much-as-possible-for-I-may-not-pass-this-way-again pace. But what a blast. A dear friend’s cousin came by to give me a grand tour. First stop, the Fremont Troll.

How appropriate. A bridge operator taking a pic with a troll under a bridge! And yes, that’s an actual volkswagon clutched in his hand.

Then we went to an amazing restaurant called the Tamarind Tree, which I intend to take any and all visitors to. Among other things, I had sugar cane wrapped in shrimp. Delicious! And the bamboo lined, fountain festooned patio was a lovely setting.

Next, we went to Pike Place Market. What a trip! All kinds of funky clothing and jewelry, and HUGE bouquets of flowers for only 10 dollars, and fresh baked bread, and yes, the guys who throw the fish. (They just didn’t happen to be throwing any when I was in the vicinity.) If I ever get beyond this crippling relocation debt, I plan to take a big old sweaty wad of cash here and treat myself…

… but not to this fish.

And as disgusting as it is, I had to see the famous gum wall. I could almost FEEL the tuberculosis jumping out at me. But it was fascinating in a sick and twisted kind of way.

After wandering around the water front, we then headed over to city center where Sarah was dropping me off. But before that she wanted to show me something delightful. The International Fountain. I could have sat there and watched the kids cavorting in this fountain for hours.

It changes with the music, in unexpected ways, which is fun when you want to beat the heat. If I hadn’t had other places to go afterward, I would have been running around in there like a little kid myself. I plan to do that one of these days. Who’s with me? Check out some video of the fountain in action here.

Next, Sarah had to head out and I had an appointment with the iconic Space Needle. I’m glad I did it. Once. There’s really no need to go back. Nice view, though.

After that, I headed for the place I was most looking forward to all day. Chihuly Garden and Glass. Words cannot describe the pure beauty of this place, so I’ll just share a ton of pictures.

I’d have taken more pictures but my camera battery died half way through. I wish I could go there every day. I wish I could LIVE there.

And then I decided to brave the public transportation for the first time. That was an eye opener. First of all, my starting point was in a really scary part of town. I was surrounded by homeless people who were muttering to themselves. And then on the bus I sat next to some teenagers who were discussing the pros and cons of various types of weed, and wondering why they couldn’t find employment. The public transportation is extensive here, and the traffic is a nightmare, but I don’t see myself riding the bus very often. It just sucked a little of my soul out.

But overall it was an amazing and fulfilling day. My explorations are going to have to slow down, though, because I just got a look at my net pay, and I am going to be in trouble for a long, long time. Just when you think things are looking up…