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From America: Seattle has a lot to offer, just watch out for the flying fish
The Pike Place Market in Seattle has been around since 1907, making it one of the longest serving farmer’s markets in the U.S.
It is perched on a downtown hillside between newly constructed high-rise buildings on one side - a highway, and seemingly the whole of Elliott Bay and the Puget Sound on the other. Some estimate that over 10 million people visit the market each year. You can read magazines and newspapers, eat peanuts and sip coffee there, listen to musicians, smell the fresh produce and flowers, run your fingers over glazed ceramics, visit an herbal apothecary, view freshly cut steaks and chops, buy sausages and eggs, or eat in one of the many restaurants directly in or around the market; and you still won’t have sampled everything that Pike Place offers.
At some point, you will see fish flying around your head. That’s because fishmongers in Pike Place save time by flinging silver salmon, whole halibuts, and sometimes monkfish filets to co-workers behind the counter who snag the fish and wrap it for customers. You’ll hear them yelling and carrying on as they work. People laugh, scream, and snap pictures of the flying fish. Across the street is the original Starbucks coffeehouse (there are over 17,000 now) opened in 1971. The original founders wanted to sell only coffee beans. When I visited, an elderly Asian woman was busking in front of the coffeehouse.
Seattle, known as the “Emerald City”, is a walk-able, but hilly city. Jimi Hendrix was born there; you can see his memorabilia at the Experience Music Project building which was designed by Frank Gehry and founded by Paul Allen of Microsoft fame. The building contains 14,000 square feet of American popular music exhibitions and collections along with the unique Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. Close by, rising some 600 feet into the Pacific Northwest sky, is the iconic Space Needle, built for the 1962 World’s Fair.
Seattle’s connection to the Watergate political scandal that torpedoed Richard Nixon’s second presidential term isn’t as well known. John Erlichman, Nixon’s top domestic-policy advisor, was a lawyer practicing in Seattle before moving on to the White House. He brought along another young lawyer from Seattle named Egil “Bud” Krogh. Both would serve time for their involvement in the scandal. Erlichman had served with the Eight Air Force in World War II as a decorated navigator on the B-17 bombers. The “B” is short for Boeing, a major aerospace and defence corporation founded in Seattle. If you drive downtown from the Sea-Tac Airport, you pass another airport on the way. That one belongs to Boeing; they have their own. The Museum of Flight is located near there and houses some one hundred and fifty air and space vehicles, including a Concorde, and the first Air Force One aircraft. Today, Boeing is busy at work on their next iteration of passenger jetliner - the 787 Dreamliner.
Mostly, Seattle is a city of neighbourhoods, friendly people, and stunning views. Explore the bustling waterfront, or walk the pleasant streets of Queen Anne or Capitol Hill. You’ll see stately homes, gardens, and green lawns. The smell of saltwater is everywhere. In the sunny summer months, Mt. Rainier is clearly visible, towering some 14,411 feet over the city to the south.
Across Puget Sound, the striking snow-capped peaks of the Olympic Mountain Range come into view. The ferries are a wonderful and inexpensive way to see more of the area surrounding Seattle. Or, rent a kayak and power yourself around.
And, if you have the opportunity between mid-May and Mid-June, try some Copper River Salmon, a Pacific Northwest delight. The Copper River is in Alaska, and it is long, chilly and turbulent. The salmon that negotiate it are muscled and filled with Omega-3 oils, making them one of the healthiest - and tastiest - fish you will ever eat. You can order it in a restaurant or, better yet, ask one of the fishmongers at the Pike Place Market for some, and then duck.
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