But literally sleepless. Jetlag hit us hard.
We decided to avoid the Space Needle tourist trap and instead went to the
Columbia Centre; a 1980’s office building with a 360 degree viewing area on the
73rd floor. As the tallest building in Seattle the views were
amazing, we returned again in the evening to watch the sunset.
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| View of Seattle from the 73rd floor of the Columbia Centre |
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| Sunset view - the Space Needle just lighting up |
In 2001 the former industrial site on the Seattle waterfront was transformed
into an outdoor sculpture park “Olympic National Park” designed by Weiss/Manfredi
who are known for their integration of architecture, landscape and urban
design. It was lovely walking down in the sunshine passing the featured
sculptures and artworks. Our favourite
was Richard Serra’s “Wake”. It is composed of five identical corten modules,
gently curving convex and concave profiles that suggest tidal waves, or the profile
of ships.
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| Olympic Sculpture Park |
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| "Wake" |
I was keen
to visit Rem Koolhaaus’ Seattle Public Library. Not really a winner externally but inside it is an amazing
space, plus I love his use of colour: neon yellow escalators and luminous
orange in the stair cores.
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| Nice one Rem |
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| Atrium space in the Seattle Public Library |
As the home of the Startbucks, as trip to Seattle wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the first ever
Starbucks. Found in Pike Place Market, this little shop already had a queue out
the door so we went to explore the market itself. It is Seattle’s original
farmer’s market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront. It opened in 1907 and has
been open ever since. We were keen on the giant salmon from the fishmongers but had nowhere to cook it.
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| Pike Place Market |
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| Fishmongers at Pike Place - this little guy looks so sad. |
We got the bus from downtown Seattle to Capitol Hill for a bargain $2.25. Hidden
right in the centre of the park, is a beautiful red brick water tower. Built in
1906 there are 107 steps to the observation deck from which there are amazing
views back towards the city and Mount Rainier. At the top we made friends with
a local man and his dog Ciara. From Volunteer Park we made our way to
Discovery Park – the largest park in seattle at 534 acres. We hiked a loop around
the entire park and made our way to the lighthouse that is located on the
westernmost point of the park the entire city of Seattle. The water was too
cold to do anything more than paddle but we walked out to the western tip of
the beach, overlooking the Cascade and the Olympic Mountain ranges.
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| Making friends in the water tower |
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| The westernmost point of Seattle |
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| Old Lighthouse at Discovery Park |
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