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Living in Seattle

Description:

Highlights:
First off, Seattle’s geographic location is a highlight in its own right. Happily stuck between the Cascade and Olympic Mountain ranges, the views on a clear day are humbling and uplifting. And if you’re in the right place at the right time, the mountains are framed by the beautiful waters of Seattle’s other great asset: the Puget Sound. The Puget Sound also provides a pleasant alternative way to travel and you can venture out to Bainbridge Island, Vancouver Island on the Victoria Clipper, not to mention Alaska if you fancy a cruise in the Summer.

Pike Place Market is an obvious choice and without it Seattle would be soulless. The market is the hub of great food shopping, home to fresh fish, fruit and vegetable stalls, many with produce so vivid in colour and large in size you’ll wonder if it’s not been genetically modified (I don’t think it has though!) The market is also home to some of the oldest and best fast-food restaurants in town and there are also plenty of souvenir stalls and shops to keep the tourists happy.

Personal favourite destinations of mine are the new Olympic Sculpture Park on the waterfront as well as the beautiful and peaceful Discovery Park. I also love taking the ferry over to Bainbridge Island for a great brunch at Café Nola and a walk through the marina.

For eating out, Harvest Vine is hard to beat although there are many excellent restaurants downtown, some of which I’ve tried to highlight. If you’re looking for cocktails you have to go to Chapel on Capital Hill. This fantastic bar was at one time a chapel, and a mortuary, and does a fine job of making you feel quite spiritual.

Quick Tips/Suggestions:
On the first Thursday of every month there is a free art walk in Pioneer Square and entrance to the Seattle Art Museum is free all day.

If you get tired with all the walking, you can ride the buses downtown for free – ask the driver where to get off before they get into the pay zone. There’s also a free bus that’s running from Pioneer Square down Alaskan Way to the Olympic Sculpture Park whilst the tram is out of commission.

If you’re interested in checking out some local theatre, go to the cheap theatre ticket booth at Pike Place Market for “day of” tickets. It’s located on 1st and Pike.

Do NOT go to the Seattle Space Needle restaurant. Yes you get a wonderful view over the city and yes it’s mildly fun to be in a restaurant that revolves but the food is not only terrible, it’s also grossly overpriced. Given the number of wonderful places to eat in Seattle I would implore anyone who visits not to waste any time and money there.

Best Way to Get Around:
The downtown and the waterfront areas (if you block out the hideous viaduct overhead) are great to explore on foot. The Seattle Center and Space Needle is also easy to reach on foot although Seattle does have what could be the world’s shortest monorail line (1 mile) that runs between The Seattle Center and Westlake Center Mall, at Fifth and Pine if you need a break.

Taxis can be a bit spendy so you may want to hire a car if you’re planning any trips further afield. Please note that Seattle has terrible rush hour traffic and you want to avoid traveling at peak times if possible.

As it stands Seattle’s public transport is quite poor overall but come 2009 it’ll have a light rail connecting the downtown to the airport, which is very exciting.

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