[usa14] seattle

I start my full day in Seattle like a true American; with coffee and a donut in Top Pot on 5th Avenue in the shadow of the monorail. From here I follow the rail downtown and then carry on downhill toward the older red brick buildings of Pioneer Square, which cower beneath the imposing stadia of the Seahawks Q-West Arena and Saeco Field of the Mariners.

The all star break means today is not game day so I duck into the Elliott Bay Book Company's ramshackle wooden shelved store, a place which looks not unlike the setting for an American version of Black Books. I treat myself to a Kurt Vonegurt novel for the plane home and then descend into the store's basement cafe. The cafe is dark but homely, the red bricks punctuated with more wooden shelves of books and the word 'coffee' in large art deco lettering spanning the back wall of the service area. Forget Starbucks; this is how a coffee shop should look.

From the Book Company I head to the waterfront and brave the many nautical themed gift shops in search of postcards. There's a crash from the back of one store as a stereotypically large american kid knocks over a shelf of Seattle shot glasses sending shards of space needle frosted glass across the floor. "I didn't mean it!" he yells to everyone and no-one in particular, but with my clumsiness I'm just relieved I didn't beat him to it.

From the waterfront I head up the steps of University Street to the tourist thronged Pike Place Market, famous for its fish but also offering a myriad of gift and other stalls selling lots of nothing much. At the fish stalls a crowd of tourists watch men fail to sell big fish in view of the fact that everyone is photographing and videoing them, but no-one is buying. I leave the tourists behind and head uphill for a wander round the suburbs; finding an internet cafe to check my reseravtion for Portland and then taking a walk along Bellevue Avenue toward Lake Union; the other waterfront. With a couple of freeways between me and the water a hillside view is as close as I get before heading back to the Moore.

In the evening, on the front of the Puget Sound daylight begins to fade and the mountains begin to emerge from the cloud at the far end of the Bay. The familiar smell of vinegar proves too much to resist and so I end up sampling fish and chips US style. Its OK, but not a patch on Today's Catch at the end of Carholme Road. Not as cheap either.

Back in my room I take a last look at a now dark Seattle from my window knowing I've another early start ahead. The Space Needle; illuminated in white stands out against the darkened black frames of the buildings and the dull yellow glow of their inhabited rooms. In 3rd Avenue a single tree is glowing a neon blue. There is no discernable reason why. I will miss Seattle.